Exploring the Psychological Impact of Vitiligo

An autoimmune condition, vitiligo is a skin disorder that makes patches of skin lose its natural colour. This skin condition occurs when the cells that are responsible for giving colour to the skin stop functioning or die. Vitiligo is a chronic condition and over time the discoloured patches on the skin can grow larger in size. These patches are called macules, and usually start on the hands, feet, forearms or face. They can be seen more evidently on people with a darker skin tone as compared to a person with a lighter skin tone. Affecting 1% of the global population, vitiligo is a harmless condition that rarely requires treatment. But it can affect the self-esteem of the individual suffering and thus sometimes, vitiligo treatment becomes necessary. 

In this blog, we will explore this skin condition in detail, understand some vitiligo treatment options and also discuss how this skin disorder affects the suffering person mentally.

What Causes Vitiligo? 

There is a pigment called melanin in the skin that is produced by skin cells called melanocytes. Melanin gives our skin its colour. When a person is affected by vitiligo, there are no functional melanocytes to generate melanin and this causes patches to develop. Vitiligo is not a genetic condition. It is rather manifested on people with normal skin, when their body fails in its immune response towards melanocytes. This causes loss of pigment.  

Where Does Vitiligo Appear and the Types of Vitiligo: 

Commonly, vitiligo appears on the skin of hands, forearms, feet, neck and hands, in skin creases. Sometimes they also appear on the mucous membranes and different hair. 

The following are some of the places where vitiligo appears: 

Generalised: Generalised vitiligo is the most commonly occurring vitiligo. In this type, patches of white appear on any random part of the body. 

Universal: Universal vitiligo is the term given to the rarest type of vitiligo in which the maximum part of the body is covered in white patches. So in this type of vitiligo around eighty percent of the skin does not have any pigment.

Segmenta: As the name suggests, segmenta type of vitiligo only affects a certain segment of a person’s body, hands or feet most often. 

Mucosal: In this type of vitiligo, macules appear on the mucous membranes of the mouth, lips or nose or the genitals. 

Focal: Another rare type of vitiligo, focal vitiligo is the one in which macules develop on some areas of the body and do not spread to become larger or spread to other areas at least within one or two years. 

Trichome: The trichome type of vitiligo makes macules appear like a bullseye with a pigmentless centre area, and then a lighter pigmentation of your actual skin colour area. 

Signs and Symptoms of Vitiligo: 

Depigmentation is the primary sign of vitiligo. The main symptom of vitiligo is the appearance of white patches on your natural skin colour. Another sign is your hair turning grey, silver or white. Sometimes before your skin or hair develops white patches and turns grey, you may experience itchiness on your skin. 

Diagnosis and Treatment: 

The Psychological Impact of Vitiligo: 

Just like how many other medical conditions greatly affect a person’s mind after a certain point of time, the impact of the skin condition, vitiligo on a person’s psyche can be intense too.