How to Tell if It's Vitiligo or Something Else - Everyday Health

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder that causes depigmentation, or loss of skin pigment, leading to light or white patches of skin and hair. According to MedlinePlus, vitiligo is relatively common, affecting up to 1.5 percent of people worldwide.

Like other autoimmune conditions, vitiligo develops when your immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), vitiligo causes the immune system to attack melanocytes, the skin cells that produce melanin to give your skin its natural color.

What Are the Symptoms of Vitiligo?

Aside from patches of depigmented skin, the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD) notes that vitiligo can cause symptoms that include:

• Itchy skin
• Spots on your skin that are more prone to sunburn than others
• Patches of hair color loss on your scalp, eyelashes, or eyebrows
• Eye color changes
• Hearing loss

NIAMS notes a number of other features that set vitiligo apart from other skin diseases. For one, depigmented patches of skin tend to be symmetrical. They also tend to progress quickly and may connect and cover large areas of your body. Early signs of vitiligo tend to develop during childhood, or before the age of 20. And per the AAD, visible symptoms of vitiligo most often start in the face, arms, hands, and feet.

Also, according to MedlinePlus, about 15 to 25 percent of people with vitiligo have at least one other autoimmune disorder. Examples of other autoimmune conditions include psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and type 1 diabetes.

How Is Vitiligo Diagnosed?

While there's no cure for vitiligo, treatments can help reduce disease progression or even help encourage melanocyte regrowth. But before you can seek such treatments, it's important that you get an official diagnosis of vitiligo — and rule out the possibility of another condition with overlapping symptoms.

"In most instances, the diagnosis of vitiligo is straightforward and made on clinical grounds," says Alpana Mohta, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and medical adviser for BetterGoods.org based in Japiur, India. "In order to predict the disease progression and outcome, your dermatologist will ask about your family history, including vitiligo, thyroid disease, or any other autoimmune disorder." She adds that a diagnosis may include autoimmune blood testing and a skin biopsy to examine melanocytes.

"A very common noninvasive office procedure to differentiate vitiligo from other similar conditions includes the evaluation of the vitiligo patches under a specific UVB light-emitting device known as the Wood's light," says Sanober Pezad, MD, a double board-certified specialist in integrative and holistic dermatology who's based in Dallas.

If you're diagnosed with vitiligo or another autoimmune disease, it's important to keep up with all recommended lab testing and follow-up appointments as recommended by your doctor.

7 Skin Conditions Commonly Confused With Vitiligo

But how can you tell at home if you're dealing with vitiligo or another skin condition? Here's a look at seven other skin conditions that are sometimes mistaken for vitiligo and how they differ from it.

How to Tell if It's Vitiligo or Something Else - Everyday Health