UVB Phototherapy

I am new to this site. It was recommended by a friend.I currently have vitiligo over about 75% of my body. Within the last two years I have gone through menopause which triggered my vitiligo to spread rapidly. I have recently started UVB phototherapy. I purchased a home unit from Daavlin. Has anyone tried phototherapy with any success? I would appreciate any feedback.

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  • TY for the words of encouragement. I am hopeful it will work even if I have to treat with light therapy longterm it is worth it.

  • Hi. I am new to this site but have used the creams and the light before. I had vitiligo on my upper body. It took about 1yr to see a different and 2 yrs for it to be almost gone. I took a couple of yrs off to see what would happen and it came back even more. I have started the light again and it has been 5wks. I know it will be hard but I know in the end it will be worth it. Don't give up on it.

    V.

  • How much you had UVB radiation ? My doctor gave me 12 x UVB radiation. I think that is little. How long can you expose? In summer I helped sunbathing. I'm sorry, my english is bad.

  • Hi,

    I only had few spots on my body, dermatologist recommended to use this hand held UVB device for treatment. I have used UVB photo therapy using that hand held device I have got re pigmentation  on all spots except the one on the lip. I tried same treatment on the lip for about 3 months (not regularly, once in a week or 2 weeks). Then I went to see dermatologist they said you get re-pigmentation fast on other spots because those hair growing areas, the one on lip didnt respond to treatment because its not hair growing area. So, yes, UVB works on all hair growing body areas, but not sure how long it will take non hair growing areas.

  • How long did it take to see change. When you get treatment, how pink are the areas(sunburn red or just a bit pink)? Did you ever have to take a period of time away from the phototherapy unit? I am going to be out of the state for a bit without access to a photo therapy unit and I'm looking to just go out in the sun for periods of time to keep up on the process.
    • For me it took about a month to see changes. But that was because in my case, the vitiligo is not stable. That means that there were still new spots turning up. For people who have stable vitiligo (the kind that is not spreading) it takes longer.

      At the start of treatment, the spots did turn a dark shade of pink, and were sensitive to stretching and touch for a few hours after treatment.  As i went on with treatment, the spots only turn a light shade of pink. I tinker with the dosage (albeit under supervision) increasing it gradually when i notice that the current dose is not achieving the desired results.

      Yes, I have had to be away from treatment or a while (in my case it was a couple of months) and yes, some spots that had started to fill up did revert. This is not a given that it will happen in your case, as it is different for different people. How long are you going to be without treatment?

      If you have anymore questions, I am more than willing to answer if i can.

  • Hi Ben, thank you so much for that feedback. I have not been able to connect with anyone else that has actually use the phototherapy for vitiligo. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions. How long have you been doing the phototherapy question
  • Hi Jodi,

    I have been using phototherapy for a few years now and i can definitely say it has helped a lot. I use it twice a week at the local hospital under supervision.

    I can say that the areas I have seen the most change is the face and the areas with less change are the hands and feet. It takes a while to see change so you might have to be a little patient with it, but i can vouch for this treatment.

    They do however say that the changes can vary from patient to patient.

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