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The course and severity of pigment loss differ with each person. In most cases, vitiligo begins in a small area. Over time, other spots may appear, while existing spots may grow larger. Some people notice that their vitiligo may stay the same for years or even decades, and then suddenly new areas of depigmentation may occur. Occasionally, vitiligo patches will repigment spontaneously, all by themselves, with no treatment whatsoever. Most people with vitiligo do notice this happening at one point or another.
In many, but certainly not all cases, vitiligo does progress slowly over time, but there is really no way to tell whether your vitiligo will progress or not. It is a slow progressing condition however, and most patients report that they may go many years without new patches developing, and then may discover new patches appearing years later. Some people even report spots that spontaneously repigment, with no treatment at all. Use of new technologies however, may be able to arrest new spots in their development.
Segmental vitiligo ---
Some people develop vitiligo only in one or a few limited areas of their body. This is called segmental vitiligo. People with vitiligo can have a combination of segmental and generalized vitiligo.
Generalized vitiligo ---
Most people find that their vitiligo develops in a generalized way, very often with bilateral characteristics, meaning that if a vitiligo patch appears on one elbow, it very often appears on the other elbow about the same time. |
