Vitiligo and hair growth

Last Updated on 31st January 2020 by Caroline Haye

Back in 2010 – before I re-pigmented – this is what my legs looked like under a Wood’s Light. They are now 99% re-pigmented (and a lot slimmer too, I’m glad to say – ha,ha!) Seeing the positive changes happening has been amazing. And one of the more unusual aspects of it all relates to vitiligo and hair growth.

Most of the hairs on the white patches used to be white too but have regained their original colour as the pigment returned to the skin. Nothing unusual in that, of course. 

What is strange though is that the hairs in some of the white patches (mainly on the thighs) used to only grow to a fraction of their normal length and then stop, so they felt raised and almost like stubble. But as the pigment returned to the skin, the hairs grew longer and softer again.  They are now completely normal again, just like the skin colour.

I wonder if any other vitiligo sufferers have the same experience of stunted hair growth on their white patches? And I wonder if it might be something similar to alopecia areata, which is another autoimmune condition.