Leucoderma signs - White patches on skin - Loss of skin pigmentation

White spots on skin, lips, fingernails, teeth, tonsils and genitalia > Leucoderma (vitiligo) white patches on skin > Causes > Signs > Diagnosis - Treatment and cure - Recent research

Signs of leucoderma

• There are clear cut visual signs of leucoderma.
• Loss of skin pigmentation occurs in leucoderma giving rise to white patches on skin.
• These patches of loss of pigmentation are flat and even in level with rest of the dermis.
• There is normally no scale formation in the lesion areas.
• These white patches prominently occur on the extremities like hands and feet.
• Initially in leucoderma, the loss of pigmentation occurs as small spots and it progresses to cover larger areas with different shapes.
• The loss of pigmentation initially appears to be connected to the parts of the body exposed more to sun.
• These areas of loss of skin pigmentation are prominent on the face, feet, wrists and hands.
• Another tel-tale sign of this disease of white patches is depigmentation around the orifices of the body like mouth, nostrils, eyes, ears, genitalia, anus and umbilicus.
Hand affected by vitiligo
• In some cases these white patches with loss of pigmentation show hyperpigmentation on the margin of the lesions.
• The hair growing on the lesion area also loses pigment and turns grey.
• In the vitiligo affected there is premature graying or whitening of hair on the head, eye brows, eyelashes or beard.
• In dark skinned people the inside of the mouth may also loses colour.
• Leucoderma is more noticeable in dark skinned people.
• Exposure to sun makes the lesions more noticeable and can cause sun burn.

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