Can you enjoy sunbathing if you have vitiligo? The past week here in the UK has seen the first really warm spring weather. The lambs in the fields surrounding where I live are frolicking like playful children. The hedgerows are smothered in hawthorn blossom and wild flowers. And I have been […]
Vitiligo Blog
Summer isn’t the only time of year we bare our skin… The patchy pigment loss that vitiligo sufferers contend with on a daily basis affects some people more profoundly than others. The severity of the condition, as well as the psychological mind-set of the individual, are both obvious factors. And […]
These might just help you to repigment your skin Following on from my previous top tips posts on the subject, here are another 5 vitiligo tips for you that might just help you to repigment your skin. In any case, they are well worth being aware of… Because, with a […]
If you are anything like me, you will have read and heard a lot about vitiligo and autoimmunity (As well as links between vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases like diabetes mellitus, thyroiditis, pernicious anaemia, alopecia areata, Addison disease and multiple endocrinopathy syndrome.) But you may be a bit unclear as […]
Will sun make me gain skin pigment or lose it? We Brits have a reputation for going a bit bonkers with our sunbathing whenever we get good weather. With the result that each mini “heatwave” we have leaves a percentage of the population a tender shade of beetroot. Despite all […]
I recently came across some good news for vitiligo sufferers who love Indian food… Well, for anyone who likes Asian cuisine really. This information about the health benefits of eating butter and ghee is good news all round, but especially for those of us who have any sort of chronic condition […]
This time I’ve really gone nuts… … coconuts, that is! I have become a real nut about coconut oil as perhaps the most versatile, healthy, cost effective and generally beneficial product on the planet. Even if you don’t have vitiligo I would highly recommend you give coconut oil a try. These are […]
Is vitiligo also on the rise? Evidently, autoimmune disease is on the increase in the western world. Which begs the question, are all autoimmune diseases on the rise? And, in particular, what about vitiligo? Scientists have sometimes quibbled over the question of whether or not vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. […]
When I was younger I never gave an organic lifestyle any more thought than the average person did back then. In fact, it is only in the last ten or fifteen years that I have realised its importance. Not just for health in general, but even more so for those […]
Moving on with my series of blogs about diseases that are sometimes associated with vitiligo, I’d like to turn the spotlight on diabetes. Both diabetes and vitiligo share an association with autoimmunity. And, whilst the two conditions certainly don’t always occur together, having one increases your likelihood of developing the other. So it […]
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 […]
Psoriasis and vitiligo share a number of characteristics in common. Both are chronic skin disorders with a genetic component and no cure. (Although various helpful therapies do exist for them.) They are both categorised as inflammatory autoimmune conditions. And research points to a close relationship between the two. To suggest […]
Most doctors will tell you that loss of colour is the only noticeable #vitiligo-symptom. However, I always noticed that the skin on my vitiligo lesions was much more prone to natural exfoliation than the rest of my skin. If I rubbed the de-pigmented skin firmly with my hand every week […]
Is vitiligo beautiful? It can be. If you doubt that vitiligo can be beautiful, then take a look at the photos on Steve Hargadon’s wonderful Uniquely Beautiful vitiligo collage. You will soon see what I mean. The many and varied patterns of vitiligo in these pictures seem to turn the […]
How much time do you spend doing this? Not everyone with vitiligo allows it to dominate their thoughts. I admire those individuals who are able to put their white patches into healthy perspective and simply get on with their lives. However, I can’t begin to estimate how much time I […]
In my previous two blog posts I described how to use natural henna as a self-tan on white vitiligo patches. This is something I have recently experimented with as I still have a few freckled areas of white skin on my hands and feet… Even though the pigment on the […]
It’s been over 4 years (at the time of writing this post) since my natural skin colour started returning. (Thanks to a nutritional approach that I stumbled on more or less by accident) And, even now, my vitiligo recovery is still continuing. Since 2010, virtually all of my previously white […]
I came across this fascinating article by James J Nordlund today. It was 3 years old (at the time of publishing this post). But the information is certainly not out of date. I find that a lot of vitiligo information that can be accessed online is repetitive and too superficial […]
Voltaire (1694-1778) said “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” If you are re-pigmenting naturally, as I have done, you’ll know that nature takes her time. It’s taken me 3 years but at least it’s been faster than waiting for a wonder-drug! If […]
Virtually every website and medical leaflet on the subject recommends to vitiligo sufferers that they use sunscreen to prevent their un-pigmented skin from burning. What most of them don’t say is that we may make matters worse by following this advice indiscriminately. Most sunscreens are full of synthetic chemical ingredients […]