first off thank you all for allowing me to join your group. I can't imagine the amazing spirits you all have and love that you are able to lend support to one another and outsiders like myself just learning about Vitiligo. you are all very amazing and brave people to want to help one another!
I come here to learn! my daughter age 12 "might" have vitiligo per the dermatologist we saw yesterday. we have to try protopic and cortisone for a month and go back. not sure what the next step is. i asked if she could tell for sure and she said not unless a biopsy was done and she didn't want to do that now.
my daughter has a spot about 1 3/4" x 2" round and a few tiny lighter spots less obvious around her forehead. she did have a nasty sunburn, blistered and peeled in the area where the large spot is so we attributed it to a scar from that. however that was in March and the spot is still there. although there are a few tiny spots of pigment returning to the area. the base of the hair that is there is white as well.
she has no other spots anywhere. if it is vitiligo we will learn how to deal with it and be brave for her. my questions are this if anyone cares to help. can you have just the one spot or does it always eventually spread?
did you do the biopsy and what was involved?
what medication do you use?
thank you for your help.
Replies
This must be a difficult time with the possible onset. I hope her peers will be kind to her. I will keep her in my prayers.
I am a parent of a 9 year old girl who has this condition. Hence, I can EXACTLY understand your situation. Trust me, it will all get settled. No need to panic, since your situation is very early stage. I am in this journey for the past 2.5 years almost.
Hypopigmentation from other incidents can last from several weeks to months. Certainly varies from person to person, I was told. Hence, this may be something else, that may go away on its own also....Secondly, in my child's case, we did NOT go thru biopsy, mainly the initial location was eyelid. Hence, do not know how to respond back on the biopsy matter.
Typically, derms base everything on their visual examination. It is my understanding that there are no tests really. Our derm always uses wood's lamp everytime to check the progress. Also, keep in mind that, there are other skin conditions,which are distant cousins of Vitiligo (ex: IGH)
In summary, based on our experience, Protopic should work for your child, mainly because, if it is truly vitilogo, it should work because, your child is in the initial stages. There are dozens of cases, where protopic treated facial vitiligo very well, especially in the initial stages. I personally feel that protopic works well for initial stages and does not work for well established vit. I could be wrong, I am NOT a doctor. Good Luck.
If it is vitiligo, thank your lucky stars that its nothing hazardous! There is nothing to b brave about. The more you stress about it, the more your daughter will stress about it.
In most cases, vitiligo spreads. But people have found that by surpressing the auto-immune system response, with diet, living a stress-free life and not polluting the body with things that don't belong, vitiligo can be arrested.
The thing is that, vitiligo, is very much a disorder that patients and their familys need to learn how to treat by themselve. Usualy dermatologists dont care bout vit. It's not considered physically harmful and therefore its not researched as much as it should be. Do a search for "Valeries story" on this board. Thre's plenty of interesting things to read.