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Twitter: @arunagee
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/agnanas
Bloglovin’: http://www.bloglovin.com/arunagnanasekaran
Personal Website: www.arunagee.com
Eudaimonia 
Hey, I came across your post about vitiligo doing a search on google.. I’m 23 years old and last summer 2 small white spots appeared on my face. One on my right cheek and a couple of small ones on my chin. Went to a skin doctor who didn’t tell me what it was and just gave me some ointment called protopic. A month ago I went on a ski vacation and the sun burnt my face.. It spread from my right cheek all the way down to my chin until the edge of my left bottom lip. 2 dots on my above my upper lip. So its a little bit surrounding my lower lip also. After I came back I went to a different skin doc which said I had vitiligo.. Anyway I was wondering when you got it and was it first on your face and then spread to other places on your body.. And how long it took? I also saw you hiking, I’m really an extreme kinda girl and I wanted to take a snepleng course or maybe go study something that involves the outdoors and trips. I was wondering if you go to the beach or not, does that spread your vitiligo. Are you avoiding the sun or not? Thank you for your time:)
Hey K, I was prescribed protopic when I when to the dermatologist the first time! I was told it’s an immunosuppressant, and since our immune systems are attacking the skin cells (melatonin) that produce color for our skin (melanin), some doctors believe that protopic *could* help. I wasn’t sure of the side effects, so I tossed it 😛
Oh god. I’m so sorry you burnt your face. That happened to me once, and my skin bubbled up with burns on the areas with my viti-spots. Ouch!! I would definitely avoid too much sun on your vitiligo if I were you. Honestly, vitiligo is so different from one person to the next, but there’s one thing we all have in common for sure: too much sun will hurt the sensitive, unprotected white spots and could make our vitiligo spread.
I got vitiligo in 2009. Yes, it started on my face, just a small spot on my chin/cheek area. It spread a lot over the next 2 years, so that it was all over my face, then also my back and head. I have a bit of white hair now. However, recently (in the past couple years) my vitiligo has slowly been receding, because I have figured out what triggers my stress and am learning to manage it. For example, I need sooo much sleep compared to most adults my age. But it’s definitely not possible to get that much sleep every night. I just have to keep monitoring how much I get and how I’m feeling. I’m not sure if prolonged sun exposure spreads my vitiligo – but that’s partly because I don’t expose it to the sun for a long time.
It is possible that sun is a major trigger for you. You can still go hiking!! Just be sure to wear sunscreen. Wear a hat. Be aware of where your vitiligo is so that you can protect it from sun damage and you can still have adventures outdoors. I do it all the time, and so can you! 🙂
Big hugs!
Aruna
Thank you so much, you really are a sweetheart.
Its been 2 months and the protopic has helped reduce the vitilligo that spread on my face. There’s still a way to go, but I try not to think about it and just keep up with the ointment. The worst thing you can do is stress about it. So for now its some makeup, a hat, and staying calm:)
You are so right – the worse thing you can do is stress about it. I hope it’s been going well! How has the protopic ointment been working out?