This article is an overview of vitiligo treatment. For a short description of the disease and its effects you can view that here.

The interesting conundrum is that no single vitiligo cure will always work. The doctor will have to look at the individual, the area of depigmentation and then select the treatment option that appears to make the most sense. The physician needs to appraise the patient of all the pros and cons associated with the chosen treatment plan. The prescribed regimens have to be followed carefully and if they don’t work, as is often the case, a second treatments for vitiligo should be started.

If several different treatments don’t work, the solution is often to use makeup to disguise the condition. The treatment prescribed by my doctor was to use an oral psoralen and exposure to natural UV light (the sun). It didn’t work. There were no other treatments for vitiligo at the time (30 years ago) so I was forced to use makeup to disguise the condition. At the time I was living in the U.S, so there was a constant, and substantial opportunity, to be exposed to sunlight. Being of fair complexion, I was lucky in some respects that I don’t tan that well. The density of freckles simply goes up. By being conscientious about minimizing sun exposure to my face, I was able to make it less noticeable with the exception of my half white eyebrow. That required makeup. I found and used for a very long time (decades) a powder that came in a cake form that I brushed onto my eyebrow. The powder would usually remain, in some fashion for several days as long as I was careful not to scrub or rub my eyebrow. Even so, the makeup could be re-applied in a matter of about 10 – 20 seconds. Recently, within the past 5 years or so, I’ve been dying my eyebrow. Even so, there are times when I don’t get around to dying so end up reverting to the eyebrow make-up.

There are numerous treatments but no vitiligo cure. Here is a list of the current
Vitiligo Treatments:

Restore pigmentation

Topical psoralen and Ultrviolet A light (PUVA)
Topical immunomodulators
Topical steroid
Oral psoralen photochemotherapy (Oral PUVA)
Narrowband Ultaviolet B (UVB)
Move pigmented skin to depigmented location

Autologous skin graft
Blister grafting
Cosmetically alter the skin

Depigmentation
Tatooing (micropigmentation)
There are a couple of experimental vitiligo treatments that show promise. In one, melanocytes from the patient’s skin that is still pigmented are extracted, grown in a lab and then transplanted back to the patient within the depigmented area. The second is where piperine, a chemical found in black pepper, is used. Sometimes UV light is used in concert with the piperine treatments.

Below you will find several cover-up creams and skin dye. Also shown are various dietary supplements that are referred to in various books that are thought to help with natural treatments for vitiligo.