What can I do to prevent the spread of vitiligo?

Vitiligo, or losing skin color, is a disease with many stigmas attached. Millions of people around the world suffer from some form of vitiligo that causes significant disruptions in their everyday life. People suffering from this condition often feel underconfident and tend to withdraw from social life because of a feeling of not being ‘normal .’The fact is that with modern treatments and some simple home care, vitiligo can be easily managed.

What is vitiligo?

This condition causes white or light patches of skin to develop. There are generally no other symptoms except the physical one. This autoimmune condition is often linked to other autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, psoriasis, autoimmune thyroid disease, etc. The immune system attacks the body’s normal cells and destroys the melanocytes (melanin-producing cells). The areas where the skin cells are destroyed start to lose color and slowly turn white or pale with no definite shape or boundary. Vitiligo is often also observed on the areas of skin that have had minor injuries or sunburn. Studies have also shown that emotional stress or chemical exposure can trigger skin depigmentation.

There is no known cure for vitiligo, but it can be easily managed to restore pigment to depigmented skin. In addition, treatment management can help make vitiligo less visible and even prevent the patches from growing. Prevention and cure are done by protecting the immune system and skin.

The choice of vitiligo treatment in Mumbai depends on many factors such as the

• The area of patches
• The amount of skin and location of patches
• How quickly the depigmentation is progressing
• How does it affect the patient’s quality of life

However, the vital thing to remember is that treatment for depigmentation or leukoderma is very unpredictable. The results vary greatly depending on the person, and some side effects can occur. Vitiligo treatment is a constant procedure, and you must keep a close watch on the spreading patches on the skin.

How to prevent vitiligo from worsening or spreading?

Since it cannot be wholly cured or prevented, modern science has given us ways sand solutions to prevent it from worsening. This method’s two-pronged approach involves boosting your immune system from the inside and protecting the skin from the outside. This procedure can also reinstate the healthy melanocytes to prevent the patches from spreading.

Treatment options for vitiligo

Medications

These medications are used with light therapy to restore some color to the skin. The common drugs include

• Corticosteroid creams control inflammation and return the skin color. However, it can be several months before you see any results, and side effects include skin thinning, dryness, and the appearance of new lines on the skin. Corticosteroids can also be used as pills and injections for people with rapidly spreading depigmentation.
• Medications for the immune system commonly include tacrolimus (Protopic) or pimecrolimus (Elidel) creams. They are generally used in areas with small amounts of depigmentation.

Therapies

Light therapy is the most common form of treatment used to curtail active vitiligo progress. It is generally used with medications such as corticosteroids or calcineurin inhibitors. Photochemotherapy can also be used alongside psoralen. This is called PUVA therapy. But the use of ultraviolet B light is more popular.

Light therapy is done in sessions 2-3 times per week and continues for several weeks. The type of light used is either ultraviolet B or excimer laser therapy. The results are not permanent, and most people see fading patches appear throughout one to four years post-treatment. The side effects of treatment include redness, itching, and burning on the skin, but they clear up a few works after treatment.

Depigmentation

This process involves removing the color from the rest of the unaffected skin; this way, the entire appearance is of one color. This therapy is recommended for people with a wide spread of vitiligo; the rest of the treatments have not worked. In this treatment, a depigmenting agent is applied to the pigmented areas of the skin. Regular use removes or lightens color from the skin and gives, and it blends with the vitiligo-affected area. Depigmentation cream needs to be applied at least twice daily and the results take a slow time of up to one to four years to make a difference. The side effects include dry skin, itching, swelling, and temporary redness of the skin. Depigmentation treatment creams need to be applied for a lifetime as discontinued use can cause the skin to develop pigment.

Surgery

Surgery for vitiligo treatment and management is suggested when light therapy and medications have failed to provide relief from vitiligo. This type of leucoderma treatment in Mumbai is done on patients suffering from a stable form of this condition. The surgical options for vitiligo treatment include

• Skin grafting: In this leucoderma treatment in Mumbai, the surgeon removes small sections of healthy skin and uses them to cover small patches of vitiligo. This is an effective treatment for 90 to 95% of the cases. However, the side effects include infection, spotty color, graft failure, scarring, and the cobblestone appearance of the skin.
• Blister grafting: This treatment involves covering the pigmented skin with created blisters. The surgeon then transplants the tops of these blisters on the discolored skin. The possible side effects include failure of pigmentation, damage to the pigmented skin, or scarring.
• Cellular suspension transplant: Small skin grafts are taken from the donor area and then treated separately to remove the cells. The cell suspension is then placed on the discolored skin patches. This process can be successfully used for large and stable areas of vitiligo and gives better color and texture match for vitiligo patches than other treatments. Nevertheless, scarring, infection, and uneven skin tone are still risky.

Tips to prevent vitiligo from worsening

Vitiligo is unpredictable; focusing on the triggers and behaviors that increase the problem and identifying them can help you feel better. Here are some dermatologists recommend simple tips for vitiligo patients to prevent it from getting worse

• Protect your skin from the sun at all times: The melanin in our skin is responsible for its color and protection from damage from harmful sun rays. With the loss of pigment in the skin, the skin is vulnerable to injury from sun rays such as sunburns. In turn, sunburns can also make vitiligo worse. Another advantage of good sun protection is that lighter skin tones make the vitiligo patches less noticeable. Therefore, protect your skin by
  • Seeking shade: Try to always be in the shade, especially when the sun’s damaging rays are the strongest. A simple way to know this is to observe your shadow. The shorter the shadow, the more damaging the sun’s rays are.
  • Wear sun-protective clothing: wearing the right and weather-appropriate clothes will give you adequate protection from the sun.
  • Use sunscreen indoors and outdoors during the day: Come hail or shine. Of course, it would be best to go anywhere with sunscreen protection. if you have vitiligo, use the dermatologist’s recommend sunscreen of SPF 50 or more sunscreen. Apply liberally on the face, neck, and all the exposed areas of the skin. apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before going out and reapply every 2-3 hours. If you are involved in activities that cause sweating or contact with water, use water-resistant sunscreen and reapply more often.
• Avoid tanning beds, sun beds, and saunas at all times. They can burn the skin with lost pigment and increase the discolored patches.
• Use safe camouflage makeup, skin dye, or a self-tanner to add color to the skin, but do a patch test first. Use a waterproof product, and remember that natural-looking results take practice.
• Avoid getting tattoos: Tattoos create minor wounds on the skin and can cause new vitiligo spots on the skin.
• Reduce stress by including healthy exercises such as deep breathing, meditation, and practice. This will help support your immune system and boost your mental health.
• Include a healthy diet in your daily routine: Since vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder, eating a nutrient-rich diet is helpful to give the immune system a health boost. Oxidative dress is another thing that damages the cells and slows down tissue regeneration. Hence a diet rich in antioxidants, phytochemicals, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D can help prevent the worsening of vitiligo. Food items to include are fruits such as berries, green leafy vegetables, nuts, chocolate, herbs spices, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, seeds, oily fish, and fortified dairy products. At the same time, you should also avoid foods that are high in fat or cause inflammation. Limit the intake of cheese, fried foods, processed food, white bread, alcohol, sugary sweets, and pasta.
• Avoid skin wounds and burns: Stay away from chemical exposure and use products suitable for sensitive skin as much as possible. In addition, stay away from sources of injury or irritation.
• Please don’t listen to myths: Learn as much as possible about vitiligo and what is causing it to spread. If you know the right things, you can play an active role in the care and have more control over vitiligo.

Self-care will help you feel better, and working with your dermatologist will make it easier to lessen the effects of the patches on your life.