There are a number of ways to alter the appearance of vitiligo without addressing its underlying cause. In mild cases, vitiligo patches can be hidden with makeup or other cosmetic camouflage solutions. If the affected person is pale-skinned, the patches can be made less visible by avoiding sunlight and the sun tanning of unaffected skin. However, exposure to sunlight may also cause the melanocytes to regenerate to allow the pigmentation to come back to its original color.
The traditional vitiligo treatment given by most dermatologists is corticosteroid cream.
Phototherapy may also beneficial using exposure to long-wave ultraviolet (UVA) light from the sun or from UVA lamps, together with Psoralen, called "PUVA", can help in many cases. Psoralen can be taken in a pill 1-2 hours before the exposure or as a Psoralen bath or soaking the area before the exposure. Lately, PUVA has been replaced with exposure to Narrowband UVB light at a wavelength of 311-313 nanometers. This vitiligo treatment does not involve Psoralen since the effect of the lamp is strong enough. The source for the UVB Narrowband UVB light can be special fluorecent lamps that treat large area in few minutes, or high power fiber-optic devices in a fraction of a second.
Studies have also shown that immunomodulator creams such as Protopic and Elidel also cause repigmentation in some cases, when used with UVB Narrowband vitiligo treatments.
Alternatively, some people with vitiligo opt for chemical depigmentation, which uses 20% monobenzylether of hydroquinone. This process is irreversible and generally ends up with complete or mostly complete depigmentation.
In late October of 2004, doctors successfully transplanted melanocytes to vitiligo affected areas, effectively repigmenting the region. The procedure involved taking a thin layer of pigmented skin from the vitiligo patient's gluteal region. Melanocytes were then separated out and used to make a cellular suspension. The area to be treated was then ablated with a medical laser, and the melanocyte graft applied. Three weeks later, the vitiligo area was exposed to UV light repeatedly for two months. Between 73 and 84 percent of patients experienced nearly complete repigmentation of their skin. The longevity of the repigmentation differed from person to person.
3 comments:
This text is exactly the same as the text found in the Wikipedia article.
Besides that, yeah one can undergo a UVB Narrowband treatment, like I have, but then after about half a year to a year, you can start noticing your body breaking off the pigment that you've regained. Not to hurt people's hopes or anything, but that's what happened to me
I'm male, 22 years old at the time of treatment, with good to very good results regaining pigment.
Now noticing losses in the areas that regained pigment in relatively rapid terms.
Disappointing to say the least.
Hi Jacob - please write me if you are Danish. I also have vitiligo and hate it. Vil meget gerne tale med en anden dansker med vitiligo for at høre mere om dine erfaringer og viden om hvad der evt. er at gøre ved det. Hvis du skriver en kommentar får jeg besked pr. e-mail.
MVH Marianne
Hi Marianne, I'm not Danish, but Dutch. However, if you'd like to contact me, you can send me an email at funkiejunkie-at-gmail-dot-com.
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