Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a disorder of pigmentation in which skin starts losing its original color leaving white discolored patches on the skin. It results from abnormal immune response against the colour producing cells in the skin called melanocytes.

It can occur at any age and visibility of patches is greater in people with darker skin tone. It can affect any skin area of the body including the hair and lips.

Treatments:

There are various treatment options including

• Topical creams- steroids, tacrolimus, calcipotriol, prostaglandins
• Light therapy (photo-chemotherapy and phototherapy)
• Oral drugs (steroids, immunomodulators, antioxidants)
• Vitiligo surgery- Surgical treatment is an option in those patients who have not responded to adequate trial of medical therapy and their disease is stable. Stable disease means no new lesions have appeared and existing lesions have not increased in size during last one year.