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Original poster

To be shocked by multiple white patches on child’s face after foreign sun exposure

118 replies

TraciePollins · 14/08/2026 00:47

Currently on holiday in Turkey. Very very very hot.
DD is 12 and after about 6 days of sun, her face has developed multiple very white patches all over her cheeks, forehead, nose and chin. The white patches are really noticeable as in between these white patches is very tanned skin.
I have applied SPF50 waterproof to her face every 2-3 hours all day every day from the minute we leave our hotel until sunset since we've been here. Kept in shade plenty in between sea and pool.
She has never ever had this before and we've been on plenty of summer holidays in hot weather before, but this is her first time in heat as strong as Turkey.
So now she has a face which is white irregular patches of skin in between tanned skin all over her face.
When we left England 6 days ago she had the same normal complexion with the same colour skin all over her face that she's had all her life.
I'm shocked as I've never seen her skin do this before. Never any sign of it ever in her life.
What on earth has happened?
She's crying because it is freaking her out - the multiple white patches really stand out against the darker tanned skin surrounding the white patches. Her face looks completely different now compared to how it did a week ago before coming away.
What is this? Will it go away?

OP posts:
borborygmus1 · 14/08/2026 06:56

Look up pityriasis alba/versicolor.
Much less likely to be vitiligo given this history.
Bit of daktacort twice daily for a week from the GP or a confident pharmacist should sort this out but pigment will take a while to come back.

LarkspurBlues · 14/08/2026 06:52

GnomeDePlume · 14/08/2026 06:47

If it is vitiligo of the autoimmune variety be aware (and make sure your DD is aware as she becomes an adult) that autoimmune conditions can 'cluster'. So if other conditions develop later in life immune system may be the culprit and treatment route.

I have an excitable immune system and vitiligo is one of my conditions.

Same, exactly. Have you found any ways to
slow it all down? Not sure I’m winning with my cluster of things.

GnomeDePlume · 14/08/2026 06:47

If it is vitiligo of the autoimmune variety be aware (and make sure your DD is aware as she becomes an adult) that autoimmune conditions can 'cluster'. So if other conditions develop later in life immune system may be the culprit and treatment route.

I have an excitable immune system and vitiligo is one of my conditions.

pastadish · 14/08/2026 06:22

Its far more likely to be tinea, you can use Nizoral shampoo on it google how to use it how long to keep it in for etc. or go to the doctor

HoldingOntoMySanity · 14/08/2026 06:19

PyongyangKipperbang · 14/08/2026 01:33

My mixed race dd has vitiligo that only shows when she has prolonged sun exposure as she is quite pale (relatively) usually, so it doesnt show. Sounds like that to me.

ETA

DD is 15, has EDHS and eczema. Not sure if any of that info helps. I am white british with EDHS and eczema. Her father is Jamaican (British born, and a cunt).

Edited

Sorry, but that made me laugh hard @PyongyangKipperbang Thanks

I've learned alot from this thread about vitiligo, thank you all.

NautilusLionfish · 14/08/2026 06:12

PyongyangKipperbang · 14/08/2026 01:33

My mixed race dd has vitiligo that only shows when she has prolonged sun exposure as she is quite pale (relatively) usually, so it doesnt show. Sounds like that to me.

ETA

DD is 15, has EDHS and eczema. Not sure if any of that info helps. I am white british with EDHS and eczema. Her father is Jamaican (British born, and a cunt).

Edited

A British born Jamaica cunt.

I shouldn't but it made me laugh. esp that it was part of ETA. So very important

And am sorry he is a cunt. Kids deserve better. As do you.

Sunnibee · 14/08/2026 05:52

CleanShirt · 14/08/2026 05:18

Coming over here, giving out white patches

Show quote history

😂😂

SmallHouseEnergy · 14/08/2026 05:51

See a doctor
DH developed loss of pigment due to a fungal infection when we went abroad 12 years ago after being in the sea and sun. Never had it before. Treatable, but he is now more prone to it and seems to get it every few years after a holiday.

My dads friend also had the same happen to him.

Nearly50omg · 14/08/2026 05:50

PyongyangKipperbang · 14/08/2026 01:33

My mixed race dd has vitiligo that only shows when she has prolonged sun exposure as she is quite pale (relatively) usually, so it doesnt show. Sounds like that to me.

ETA

DD is 15, has EDHS and eczema. Not sure if any of that info helps. I am white british with EDHS and eczema. Her father is Jamaican (British born, and a cunt).

Edited

It’s hEDS

FrowningFlamingo · 14/08/2026 05:47

This is a classic history of fungal infection (tinea)
the patches are her normal skin colour which hasn’t tanned because of the infection.

anti fungal cream or shampoo from the GP will sort it but the colour won’t even out until either she had more sun exposure or the existing tan fades so don’t panic if it still looks the same after treatment for a while!

bocketyaulbag · 14/08/2026 05:27

TraciePollins · 14/08/2026 01:04

What can a doctor do?

