Vitiligo treatment differs from one person to another, depending on the location, size, and the width and spread of the white patches on the skin which is affected by depigmentation. The treatment is a long-term process which takes at least 6 to 8 months for results to appear. There are many treatments available and the appropriate one should be administered to the patient because the patient will only be responding to the treatment which suits them. Several of these methods are described below.
Medical therapies:
There are many therapies performed in the treatment of vitiligo, almost all of which involve topical applications. The most commonly used therapies are:
Topical steroid therapy
There are steroid creams available which can be applied to the white patches, and they will work more effectively they are applied during the early stages. Corticosteroid creams are also available, and they are often recommended for children under age 10. This type of cream is considered to be safe and this is why it is recommended by most doctors.
Psoralen photochemotherapy
This is one of the most effective treatments used to cure vitiligo particularly in the U.S. It works by repigmenting the white patches which have appeared on the affected areas of the skin. However, there are some side effects associated with this therapy, and so extra care must be taken. The treatment involves taking psoralen orally and also applying it topically on the white patches of the skin.
Depigmentation
This treatment involves inducing fading on the rest of the skin in order to match the skin which is white. If the patient is affected by vitiligo’s white patches on 50% of his body or more, then the best option for them is to undergo this type of treatment, as it is generally easier to depigment than repigment. During this treatment, skin to skin contact should be avoided for at least 2 hours. One of the disadvantages of this treatment is that the patient will be always having an itchy feeling and will be very sensitive to sunlight.
Surgical therapies:
Surgical therapies are performed on people who have had vitiligo for more than 3 years. Moreover, surgical therapy must only be performed when medical therapy fails to work out. These types of therapy are time-consuming and are expensive. The following are some examples of surgical therapies for vitiligo:
Skin grafts using blisters
For this treatment, the doctor will start to create blisters on the pigmented skin either by using heat or extreme cold. After this, the top of the blisters will be cut and will be transplanted to the area with depigmented skin.
Micropigmentation
This treatment works best for the lip area and is especially ideal for people with dark skin. The treatment involves pigmenting the skin with a special instrument. Matching the skin will be a difficult process, however, and even though it matches at the beginning, later it won’t, because of the exposure of the skin to the sunlight.
Autologous melanocyte transplant
In this treatment, the doctor will initially take a sample of the pigmented skin and will examine it by keeping it in a special cell culture solution in order to make the melanocytes grow. After the multiplication of the melanocytes in the solution, they will be transplanted to the depigmented skin.
