Suffering From Vitiligo? See The Main Vitiligo Treatment Methods
Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder that affects the skin, causing it to gradually discolour. This discolouration can spread over the entire body, whitening the skin unnaturally. What exactly causes vitiligo is still a subject of investigation, but in most cases it occurs in people who have family members who are diabetic, who suffer from thyroid disease or who themselves are vitiligo patients.
The psychological effects of vitiligo resulting from the change in physical appearance are more devastating than the physical ones, which is the primary reason why patients and their families desperately seek vitiligo treatment. The treatment is usually restricted to stopping or slowing the spread of discoloration. Though for a patient whose condition has remained stable for about two years, artificial re-pigmentation can be considered as well.
The most common vitiligo treatment is PUVA, in which a drug called Psoralen is taken by the patient 1 to 2 hours before the exposure of the discoloured patch to long-wave ultraviolet light. About 6 out of 10 vitiligo sufferers have seen positive results from this treatment.
Patients can also go for surgical treatments for vitiligo, which are becoming increasingly popular. Most such treatments involve miniature punch grafting. A number of punches of around 2 mm diameter are taken from the donor’s skin and grafted to the recipient’s affected patches. This procedure has to be followed by PUVA treatment to cause skin-pigmenting melanocytes to form again.
Suction blister grafting and ultra thin skin grafting, where a very thin layer of skin is grafted on to cause the transfer of melanocytes, are other grafting techniques that are used to treat vitiligo. Both these treatments have shown satisfying results on patients so far.
Some other treatments can also be availed, offered by both mainstream medicine and therapies outside the scope of conventional medical practice, with success rates greatly differing in each treatment. Moreover, with recent advancements in medical science and growing interest in stem cell research, a complete cure for vitiligo may be just round the corner.
Was this content useful to you? Then be sure to surf over to dr mulekar vitiligo treatment or smart lipo for more helpful advice.
