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How Do You Get Vitiligo and Is There a Treatment?

How Do You Get Vitiligo and Is There a Treatment?

You may have heard about this skin disease with regard to Michael Jackson. Or perhaps you are experiencing blotchy skin and are wondering how do you get vitiligo? Vitiligo is a skin condition that causes a depigmentation or whitening of the skin. These discolored areas on the skin can appear on any part of the body. It will show as white patches surrounded by normal skin. They can be small or large patches and can be symmetrical.

Vitiligo occurs because the cells that give us our skin color called melanocytes are destroyed or die. About 1% of the world’s population has vitiligo. It affects both men and women and usually appears before the age of 20.

There are a few risk factors for developing vitiligo. The causes are family history, autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, diabetes, pernicious anemia, Addison disease, and hypoparathyroidism. About 30% of people with vitiligo have a family member with the disease. Vitiligo is not contagious.

To diagnose vitiligo, a physician will use a special light called a Wood’s lamp that gives off ultraviolet light to view the skin. If it is positive for vitiligo, the patch of skin will light up under the lamp. Although vitiligo can’t be cured, there are many ways to treat the disease. The first step is to treat the areas with a steroid or an immunomodulator cream for a few months at a time. Other treatments that may bring color back to the skin include light therapy, laser therapy, and skin grafting.

At our dermatology offices, dermatologists Dr. Kenneth Egan and PA, Jessica Mangiaracina specialize in all of your family’s skincare needs in general medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology including skin cancer, molluscum contagiosum impetigo, acne, eczema, warts, moles, fungal nail infections, rashes, and scars. Our offices are located in the Fairfield County, CT towns of Danbury, Norwalk, and Ridgefield.

– Jessica Mangiaracina, PA-C


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Multi-Specialty Private Practice with six locations in Fairfield County, CT