What is vitiligo?
Vitiligo causes the skin to lose its natural color. Patches of lighter skin appear. Some people develop a few patches. Others lose much more skin color.
What are the symptoms of vitiligo?
People who develop vitiligo usually first notice white patches or spots (depigmentation) on their skin. The skin remains of normal texture, though some people experience itching in areas where depigmentation is occurring. The white patches are more obvious in sun-exposed areas, including the hands, feet, arms, legs, face, and lips.
How does vitiligo develop?
The course and severity of pigment loss differ with each person. In many cases, vitiligo begins in a small area. Over time, other spots may appear, while existing spots may grow larger. Some people notice that their vitiligo may stay the same for years or even decades, and then suddenly new areas of depigmentation may occur.
Will the vitiligo patches spread over time and get larger?
In many, but certainly not all cases, vitiligo does progress slowly over time, but there is really no way to tell whether your vitiligo will progress or not. It is a slow progressing condition however, and many patients report that they may go many years without new patches developing, and then may discover new patches appearing years later.
Is vitiligo at all contagious?
Vitiligo is not contagious. It is a genetic disease, caused by inheritance of multiple causal genes simultaneously, possibly in different combinations in different people, plus exposure to environmental risk factors that remain mostly unknown.