All you need to know about vitiligo

Imagine you wake up and find a tiny white spot on your face. You might assume the spot to be a normal white patch and leave it to disappear on its own. But when the patches start spreading to other parts of the body, you might panic. Well, this skin condition is known as leucoderma, commonly called vitiligo. Let us understand this better.

What is vitiligo?

Vitiligo causes the loss of the natural skin color. This may be termed as de-pigmentation. It can occur anywhere on the body. These patches are typically common in areas where the skin has sun exposure. They are mostly seen on the hands, arms, face and lips. But the patches can also develop on armpits, groin, around the mouth, navel, fingers and wrists, genitals and in rectal areas.

Types of vitiligo

There are 2 main types of vitiligo: non-segmental (aka bilateral or generalised vitiligo) vitiligo and segmental vitiligo (aka unilateral or localised vitiligo). In rare cases, it is likely for vitiligo skin disease to affect your whole body. This is known as universal or complete vitiligo. In non-segmental vitiligo, the symptoms appear on both sides of your body as symmetrical white patches. Symmetrical patches can appear on the backs of your hands and arms. These can also appear on the knees, elbows, feet and skin around body openings like the eyes. Non-segmental vitiligo is the common type of vitiligo. It affects around 9 in 10 people with the condition. (Source: NHS) In segmental vitiligo, the white patches only affect one area of your body. It usually affects 3 in 10 children with vitiligo. (Source: NHS)

Signs and symptoms of vitiligo

The main sign of vitiligo is pigment loss that may result in milky-white patches on the skin due to sun exposure. At times, it can also extend to your scalp. Melanin is a broad term used for a group of natural pigments that give skin its color. Poor melanin in your skin results in white or grey hair. After the onset of the white patches, they might remain the same for a while after which they might get bigger. Recurring cycles of pigment loss and stability might be observed.

The shapes of patches are irregular. The edges at times become little inflamed with a slight red color resulting in itchiness. Though vitiligo disease can start developing at any age, it is usually observed between the ages of 20 and 30. (Source: American Vitiligo Research Foundation)

The skin affected by vitiligo is often itchy or painful. But it does not cause other distresses like dryness, irritation, soreness etc. Common signs and symptoms of vitiligo are:

• Patchy skin color loss
• Color loss in the tissues inside your mouth and nose
• Color change of the eyeball
• Whitening or greying of hair on scalp, beard, eyelashes and eyebrows

Depending on the type of vitiligo you might have, the patches or discoloration might appear on many parts of your body, only one side of your body or only on a few areas of the body.

What causes vitiligo to spread?

It is very difficult to predict the rate at which the white patches might spread to other body parts. This is because the patterns might differ significantly. For certain people, the spread might occur fast. In some, the onset might take several years.

Vitiligo complications

Even though vitiligo is not life-threatening, it might cause some complications in rare cases such as:

• Risk of sunburn
• Accompanied with other autoimmune disorders like alopecia areata
• Severe social or psychological distress
• Iritis (inflammation of iris)
• Side-effects of conventional treatment of vitiligo like dryness of skin and itching