Posts Tagged ‘Hair Follicles’
Vitiligo UVB NB Treatment - What areas should I treat?
I received an email last night which reminded me that I have not discussed treatment areas and response to treatment.
I’ll begin by saying that the areas of our bodies with few hair follicles such as the hands, feet, knees and elbows are the toughest areas to treat with any form UVB NB. It’s the hair follicles that harbor the last remaining melanocytes and it is the melanocytes that help color our skin.
That being said, the other areas such as the face, neck, torso, arms, legs etc seem to respond well to treatment for perhaps 70% to 80% of people with Vitiligo.
I’m asked often “Should I use sunblock or mask the areas that are not affected by Vitiligo?” There are at least two answers to this question and you should check with your dermatolgist as to what s/he would prefer.
There are a couple of things that can go wrong if you start masking or covering areas that have not depigmented:
- If you fail to cover an area that you have been covering in the past, there is a very high likelihood/risk of sunburn and
- although there have been few studies on this, if an area is starting to de-pigment and you expose it to UVB Narrowband during treatment, then perhaps it will never develop.
The choice to cover or not to cover is between you and your dermatologist. Safety is an issue. UVB appears to be safer than PUVA/UVA. I discuss a little of the safety aspect elsewhere in my blog. See http://www.uvbnarrowband.com/?p=117