Advice re vitiligo on face

Hi all, I feel like I'm at a crossroads with my vitiligo and would appreciate some guidance. Some background: I developed vitiligo about three years ago while pregnant with my third child. It started on my face and it's remained only on my face. I have fairly light skin so it's been pretty easy to hide until recently. I've also had moderate success with Protopic. Over the last two or three months, my vitiligo has spread like wild fire! (No idea why ... I've been searching to find a trigger but my life has honestly been kind of ordinary of late!) I've lost most of the pigment across my forehead, on my chin, and on both cheeks. I'm using Protopic on all the new spots but haven't seen much of an impact thus far. I am definitely feeling uncomfortable about my appearance these days. From a cosmetic standpoint, what frankly looks odd at this point are the few remaining pigmented patches on my face. It almost looks like I have melasma. I am wondering if I should stop working to regain the pigment and instead do something to lighten up the pigmented patches. I'm not even sure if this is possible. I'm going to see a new derm next week to hopefully discuss adding NB UVB to my treatment. But curious if I should be thinking about this any differently? Any thoughts? Thanks!

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  • Actually in China  traditional Chinese medicine is popular.It can regularize skin from the roots to pomote black grain  to regenerate.you can recover health.The medicine is effective ,especially for facial spots.MY friend has been cured successfully in the hospital.this is the website :www.vitiligo-cn.com.you can consult the doctor about your condition.

    good luck!!! dear friend..

    • how long was the process???  is it a popular method in china? is there anything online about it?? approx cost ?? thanx
      • you can log in www.vitiligo-cn.com where there is a  live reception to  communicate with a customer service representative or leave a message about your questions. About  one treatment course-two treatment courses

        white patches can recover normal color. one treatment course can cost 2200USD.  my friend has recovered

        health. 

        • Hey Sarah...There are so many vitiligo hospitals in China , actually they call them self Vitiligo Hospital just to attract ppl otherwise they claim that they can cure all type of uncureble diseases.

          You know and we know that there is no cure for vitiligo if china has a cure by now the whole world could have talked only about it,,there are more serius studies in Japan and Korea, they say they are close hope they come up soon with a cure,

          This hospitals are just commercials since ppl have a trust about Chinese tradational treatment they travel from around the world.

          I am not saying it is not working,it may work 10 % but they say 90 % and all have similar webcite with before and after photos.

          Most Chinese medicine works by boosting immune system, that is the most confusing ting about vitiligo some say we don`t need to boost our immune cos we have enough even more active that is why it attack our melanocyts.

          We all know that there is no any treatment which can help all, all treatments works only for some people

          I guss we have to try all til we find the one which help us…..

          You said ur friend has got cured , is he your online friend or real friend some body you know physical and have seen the repigmentation by ur self?

          Please explain if you know him.     

           

          Bamsegutt

           

           

  • Thanks for the replies.  I saw my new derm this morning.  His assessment is that I have vitiligo with some patches of hyperpigmentation (melasma) mixed in on my face. It was nice to have someone acknowledge that there were dark patches on my face as well as light patches. Now how did this happen?  Maybe a side-effect of the Protopic, maybe latent sun damage, maybe something else.  In any event, the derm recommended against any kind of light therapy for my vitiligo because that will just darken the dark spots and increase the contrast between light and dark.  He suggested focusing first on the hyperpigmentation with Retin A and everyday use of really high SPF sunscreen.  He cautioned me not to expect miracles but to expect a gradual fading over the next several months to a year.  As long as I stay out of the sun completely.  Once we have the dark areas under control, we can focus again on the vitiligo.  So no more Protopic for now.  And think I will finally need to invest in some serious makeup : )
  • I've read a lot that stress can trigger your vitiligo to get worse. I believe it because during my husband's tour in Iraq mine spread like wild fire. There were places that weren't there when he came home for R&R in February and were there when he came home in October. I battle with mine on a daily basis as well and the dermatologists that I've seen have given me cream that doesn't work for me and/or don't believe in the PUVA light because it can cause skin cancer. I'm pretty sure they have a skin lightening cream but I think it takes a while to use. The only good advice I have until you go to the dermatologist is find a really good make up. Granted it's only temporary but if it helps you feel better that's what matters!
  • Protopic is recommended for facial vitiligo.  For several people on this forum, protopic gave a good relief. 

     

    Any idea, how long you applied Protopic ?

     

    In general, any where from 8 to 12 weeks.

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