Vitiligo and social anxiety
Vitiligo patches under the sleeves may not bother you as much as those on exposed skin like on the face or hands. Vitiligo can be a potential barrier to social relationships and cause social anxiety because it affects physical appearance.
This can even affect a person’s emotional or mental health and impair their quality of life.
Vitiligo and mental distress
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease that causes loss of skin color in patches. Vitiligo occurs when cells that produce melanin die or stop functioning. The discolored areas that appear on the skin get bigger with time and can affect the skin on any part of the body.
Vitiligo does not affect your overall health. However, it may affect your appearance and can cause depression or impact your self-esteem. You may also experience a variety of emotions, including:
- Embarrassment
- Feeling self-conscious or insecure
- Emotional and psychological issues
- Anxiety, stress, and depression
- Shame, sadness, or anger
- Wanting to isolate and mood swings
- Worry about how others will react and treat you
This part of living with vitiligo remains largely invisible.
Coping with vitiligo
Living with vitiligo can be difficult, but these tips can help you cope, take charge of your health, and maintain a positive attitude:
- Find a dermatologist who shows compassion, is willing to listen and has experience treating vitiligo
- Take charge of your health and participate in making decisions about your physical and mental health care
- Seek support from your skin doctor, a therapist, family or other vitiligo patients
- Manage stress and monitor your lifestyle and diet to address underlying autoimmune conditions
- Wear sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun and other artificial sources of UV light
- If you don't feel comfortable in your skin, consult an aesthetician for concealing products
- Avoid tattoos or anything that can damage your skin, this can cause a new patch of vitiligo on your skin
- Ask your doctor about local support groups or seek out online groups
Changes in pigmentation can be reversed or reduced with certain treatments, but some of these treatments can have serious side effects. The goal should be to heal the condition naturally with no side-effects on your health – so you can live a fulfilling and stress-free life!
Conventional vitiligo treatment
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Medications:
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- Drugs that control inflammation: Applying a corticosteroid cream to affected skin might bring back the color. Creams can be easy to use, but you might not see changes in your skin's color for several months. Possible side effects include skin thinning or the appearance of lines or streaks on your skin.
- Medications that affect the immune system: Calcineurin inhibitor ointments, such as tacrolimus or pimecrolimus can be effective for people with small areas of depigmentation, especially on the face and neck. However, there is a possible link between these drugs and lymphoma and skin cancer.
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Skin grafting:
In this procedure, your doctor transfers small sections of your healthy, pigmented skin to areas that have lost pigment. This procedure is used if you have small patches of vitiligo.
Possible risks include a cobblestone appearance, spotty color, scarring, infection and failure of the area to recolor.
Medications and surgical procedures can restore skin color or even out skin tone, though results vary and are unpredictable. And some treatments have serious side effects. Even if the treatment is successful for a while, it does not help control vitiligo and the results may not last or new patches may appear.
Also read: https://www.drbatras.com/can-vitiligo-turn-you-completely-white
Homeopathy treatment for vitiligo
Homeopathy can provide effective results in healing vitiligo without leaving any side-effects. Homeopathy treats the root cause by correcting the dysfunction of the immune system naturally. This helps to enhance the natural production of pigments. Homeopathic medicine addresses the underlying conditions of mental stress, depression and anxiety that may be seen in patients suffering from vitiligo.
The homeopathic treatment for vitiligo are selected after an individualized examination and case analysis, which includes the symptoms of the disease, medical history of the patient, genetic predisposition and physical and mental constitution amongst others.
According to a case study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a series of 14 cases of vitiligo were presented, with an average age of 29.8 years. They were treated with individualized homeopathic remedies. The best results were achieved in 11 patients with an 87% recovery rate and 3 patients achieved more than 55% of recovery within 13 months.
At Dr Batra’s®, with our experience in Homeopathy, we have treated over 3 lakh patients suffering from skin conditions, including vitiligo with a 94.3% positive treatment outcome (authenticated by the American Quality Assessors). Book an appointment with our homeopathic dermatologist and get rid of the white patches without any side effects.
