Vitiligo Treament

Vitiligo is a skin problem which is characterized by appearance of white patches in the skin. The white patches result from absence of pigment formation in the skin resulting from absence of functioning melanocytes in the affected part. People with all skin types is affected by vitiligo. It is more obvious in the darker skin types. Vitiligo has huge psychosocial impact and social stigma especially In darker skin types which is more prevalent in Indian subcontinent. Vitiligo is neither contagious nor threat to life. Cause of vitiligo can be due to altered immune system response, heredity or can be triggered by external factors.. Symptoms of patchy loss of skin colour, early greying of hair in scalp and eyebrow loss, loss of colour inside of your nose or mouth, loss of colour in the inner layer of eye should be a cause of concern.. Affected area of the skin also becomes photosensitive and sun exposure causes redness and burning. You should immediately consult doctor when you see these signs. The vitiligo can be stopped or slowed down with right medication.

The first line of treatment remains conventional medical treatment. Topical steroid cream and topical immunomodulators along with phototherapy is often the first line of treatment. There are specific areas such as lips, acral areas, nipples and genitals which are generally resistant to medical treatment.

When you should seek surgical options for vitiligo treatment is very important. vitiligo surgery treatment should be done in:

• 1. Stable vitiligo or white patches which hasn’t increased in size for quite some time, around a year
• 2. Area which is resistant to medical treatment such lips, nipples, genital and acral areas.

Surgical methods for vitiligo treatment primarily aims at re-pigmentation of the white patches. Autologous melanocyte transplant is the basis of all vitiligo surgery technique. The commonly done procedures are:

• 1. Miniature punch grafting
• 2. Suction blister grafting
• 3. Thin split thickness grafting
• 4. Autologous non cultured epidermal cell
• 5. FUE Hair grafting

We routinely use very thin split thickness grafting for treating larger area affected by vitiligo. Small white patches treatment can restore the skin colour using follicle which is a rich source of melanocytes. We get a very natural Vitiligo surgery result. Best vitiligo surgery result depends a lot in the technical expertise of the operating plastic surgeon.

Micropigmentation is another technique to camouflage white patches. This technique is non-surgical and special instrument is used to implant skin colour matching pigment into your white patches. The colour matching has to be right to achieve the best micropigmentation result for vitiligo.