How To Treat And Manage Vitiligo

Light Therapy

Vitiligo patients encounter a lot of ignorance in their daily lives and are often shunned by others who are afraid the condition is contagious, though it is not. A defect in the immune system almost certainly causes vitiligo. Light therapy has always been a first-line treatment for vitiligo, but results are mixed and unpredictable. Patients are often dissatisfied with both the results and the sheer time it takes to undergo phototherapy. For vitiligo patients with patches covering more than twenty percent of the body, there is a procedure called Narrowband UVB, which uses a very narrow band of the UVB light spectrum. Because it works quickly to stimulate the melanocytes to produce pigment, burning of the white patches avoided. The treatment can be administered in a doctor's office or at home. A doctor's note is necessary to purchase a Narrowband UVB unit for home use. The Narrowband UVB treatment is largely superior to the older PUVA phototherapy, which uses a medication called psoralen along with UVA light.

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