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tattoo and vitiligo

Posted by Dawn on March 9, 2014 at 11:11am in Main

Hello friends,

I have a tattoo at my wrist for 3 years, and have vitiligo for only a year. 

New white patches occurred around my tattoo last week. And I am quite worried if that may lead to further skin diseases. Do you mind sharing your experiences? Do you think it is dangerous to have them together?

And also, mmm, I don't know if it is proper to ask, yet I have read something like this in a forum "vitiligo occurs if you feel alone and unwanted, that is the reaction of your body when you feel so alienated". That was true for me. I feel really unwanted for a long time, in a stable manner. But, is it really because of my feelings that these little whites occurred? Do you think that is the case? Furthermore, do you think I may stop the spread by feeling good again?

Thanks for your kindness beforehand, I hope my last question wont make you feel bad. I don't have anybody to ask, hope you will understand.

Dawn. 

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Replies

  • amr assaf March 21, 2014 at 3:30pm

    Hi

    I had a tattoo over a white area on my arm, there is no special medical attention needed !  if you have vitiligo or you don't, its still the same.

    Tattooing will normally cut the skin in order to get the needle injection of ink, this can/may lead to a spread of vitiligo because of the lack of regenerated Melanin as we stop producing it.  even if you look at any old scars of yours, you will find them with a slightly different color than your original skin color. its the same concept 

    The ink will look much better on "you" because of the "color free" skin, kinda similar to drawing on a white paper. so relax and enjoy your tattoo :)

    One last thing, everyone feels stressed and no one is happy all the time, each human body react difference to environmental factors (stress, feeling bad, sad ...etc.) on a very unique way. for example they will tell you that stress will cause heart attacks. but in fact its more complicated than one reason . a very complex and yet unique situation causes or body to act they way it acts.

  • Jessica March 17, 2014 at 12:26am
    Any kind of stress on your body can cause vitiligo to spread. This could be physically stressed by another illness or injury, but also emotional stress like depression. I find my vit spreads when feeling emotional and stressed. Infact my doctor told me that emotional stress when I was younger was likely a trigger for my vitiligo to first begin. Mine is hereditary from grandfather, so the genetic gene was in my body already- stress was the trigger. So we must really look after our mental health, unfortunately this can often be hard so counselling can be useful :)

    I would really like to get a tattoo, but I'm worried that will cause vit to spread. Because of the physical stress it causes to the skin, it's the the body's immune response that's all confused and attacks our pigment cells :( so unpredictable !
  • Lee shelton March 14, 2014 at 6:27am
    How long did tattoo last before fading?
  • Dietrich Meier March 13, 2014 at 6:49pm

    Hi Dawn

    I started getting Vtiligo in small areas on my body since high school, they spread slow and exposure to sun makes most of them go away. I tried getting a skin coulored tattoo to cover up one area on my chest, but after repeated procedures it just kept on fading away. But once I started getting some sunlight for about 30 minuets a day on the spot it slowly(very slowly) started to get pigmentation again from the outside in. One thing I can say for sure is that after getting the area tattooed it definitely didn't get worse or spread.

  • Kamaljit Bhamra-Watson March 9, 2014 at 12:50pm

    Dearest Dawn,

    I think you have a great question.

    I feel the same way and my vitiligo has been spreading for over 25 years.  One of the affirmations I have been working on is to love my body.  So, how do we do that?  Well, I remind myself that I do not live in my problems, I live in my body.  Which means, I walk with my feet, legs, arms, hands, fingers, heart, lungs, and so on.

    The purpose of our lives is to to live.  So good job!  

    Know that you are wonderful!

    Kamaljit

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