Hi. I posted in the "general discussions" but probably should have posted here as this is about my child.
So, sorry for the cross posting.
I took my 10 year old daughter to the doctor's Monday for something totally unrelated and as a side note happened to ask about her white blotches on her wrists and arms. The doctor said it might be this, vitiligo. I don't know if I'm convinced and not really sure what I should do next, if anything. I'm trying not to bring much attention to my daughter about it but at the same time trying to learn more about this.
She started getting these spots about 2 years ago (I think). She started to regularly ask about them at least that long ago. The white splotches started on the insides of the tops of her hand, at the thumb and wrist area. They have slowly gotten to where they are very noticeable and now run all the way up to the insides of her armpits and I think I can see some on her shoulders.
At first I thought they were spots similar to when you grab someone's skin, you know how the skin will lighten really briefly in the spot where all the pressure was from your fingers. The spots reminded me of that. I just thought maybe she was resting her hands on something and it was taking longer for the color to come back. Then I thought it was from her getting cold. But, the spots are actually always there. Just the lighting makes a difference as to whether you see them really strongly or not.
She is a redhead and very fair skinned anyway. They are more noticeable under certain light conditions. They don't bother her at all, are not raised, but smooth like the rest of her skin. The existing ones seem to be getting lighter.
This is a really bad picture and you can not see it that well as I did not have very good lighting. It seems I can see it better on my phone than I can the computer screen. I played with the filter on the photo to try and highlight what I was seeing a little better. But, I didn't want to freak her out by trying to take a better picture. LOL.
I know you all are not doctors but what do you think? Should I schedule an appointment with a dermatologist? Wait and see if it gets worse? I'm not sure what to do about it.
Replies
My daughter started getting her spots around age 1, I think, around her private area. I thought it was a birthmark type thing, since my mom has. Quarter sized white birthmark herself. By 2 years old, it spread to other areas. That's when I knew something else was happening. My dad got vitiligo in his 40s, and my uncle (mom's brother) got it maybe around same age. Thought is, he got it after handling fertilizer.
Right now my daughter is 5. Her spots are repigmenting where she had it at age 3, but appearing on other parts, like her eye lids and inside of knees. You can't really tell anything is different unless you know where to look or have experience with vitiligo.
Good luck to you, and welcome.