Show quote history

Diagnose it?

CleanShirt · 14/08/2026 05:18

TwoBagsOfCompost · 14/08/2026 04:36

Foreign sun 🫠🫠🫠🫠

Coming over here, giving out white patches

TwoBagsOfCompost · 14/08/2026 04:36

Foreign sun 🫠🫠🫠🫠

Missey85 · 14/08/2026 04:33

99bottlesofkombucha · 14/08/2026 01:13

I am Australian with very fair children and I don’t understand how they could be so tanned white patches stands out in a few days. We go to the beach every day for weeks in summer and much as I’d like them to my kids don’t wear a hat in the water, and they have never been tanned like that.

There not built for the sun like we are 😂 hence all the sunburned tourists at the beach dad said you knew the Aussies because it's drilled into us about hats and sunscreen so they were the ones being sunsafe

Strawberrryfields · 14/08/2026 04:26

If it’s tinea it can be treated with a strong anti dandruff shampoo (pharmacy not head and shoulders) so perhaps you could try that while you’re away. If she’s self conscious you can use make up to cover the patches until her tan fades or you find a suitable treatment.

PatricksRum · 14/08/2026 04:16

PyongyangKipperbang · 14/08/2026 01:33

My mixed race dd has vitiligo that only shows when she has prolonged sun exposure as she is quite pale (relatively) usually, so it doesnt show. Sounds like that to me.

ETA

DD is 15, has EDHS and eczema. Not sure if any of that info helps. I am white british with EDHS and eczema. Her father is Jamaican (British born, and a cunt).

Edited

Haha, love the final sentence!

Sweetbeansandmochi · 14/08/2026 04:16

I also have sun damage on my back that I can date to sitting on a balcony in Hawaii. It is on the one side of my back which was angled toward the sun- but it was the most sunburnt I have ever been, and it blistered at the time. I am quite fair.

My husband has very tanned skin and he has white patches on his skin on his forehead from going to Portugal a few years ago. They get more noticeable when his tan is deeper. But, I would say he used to sun bake (not bathe) for years before the damage showed up.

So, I think that previous posters suggesting it has a more specific cause rather than jumping to her skin is permanently damaged, is probably more likely.

sashh · 14/08/2026 03:55

Just one thought OP do you apply the sun screen before leaving? You need to apply it 30 mins before exposure.

Please be careful. I have permanent white patches on my right forearm I can date to a particular holiday where I was forced to stand in the sun.

Dandygirl · 14/08/2026 03:45

Hi in my teens many moons ago I used to get white patches during the summer. My Gp saiditwas hormonal and I used season shampoo on my skin. I would leave it on overnight and it would go away, nothing noticeable when the tan would go and it did come back over a couple of summers but only when I went to Europe-hotter I suppose. It I haven’t had any flare fora very long time.

LBFseBrom · 14/08/2026 03:16

Could be vitiligo.

catmothertes1 · 14/08/2026 03:06

Foreign sun? I did not know that there were more than one sun.

Original poster
TraciePollins · 14/08/2026 02:09

sickofsixseven · 14/08/2026 02:01

No its not because of this. What nonsense.

op it does sound like vitiligo. Mine is on my hands and feet and becomes more noticeable when I've been in the sun. Mine has actually repigmented a lot over the past few years, so its not a given that it always progresses. Usually when its on the face it tends to start around the mouth, nose and eyes. Is this the case with your DD? It could also be tinea versicolor which was what I was initially told when it appeared on my hands. Take her to doctors asap to check.

Show quote history

Thanks. The first patch started on the apple of her cheek. Then spread to both cheeks and now forehead too.
There is none around her mouth/ nose/ eyes.
And there is none at all anywhere else on her body.
I will take her to Dr.

OP posts:
butterfly245 · 14/08/2026 02:09

My toddler had something similar which we were pretty sure was this (pic uploaded). He has eczema. Evened out after a week or so

To be shocked by multiple white patches on child’s face after foreign sun exposure
sickofsixseven · 14/08/2026 02:01

somanychristmaslights · 14/08/2026 00:53

It’s because of the sun exposure which destroys the pigmentation in the skin. I’d go to the doctor to check it’s nothing else. Usually retinoids can help but not sure on a child.

No its not because of this. What nonsense.

op it does sound like vitiligo. Mine is on my hands and feet and becomes more noticeable when I've been in the sun. Mine has actually repigmented a lot over the past few years, so its not a given that it always progresses. Usually when its on the face it tends to start around the mouth, nose and eyes. Is this the case with your DD? It could also be tinea versicolor which was what I was initially told when it appeared on my hands. Take her to doctors asap to check.

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