Vitiligo
What is Vitiligo?
Vitiligo causes the skin to lose its natural color. Patches of lighter skin appear. Some people develop a few patches. Others lose much more skin color.
Vitiligo can also affect other parts of your body. A section of hair can turn white. Some people lose color inside their mouths. Even an eye can lose some of its color.
What causes this color loss is still a mystery. We do know that vitiligo is not contagious. It is not life-threatening.
But vitiligo can be life-altering. Some people develop low self-esteem. They may no longer want to hang out with friends. They can develop serious depression. Most people have vitiligo for life, so it’s important to develop coping strategies.
Vitiligo causes loss of your natural color. Your dermatologist may call this “loss of pigment” or “depigmentation.”
Living with Vitiligo
Most people who get vitiligo lose color on their skin. The affected skin can lighten or turn completely white. Many people do not have any other signs or symptoms. They feel completely healthy.
A few people say that the skin affected by vitiligo itches or feels painful.
Living with vitiligo can cause other symptoms, such as low self-esteem and depression that is hard to beat. This can happen regardless of the amount of color loss or type of vitiligo.
If you are diagnosed with vitiligo, your dermatologist may tell you what type and subtype you have.
If you have vitiligo and want to treat it, you should discuss treatment options with a dermatologist. There are many treatment options. The goal of most treatments is to restore lost skin color.
Aura Dermatology is proud to offer XTRAC Light Therapy in our Robbinsville and Somerset locations. XTRAC is an FDA cleared, in-office treatment delivering targeted UVB light to areas of skin affected by vitiligo.
Adapted from original source: AAD
Frequently Asked Questions – Vitiligo
Schedule an Appointment
Call us at one of the numbers below:
Robbinsville, NJ – (609) 415-3376 Somerset, NJ – (732) 246-9900 Edison, NJ – (732) 912-7909.
~or~
*Financing options are available. Click to learn more.