Vitiligo is a long-term problem in which patches of skin lose their colour.
Vitiligo is a long-term problem in which patches of skin lose their colour. It can affect people of any age, gender, or ethnic group. When you have vitiligo, the cells that are responsible for your skin colour are destroyed. These cells, called melanocytes, no longer produce skin pigment, called melanin. Once the cells no longer produce melanin, areas of your skin will lose colour or turn white.
Areas of white patch can develop anywhere on your body, including:
Your hair may also turn grey or white if the areas involved have hair. Vitiligo can start at any age, but usually appears before age 30.
It's difficult to predict how vitiligo will progress. Sometimes the patches stop forming without treatment and occasionally, the skin gets its colour back.
Vitiligo has no cure. But treatment might stop or slow the discolouring process and return some colour to your skin.
Vitiligo may be related to:
Depending on the type of vitiligo you have, it may affect:
Vitiligo is more of a social and psychological distress to the patients and their immediate family members.
The types of treatments include medical, surgical, or a combination of both. But not all treatments work for everyone and some may cause unwanted side effects.
Dr Amit Agarwal will recommend you the suitable option for the treatment of vitiligo on the basis of-
Medical treatment
You'll usually need at least three months of treatment before you can see its effects. Medical treatments include:
Topical creams: Some creams, including corticosteroids, can help return colour to white patches in the initial stages. Others help to slow the growth. Side effects can include:
Oral medications: Some medications like steroids and certain antibiotics may be effective in treating vitiligo.
Psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy: This treatment combination requires you to take psoralen as a pill or apply it to your skin as a cream. Then Dr Amit Agarwal exposes you to UVA light to activate the drugs which help restore colour to your skin. Afterwards, you'll need to minimize sun exposure and wear protective sunglasses. PUVA does have side effects that can include:
Depigmentation: Dr Amit Agarwal may recommend depigmentation if more than 50 percent of your body is affected and you want to balance your skin. This often is a solution when treatments to return pigment to your skin have failed. Depigmentation focuses on fading the rest of the skin to match the areas that have lost color. It can take up to two years for treatment to be effective. You'll apply a medication like monobenzone. The biggest side effect of depigmentation is inflammation. This treatment tends to be permanent, and you'll be extra sensitive to sunlight.
Surgical options are available when medications and light therapy don't work. Dr Amit Agarwal can recommend surgical options if you have had no new or worsening white patches in the last 12 months, and your vitiligo wasn't caused by sun damage.
The types of surgery include:
Ultra thin Skin grafting - Dr Amit Agarwal removes healthy, pigmented skin and transfers it to depigmented areas. Risks of skin grafting include infection, scarring, or failure to re-pigment.
Blister grafting - Skin grafting using blisters is another option that has less risks. For this procedure, Dr Amit Agarwal will create blisters on your unaffected skin and transfer the top of the blister to another area. Possible risks include scarring, a cobblestone appearance and failure of the area to recolour. And the skin damage caused by suctioning may trigger another patch of vitiligo .
Melanocyte transfer: Dr Amit Agarwal harvests a very small chunk of skin from the uninvolved area. He then separates the cells responsible for pigment, melanocytes and isolate then. Then, the cells are transplanted to the depigmented areas of skin.
Micropigmentation: Dr Amit Agarwal will tattoo pigment into your skin. This is best for the lip area, but it may be hard to match your skin's colour.
Even if you are undergoing medical treatment for vitiligo, the results can be slow. So, you may want to incorporate the following:
Sunscreen: Reducing sun expose can help keep your skin even. Tanning will add contrast to your skin, making affected areas more visible. The higher the SPF, the more protection you receive. It is important to use sunscreen as areas without pigmentation are susceptible to sunburns and sun damage.
Cosmetics: Makeup or self-tanning lotions can help even out your skin tone. You may prefer self-tanning lotions because the effect lasts longer, even with washing.
After the surgery, dressings are applied to the surgical area, and you are made to wear a compression garment to reduce swelling. You should give your body 3-6 months' time for evaluation of best results.
There will be some specific instructions given to you by Dr Amit Agarwal which includes:
Before going for the surgery, you should always understand the risks and potential complications related to surgery. Vitiligo correction surgery usually gives desired results but there can be some risks involved which include:
These are the risks and possible complication which should be discussed by you with Dr Amit Agarwal before the procedure.
Self care approach in vitiligo
The change in your appearance caused by vitiligo might make you feel stressed, self-conscious or sad. These self-care approaches can help you cope with vitiligo:
Vitiligo is not painful. However, you can get painful sunburns on the lighter patches of skin. It is important to protect yourself against the sun with measures like using sunscreen, staying out of the sun during the hours that it is strongest, and wearing protective clothing. Some people with vitiligo have reported having itchy skin sometimes, including before the depigmentation starts.
Vitiligo is not necessarily inherited. However, about 30% of people who have vitiligo do have at least one close relative who also has vitiligo.
Signs and symptoms of vitiligo include the following
Quitting smoking is a perfect solution even without surgery as it involves many health risks, but it's totally up to your wish that you want to quit or not. But you should surely stop smoking at least 2 weeks before the surgery.
Segmental or focal: White patches tend to be smaller and appear in one or a few areas. When vitiligo appears in a focal or segmental pattern, it tends to stay in one area one side of the body. Many times it continues for a year or so, then stops. It also progresses slower than generalized vitiligo.
Non-segmental or generalized: Widespread white patches appear symmetrically on both sides of the body. This is the most common pattern and can affect pigment cells anywhere on the body. If often starts and stops many times over the course of a person's lifetime. There's no way to determine when, if, or how fast patches will develop.
Indivisual results may vary from person to person.
These pictures are shown for the purpose of education only.
Best plastic surgeon, Dr. Amit Agarwal is an American Board Certified, extensively trained, and best Plastic & Aesthetic surgeon in Lucknow. He is the Chief Plastic Surgeon heading the Department of Plastic, Microvascular, and Craniofacial surgery at Vivekananda Polyclinic and Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, U.P, India. He maintains a busy practice at Avadh and Nishat Hospital and his own center - Kayakriti Plastic Surgery & Dental Center. He was formerly a Consultant in the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns at the prestigious SGPGI, Lucknow.
We believe your experience with us should be comfortable and hassle-free to make it one of your best lifetime experiences for yours. We, here at the clinic, take full precautions to maintain your privacy in any manner. We also provide a staff who will receive you from the gate and take you to the chamber directly if you demand.
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When you plan to undergo any surgery you should always keep in mind that it's your body and it's a surgery. We, here always keep your safety a priority and will never recommend you to undergo any such procedure which is not safe for you. We also provide you with a detailed description of the complications which may occur after the surgery during the consultation as it's a surgical procedure so there may be some complications depending on the way your body reacts.
If you have flat or small breast and you want to improve your breast and hip contour ratio then you are a good candidate for it. The answer will be best provided after the first consultation with Dr Amit Agarwal.
Acute pain will be there for almost a week which gradually reduces and there will be soreness and swelling which may take up to 3 weeks to subside.
You can join your work and daily routines after a week of the procedure and can start exercising after 3 weeks of it.
Yes, you have to wear it round the clock unless we suggest you to remove it.
This surgery does not affect the ducts or the areas of the breast involved in milk production. Thus, it does not affect the breast feeding.
This surgery does not affect the ducts or the areas of the breast involved in milk production. Thus, it does not affect the breast feeding.
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