Vitiligo

I saw an old man with what I assume was vitiligo quite prominantly on his face and neck the other day, and I must admit I took a second glance because it was odd and a little unsightly - he had that kind of old man's brown skin, that you get from sitting in the garden lots smoking a pipe, so the contrast was very prominant.

I think only someone who didn't suffer from it would say it was "not to be sweated". Mind you, I remember vaguelly panicking when I got chickenpox as a 19 year old that my facial scars would bother me for the rest of my life, but they're barely noticable and I don't think of them. Obviously they're highly unlikely to ever get any worse though.

I get the idea that a lot of people wouldn't have heard of it at all if it weren't for Michael Jackson, and also that, because of his general weirdness, it perhaps doens't get treated as seriously as it should.

My regular doctor back when I first discovered it was of no help, two or three homeopath clinics since have only been slightly more so. The general verdict is (from what I've been told): not much you can do about it ultimately, but there are thankfully no other ramifications--it's purely a visual thing. A couple homeopaths prescribed various creams which I basically discovered were little more than glorified and expensive skin moisturizers. One homeopath mentioned (and I've also seen this mentioned on web sites) is that one thing--it's a theory, anyway--that MIGHT cause some people to contact it is a lack of folic acid in their diet, so I have been taking supplements on and off for a few years. It's hard to gauge if it's made a difference or not: I do feel like it slowed the spreading of it down some, but it's really hard to measure that in a way. I luckily got over the obsessing-over-my-weird-spotted-hands part of it pretty quickly, and now it's like, "oh, look, there's more." The spreading of it does seem to occur more in the spring and summer than in the winter, and I'm still in the process of training myself to never leave home without some sunblock on the face, at least, even in the winter. (I keep a bottle of sunblock at the door, and one in the car.)

It's clearly at a pretty embryonic stage as these things go, and has been present for several years now in, uh, 'other' regions without any real change to the rest of my body. But I noticed a splodge on my neck last week, and today a 5mm square patch on the back of my hand, lower back, my arm... these incidences sound a bit nothing in isolation, but when you notice them all within a fortnight of each other there is weird sense of encroaching doom; the idea of it 'spreading' seems horrific, but inevitable.

I will definitely try the folic acid thing. And go back to doctor (his response surprised me too, he is sensitive and great about most things). I don't think lasers can do much for it, but it would be fantastic if somehow they magically did. Maybe it is stress-related? I am clutching at straws, but, this does appear to be a factor that can exacerbate so many other random ailments.

Really, being fair skinned is an advantage here, it is much worse for other people. There is not much to be gained by becoming bitter and obsessive about it. I guess.

I hear you--I'm only able to downplay my feelings about it now. I was much more freaked about it a few years ago. It still occasionally bothers me, especially as it spreads on the face. It's mostly around my eyes now--sort of like the opposite of "dark circles under the eyes"--but as (or, cross my fingers, IF) it spreads more, I'll definitely look into some type of makeup to wear, at least in the event of a family photo or something (I've always been a nascent glam rocker...I should be looking forward to such opportunities).

As for lasers, I completely forgot to mention that I did look into it, and even came pretty close to signing up for regular treatments at a local hospital. The possibility, however remote, of cancerous side effects from that (the physician was quite explicit about this) killed that dream pretty instantly for me. It's probably one of the things that helped me stop obsessing over the visual inevitability.

Last year when I came back from holiday (the only time I'm ever slightly off-white) I noticed two or three round white spots on my back.

For the first time in about a decade I actually managed to pick up a bit of a tan on holiday this year. Since I came back I've noticed more white spots appearing, about 15 in total, again mostly on my back. It seems to be spreading, but the biggest of them is only about an inch across so I'm not overly concerned at the moment.

Looking at some of the more serious cases on the web is a bit scary all the same - for once I'm kind of glad my normal appearance is Mr Whitey White West Of Scotland Hermit.