" I have a small white spot on my lips! Will it spread all over my body; I am afraid because my grandma had the similar problem!

I tried all types of treatment; no improvement at all. Now I am not taking any medicines.

     Vitiligo is the most common skin disorder. Now the disease is most prevalent all over the world. This non-infectious skin ailment appears as white patches all over the body, symmetrically or asymmetrically. Leucoderma is localised to a part of the skin whereas the vitiligo affects all over.
         The patient becomes a social stigma. They are humiliated and boycotted socially. This would be really an unfortunate situation for them. If the victim is a woman she is much depressed because she has lost her beauty and charm as well and becomes a victim of humiliation.

        “Melanin” gives natural colour to our skin. Whenever Melanocyte cease functioning the skin becomes white. Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone ( MSH) is secreted from pituitary gland which controls the pigment cell function. Vitiligo holds three prominent theories: the Auto-immune, Self-destructive and Neural.

     The pigment cells may leave an auto toxic substance that destroys the new pigment cells.
     The body might be destroying its own tissue as an auto-immune response because it perceives the pigment cells as foreign.

  Heredity plays a major role. The disease tends to run in families: most patients have a relative who suffers from this illness.
      Clinically this disease may be associated with some other ailments such as diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, endocrine disorders and anaemia.
      Now-a-days gastrointestinal disorders play major role in causing of this illness. Some patients give the past history of Typhoid , Jaundice and Amoebic dysentery. Many physicians believe that the vitiligo patients need a purgative to eliminate the worms so that he could enhance better absorption of nutrients.

         Diagnosis of vitiligo does not need any special investigation. With naked eye one can detect the ailment.The fungal infections such as Tinea alba, Tinea versicolor looks like vitiligo patches. The skin scrapping for fungus and culture tests help establishing the diagnosis. Normally, the white patches appears in two-ways.
 
In some cases the discolouration may appear symmetrically on lips, fingertips, toes, around eyes, armpits, around areola of the nipple and private parts. The progress of this type is very slow.

In another type, the hypopigmentation starts asymmetrically at any part of the body as a single or multiple lesions. Mostly Face, Limbs, Abdomen, Back are affected. In some patients the depigmented area remains for years together of the same size. Sometimes they spread rapidly all over the body. The hypopigmentation starts as small brownish spot. They are trichromic. .

The Fungal infections, Tinea alba, Tinea versicolor looks similar to vitiligo patches which requires differential diagnosis.

How does it affects general health?

No! There is no sensory and motor dysfunction except the cosmetic views. Whatever the cause , the disease is never life-threatening. Normally, the sunlight promotes the pigmentation. This is the reason why the other systems of medicines hold an external application with the exposure to mild sunlight or ultra violet rays. But some vitiligo patients are unable to withstand sunlight as it could produce blisters on over exposure.

The ascorbic acid tends to reduce melanin pigmentation. Clinically dietary regulations are absolutely necessary to bring back the normalcy of the patients. Normally the patients are restricted to take the citrus food like lemon, pickles, tomato, vinegar and other sour items, soda, preserved food and drinks, chocolates and coca products.

Latest clinical research studies shows that non-vegetarian food like egg, meat, and fish also have to be avoided as they act as a foreign body to pigment cells. Some practitioners suggest to avoid milk and milk products also. Greens and red radish, beetroots, carrots, plums and blackdates may be taken as they play a role in physiology and bio-chemistry of the skin.

     Clinical research studies have proved that Homoeopathy could only cure this disease permanently. Generally, vitiligo patients often tend to sway from one system to another since they do not know how to get themself cured from the disease.
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        We do not treat a vitiligo as a local malady as the other systems of medicines do. External applications with creams and ointments, exposure to sunlight and ultra violet rays will not help to bring the normal harmony to the patient. The pigmentation appears with external treatment, but very soon they vanish away. These white patches are the local expression of the internal derangement It seeks a treatment which treats the patient as a whole irrespective of aetiology, and it is Homoeopathy! Based on this simple logic, homoeopathy strongly believes in treating Vitiligo with the oral medicines.
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        We believe in constitutional, miasmatic and pathological way of prescription.The approach varies from physician to physician. This calls for individual case study in every case of Vitiligo. There is no single specific remedy for all the cases of Vitiligo. The exact treatment is determined only on indepth evaluation of individual case by enhancing body's own pigmentation system naturally.
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        What we understand by the Constitutional Approach in homoeopathy is nothing but analysis and evaluation of various factors affecting the human constitution to determine the disease, diagnosis and the exact treatment in turn. Every case of Vitiligo calls for study of the patient's constitution which includes various aspects of his as well as the indepth study of the mental sphere such as emotions, psycho-social background, behaviour and personality pattern etc.
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        What do we understand by miasmatic study? It is the evaluation of symptoms in relation to the miasms such as psora, syphilis and sycosis to have an indepth study of aetiology. Eventhough Vitiligo seems to be a psoric miasm, it is a mixed miasm. Sometimes Physio-pathological approach with a particular disease prescription often helps.

    The Homoeopathic remedy selected in every case after such a detailed study is the similimum for the vitiligo patient, which when administered in the correct dose brings about harmony at the constitutional level, stimulating the normal pigmentation and hence induces normal skin colouration. The disease force in vitiligo will be eliminated completely from the patients layer-by-layer with the wonderful Homoeopathic Remedy!

    The next question that blooms in your mind is about the duration of treatment. It depends upon the extent of spread and duration of illness. The response of the treatment is very good, both localised and generalised lesions. Normally, the small patches respond very quickly rather than the generalised spread. The lips, fingertips, private parts takes more time, but other areas recover fast. Mostly the dark complexioned patients develop pigmentation very quickly. Vitiligo being a chronic and long-lasting disorder, exact time for the cure cannot be predicted. However, I have seen improvement within 3-4 months in most cases. The length of treatment should be considered as over 6 months to a year or more.

    Vitiligo has always puzzled physicians of all walks. However, Homoeopathy system offers reasonably positive treatment.