Vitiligo  is a disorder that causes patches of skin to lose their normal pigment. This condition can appear anywhere there are pigmented cells on the body, including hair and tissues inside the nose, mouth and eyes. 

It is not contagious nor is it life-threatening. However, unpigmented skin is very sensitive to sunburn and patients also experience increased itching in affected areas.

A greater concern is that many vitiligo patients suffer from depression over their appearance and the social stigma they experience. This is a significant health problem that needs to be treated.

What causes vitiligo?

The cause of vitiligo isn’t known, but there may be a genetic component to the disorder. We know that patients with vitiligo have more sensitive pigment cells (melanocytes). Damage to these cells — from trauma, sunburn or other causes — can trigger an autoimmune reaction that destroys the melanocytes and turns the skin white. 

Signs and symptoms of vitiligo 

There are no symptoms other than the loss of color in the affected areas. These patches of skin are chalk white in color because they have no pigment. Patches typically appear on:

The face, usually around the mouth, eyes and nose

Hands and arms

Feet and legs

Treatments for vitiligo

At Ayana clinic we work with each patient to develop a treatment plan to achieve maximum results. Our approaches include:

Topical and oral therapies to prevent progression — The first step in treating vitiligo is to prevent the condition from getting worse. To do this we use a combination of topical and oral therapies for the affected areas, including B complex vitamins and antioxidants.

While these therapies provide only minimal improvement in established vitiligo areas, they may prevent further spread of the disease.

Light therapy for vitiligo — We use both narrow band ultraviolet A and B treatments, as well as home light therapy modalities to treat the disease. The approach for treating vitiligo is different from those used to treat psoriasis or other skin disorders, and treatment protocols must be tailored to each patient to achieve optimal results.

Our light therapy nurses have many years of experience in treating the disease, and there is always a physician on hand to assist with questions as they arise during the course of light therapy.

We monitor each patient throughout the course of treatment using a team approach that involves nurses and physicians.

Oral medications in the form of Biosimilars, Immune modulators are the newest hope in the vast world of Vitiligo. These are promising and effective in controlling the disease.