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UPDATE: He Missed his appointment :o( Need an opinion for my nephew please!

Posted by Kimberly England on May 11, 2010 at 3:43am

Hello all!  I joined last night in hopes of getting an opinion on a couple of photos of my nephew's finger.  He will be turning 20 in a couple of months and just noticed a white patch on his index finger.  I have been researching Vitiligo online and had him e-mail me a picture of his finger taken with his camera phone.  It's very poor quality but I was hoping that some of you who know this disease well could tell more about this place on his finger than I surely can!  Can anyone clearly tell me whether or not this white area looks like Vitiligo?  He is trying to get to a doctor asap but has to check on his insurance coverage which is due to expire very soon!  He is very upset about the possibility of this being Vitiligo as he is into modeling.  Any help or information would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Kimberly E.

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Replies

  • Kimberly England May 13, 2010 at 2:17pm
    My nephew got "mixed up" on the time for his appointment and missed it! Yea, right! :( It is supposedly rescheduled for tomorrow morning, please pray that he will MAKE this one!!!
    • Gemma > Kimberly England May 17, 2010 at 9:47pm
      did he make it? although he might be avoiding the issue and not wanting to confront the possibility of having vitiligo, he MUST go see the dermatologist as soon as possible, that way he'll have the best chance of treatments being effective. He'll also find out that it's not the end of the world!
      • Kimberly England > Gemma May 18, 2010 at 3:34am
        He went and the office personnel told him that he had to have his insurance card in order to be seen! He has to wait now to have one mailed to him! Can you believe it? *sigh* Poor guy lost his job too and he's really feeling stressed! :(
  • Gemma May 12, 2010 at 7:10am
    Hi Kimberly, I think you've come to the right place because if it is vitiligo then there is a huge amount of information, advice and support on this forum for him and his family. It does look a lot like the vitiligo I have on my hands but only a doctor/dermatologist will be able to confirm it for sure. Has your nephew got any patches anywhere else? If not, this is good news as the chances of tackling it are much greater at an early stage (although hands are usually the least responsive to treatment). Also, it's not a disease, but an autoimmune disorder - you can't catch it and others can't catch it from you. Maybe your nephew has other autoimmune disorders (as many of us do)?
    • Kimberly England > Gemma May 12, 2010 at 8:49am
      Thank you, Gemma! As far as I know this is the only place he has but now that he's found this, I suppose it's possible that he will examine himself more closely and potentially find other places. I think he has probably had this at least a while but with the warmer weather and the fact that he tans quickly, it probably is just now really "standing out". He is so stressed right now in his life and I know this has really "thrown" him! I soooo appreciate this forum and I hope that if he does get a confirmed diagnosis, that he will join this group and gain the support and wealth of information that I have already found here!

      Kimberly
      • Gemma > Kimberly England May 13, 2010 at 8:28am
        he's very lucky to have such a supportive, caring Aunt :)
        It's not easy but, as you will read throughout the forum, a lot of people report new vitiligo patches appearing during times of stress, so it's important to try to minimise it - soooo much easier said than done!!
        But vitiligo is different for different people - I've never personally noticed any changes due to stress, and I get stressed a LOT!
        ...and he'll be welcome on the forum - we're a friendly lot!
  • Juan Carlos Parra May 12, 2010 at 6:04am
    It looks Vitiligo to me go and see a dermatologist asap.
    • Kimberly England > Juan Carlos Parra May 12, 2010 at 6:20am
      Thank you for your input, Juan! He has an appointment for tomorrow .... I hope he will go!
  • Carl R. Manley May 11, 2010 at 2:52pm

    It could be vitiligo but not necessarily, when mines started it didn't look like that. It looked like small white freckles because vitiligo does not start out as patches it starts out as small spots and it turns into patches but what he has is probably not vitiligo there's hundreds of other disorders in the body that can cause the same looking patches of dipigmentated skin and sometimes even dermatologist are wrong when it comes to a vitiligo diagnosis

    • Kimberly England > Carl R. Manley May 11, 2010 at 3:21pm
      Yes, Carl I have seen a list of the many other things that have similar symptoms. I am hoping my nephew will get over his initial fear and get to a doctor for confirmed diagnosis! I'm wondering if sometimes on lighter skinned people and especially in places that aren't as easily noticed like the side of his finger ... it might be less obvious when it starts as small dots ... until it has become a larger patch?
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