Ear’s a nice surprise!

Last Updated on 25th January 2019 by Caroline Haye

Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference.  And, if you have a chronic condition of any sort – in my case, #vitiligo – there really is no such thing as a small improvement: every #improvement is massive.  So, as some light relief between my posts on other diseases related to vitiligo, I thought I’d share with you a very nice – if  odd – surprise I had recently.

I’m fortunate enough to have almost fully repigmented over the past 4 years after a lifetime with widespread white patches on my skin.  I have always been very observant about the shape and size of every patch of white skin and have observed them as closely as they have diminished as I did when they first started developing.  (Anyone with vitiligo will understand how obsessive a person becomes when their appearance is prone to fundamental changes from one day to the next.)  However, I only recently noticed something that I had completely overlooked: my ears, which had lost all their pigment years ago are 100% repigmented and I never even noticed it happening.  (I suppose it just goes to show that it’s not that easy to see something when it’s stuck to the side of your head!)  Although I probably wasn’t as upset about my ears as I was about my face and other areas of my body affected by vitiligo, I do remember thinking they looked as if they were made of wax because of the stark contrast in colour where they peeked out from my short dark hair… a bit like a chimp’s ears, I used to think! 

It’s only because I developed quite a tan over the past month or so that this improvement has become apparent.  Some of the repigmented areas of my body are still quite freckled (lots and lots of freckles that have mostly joined up but you can still see that there is some slight mottling) whereas others have never produced freckles at all – they have simply faded back to full colour gradually.  My ears come into this latter category.  The day I noticed that my ears were back to their original skin tone I actually spoke aloud to them in the mirror and said “OMG – it’s soooo good to have you back!”

If you don’t have vitiligo you will think I’m a total nutcase for talking to my ears, but then if you don’t have vitiligo you are probably not reading this blog!