Hello,
My 16-yr-old son was diagnosed with vitiligo at the age of 14. The first photo is from last month and the second photo is from May 2011. It's segmental and is located on part of his face, from his forehead through the top of his left cheek. He stays out of the sun and the skin discoloration is not very noticeable at this point, but the vitiligo has caused all hair color pigmentation to leave his left eyebrow and eyelashes. They are completely white. He's Italian and has brown hair, brown eyes, and a brown eyebrow/set of eyelashes so it's very noticeable. On one hand, I want him to just embrace it and move on but on the other hand, I think if he could just get his eyebrow dyed brown, it would help. The eyelashes will always be white and he has no desire to use mascara/makeup which I would never ask him to do.
He has Aspergers on top of this so trying to socialize is already a challenge since social cues can be hard for him but now adding the vitiligo, it's an even bigger challenge. Does anyone on here know of a safe way to dye his eyebrow? We checked out mustache/beard hair color but it says not to use on skin with vitiligo. He really has a great attitude about it, all in all, but I would love to know our options in terms of dying his eyebrow.
On a side note, this is a great site! I can't wait to show it to him. Not sure he'll personally join, but I like him having this as an option and I personally love the support, as his mom.
Replies
Protopic medicine does work well for facial vitiligo. There are hundreads of success stories. My daughter's eye lid turned completely white. Protopic reversed the situation. Please give it a try for 3 months. If may work for your son. Good luck
The hair dye is a tough one. My family goes gray young and I started dying my hair years ago. Now the dye causes more vitiligo, but I can't just stop and have a dark line as my hair grows out. And with my dark features, blonde is not an option. I also have alopecia and if the hair grows back, it grows back white and horribly resistant to hair dye.
I understand wanting your son to have the easiest time possible in high school. I think it is a good thing to find hair dye that works. If someone is so distracted by your appearance, they do not listen to what you say or see who you are. I think it is important to be able to choose when you want to show your vitiligo and when you want people to focus on YOU.. I don't encourage hiding it all the time (for anyone), but I do think it is important to have a choice. Maybe you could explain it that way to your son. I do have some idea what you and your son may face, but I can only make assumptions. Social rules, expectations, manners, nonverbal cues, etc. sometimes seem curious to someone on the spectrum. Arbitrary rules that are unspoken and often don't follow logic. They learn them anyway and hopefully understand that abiding by them is a choice, it doesn't make them better or worse, it just makes people more comfortable and they may want to spend more time with you and/or be your friend. AND of course once you have friends or know people better, you learn who is comfortable around you no matter what. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Dying his eyebrow may just help people pay more attention to what he says and they get to know him easier. Simple.
Tell him you got a few things and he can play with them and see what he thinks. He can always choose to let it grow out again. I applaud you for seeking out resources and people who understand. You can contact me anytime :) You are NOT alone.
G
Just For Men is the brand I checked out but the box said don't use it if you have vitiligo. Maybe I'll contact the manufacturer and get some more information? If I find out anything, I'll post it here. Thanks for the reply!
I've heard that 'Just for Men' hair dye works well for eyebrows, but I'm sure many people dye the lashes too. I would be interested to know how it's done and how long it last. I'm all for allowing this for your 16 year old. Good luck!