Recovering from vitiligo
The response in terms of re-pigmentation is usually seen within 3-4 months after starting the treatment, with the appearance of melanic spots with a diameter ranging from 0.1 to 5 mm.
Usually the tiny spots enlarge and merge together so that the area regains the colour of the healthy surrounding skin.
The clinical results are measured by comparing digital pictures of the patient’s skin at regular intervals of time (usually every 3 - 4 months). Obtaining good pictures of a patient with vitiligo is not always easy, because the colour alterations are visible in patients with a dark phototype or during the summer season. Thus, in order to get a precise measurement of the size of the patches, a light system that artificially enhances the contrast between the healthy skin and the skin affected by vitiligo must be used. The best system so far is to illuminate the surface of the skin with Wood’s light: in fact, this type of ultraviolet light makes the white patches of vitiligo fluorescent.
Microphototherapy is particularly indicated in subjects with segmental vitiligo and in patients with bilateral, symmetrical vitiligo that does not affect more than 40% of the body’s surface area.
There are no particular contraindications to this treatment because the dose of ultraviolet irradiation to the skin is less than that delivered with conventional treatments.
The advantage of BIOSKIN® therapy is that is concentrated only on the areas affected by vitiligo and can be repeated every 2-4 weeks rather than requiring treatment sessions three times a week, as needed by other common phototherapies.
Microphototherapy should not be used in some subjects: people with diseases sensitive to light (systemic lupus erythematosus, xeroderma pigmentosum, porphyria, cutaneous viral infections in the acute phase, etc.) and also in subjects undergoing systemic or topical pharmacological treatment with photosensitising drugs or substances that are chemical unstable if exposed to ultraviolet rays.
BIOSKIN® microphototherapy is not harmful in any other people, is easy to use and is truly effective at inducing re-pigmentation of areas of skin affected by vitiligo.
