Vitiligo is a skin condition which involves the de-pigmentation of certain parts of the skin. When the cells responsible for skin pigmentation (melanocytes) start dying or are unable to function normally, the skin begins to change its color. As you probably know, Michael Jackson had vitiligo, which is now sometimes called “Micheal Jackson skin disease”. He is the most prominent example of someone with vitiligo, as he became entirely ‘white’ over time, due to this condition, and most likely skin lightening treatments as well.
What You Need to Know about Vitiligo
As mentioned above, this de-pigmentation condition appears due to the fact that the melanocytes, the cells responsible for pigmentation, die or do not function properly. Although the causes of vitiligo are unknown, specialists seem to share a theory that the condition may be an autoimmune disease, where a person’s immune system reacts against the body. The most common and visible symptoms of the condition are the white patches that appear on the body of the person who is suffering from vitiligo. These patches usually appear on the parts of the body which are more exposed to the sun, such as the arms and the face, but also on the lips and the legs. There are three types of depigmentation processes through which the body of a person suffering from vitiligo can go through:
• Focal patterns – only one or just a few areas of the body get whitened in the process.
• Segmental pattern – the white patches develop only on one side of the body.
• Generalized pattern – the depigmentation occurs evenly on both sides of the body. This is the most common type of vitiligo.
Treatment for Vitiligo
Although specialists do not really know why the condition appears, they have developed, over time, a wide range of treatments that can be used in order to treat this condition. The most common vitiligo treatment usually involves UVB phototherapy. The best thing about this particular vitiligo treatment is that it can be used either at home or at a clinic. It does not matter where you follow the treatment, as the results are the same. Still, the most efficient protocol is the vitiligo laser treatment, which involves a xenon-chloride excimer laser. This treatment works the best because it stimulates the monocytes in the skin. Even though this type of vitiligo treatment is the most efficient, it also has the most side effects, as it uses UV rays and they are potentially dangerous and damaging for our skin. However, even though this treatment is dangerous, most people turn to it to treat their vitiligo, as the possibility of side effects outweighs the emotional trauma associated with vitiligo.
Different Types of Vitiligo Treatments
As you can imagine, there are various vitiligo treatment methods and products that can be used to treat the condition. Given that medicine has evolved so much and it still is evolving, there are more and more treatments becoming available for people who suffer from vitiligo. One such new vitiligo treatment is the autologous melanocyte transplant. It seems that scientists can take a sample of your skin and then grow melanocytes in the laboratory and then, they transplant it to the body, in the area where the person has the white patches. The treatment is still in the experimental phase, but it is becoming widely available.