That skin thing where you go white? Vitiligo?

[charliecat]

What can you do about the patches? DP started off with some between his eyebrows and its spreading..HELP!!

Thats the one. You need to see your Dr because I think it can be stopped or slowed.

I have this and really hate it.ask for a referral from your GP. Sadly it can't be stopped or slowed really (there are some powerful drugs and skin creams but can be quite uneffective). I do have some camoflauge make up - get it on prescription and a cosmetic nurse at the hospital shows me how to use it, different colours for summer/winter - looks natural not like make-up. also men use it.

Do your kids have it gigwig? Our dds seem to have the opposite, very white skin with coffee marks.
When does it stop?? It just seems to be appearing, overnight.

not yet.doesn't have to be hereditary though. DS has allergies though. Vitiligo is an
auto-immune condition - sadly complications for me mean why we cant have another child. It does seem to appear overnight I agree. When your skin gets a bit of colour it makes the patches seem worse so keep well covered in sun cream.

I think I have this as well. It started when I was about 21 or so (after getting badly burnt on holiday). Have white patches on my arms, legs and stomach. Luckily not so bad on my face - just round my eyes which can be hidden by make-up. I keep well-covered up in the sun and wear really high factor sun creams.

Have never bothered to see a doctor though - is there really any need, as I know they can't do anything much about it?

Think there is also a skin fungus (sounds appealing doesn't it??), that can affect pigmentation. IIRC, a topical cream can be obtained from a doctor and will remedy/help the situation over time.

My sister-in-law has a severe form of this. Oddly, she does some kind of treatment involving tanning beds, which I've never really understood, since I know you have to be careful about burning? A friend of my mother's has it as well and she finally took something that eliminated all of her pigment so that her skin, while quite pale, is uniform.

Then there's the Michael Jackson treatment...

I have this & am currently having UVB treatment twice a week at hospital. I havea couple of dots on my skin which apparently shows my skin's attempt at re-pigmentation.

Your DP should go to the Dr & they should at least test him for thyroid as is in the same family. I don't have thyroid problems, but my mum does.

Also, need to ensure he wears at least a factor 30 on his face as he will be prone to burning - > skin cancer. Might also want to look at zinc & b12 supplements.