Talking about the skin condition, vitiligo is another one. If you ever saw the person with light patches on the skin or even you have them yourself, that’s vitiligo. The condition is causing the skin to lose the natural color. Here we will learn to know what is vitiligo and the use of UV lamp for vitiligo. 

Symptoms and Causes of Vitiligo

Vitiligo appears as light patches on the skin as the skin loses the pigments, not only skin vitiligo can also affect other parts of the body such as hair turning white, losing color inside the mouth and on the eye. The symptoms of vitiligo can vary, some people will feel nothing as the skin turns light and some others feel itchy and pain on the areas turning light. 

The causes are not found yet. Though it is not life-threatening, vitiligo has effects on the psychological state of the people having it. Vitiligo happens when cells named melanocytes which give the color to skin and hair, die. In non-segmental vitiligo the cause of why these cells die probably due to autoimmune disease when the body mistakes some part of it as a foreign substance and then attack and kill the cells. In segmental vitiligo, the cause is due to the probability of something wrong in the nervous system.

 How vitiligo is diagnosed?

The dermatologist will first review the medical history of the suspected vitiligo patient and then asking some questions related to family medical history. After that, the dermatologist will exam the affected part carefully. Some people having vitiligo also having thyroid disease so, the patient may undergo a blood test to know the condition of the thyroid gland.

Treatment 

Just as the sun lamp for psoriasis, vitiligo can also be treated using a UV lamp for vitiligo. Among other treatments such as the application of medicines such as corticosteroid, light therapy considered to be safer with fewer side effects.

UVB phototherapy is the use of UV lamps for vitiligo together with medication that makes skin more sensitive to UV light. Narrowband UVB lamp is used to activate the medication such as psoralen which is taken orally or applied to the skin. The combination of psoralen and UVB lamp is considered to be safe and more effective in returning pigment in the affected areas.

If light therapy and medication do not work, the next option will be a surgical procedure. But this procedure has some limitations such as only for adults and whose affected areas have not been changed for 6 months or more.