Vitiligo Vulgaris Quiz
Check your symptoms and
find possible causes with AI for free
Worried about your symptoms?
Start the Vitiligo Vulgaris test with our free AI Symptom Checker.
This will help us personalize your assessment.
By starting the symptom checker, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
White patches on skin
White spots on skin
Skin losing color
Parts of skin looking lighter
Patches of white hair on body
Early graying of hair
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
What is Vitiligo Vulgaris?
Destruction of pigment cells in the skin causes white patches to appear due to an autoimmune disease, where the body's immune system attacks its own pigment cells.
Typical Symptoms of Vitiligo Vulgaris
- White patches on the skin
- White hair on a patch of white skin
- Whitish patches on the skin, that enlarge and look like continents on a map
- Skin problems
Diagnostic Questions for Vitiligo Vulgaris
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Do you have any white patches on your skin?
- Do you have white hair on the pale skin patch?
- Do you have a big white area (like a country on a map) on your skin?
- Do you have any skin problems
Treatment of Vitiligo Vulgaris
There is no cure for vitiligo. Some treatments to slow or reverse color change include cosmetic products, creams, oral medications, and ultraviolet therapy. Sun protection can reduce sun damage to light areas and decrease tanning of normal skin.
Reviewed By:
Kenji Taylor, MD, MSc (Family Medicine, Primary Care)
Dr. Taylor is a Japanese-African American physician who grew up and was educated in the United States but spent a considerable amount of time in Japan as a college student, working professional and now father of three. After graduating from Brown, he worked in finance first before attending medical school at Penn. He then completed a fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control before going on to specialize in Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he was also a chief resident. After a faculty position at Stanford, he moved with his family to Japan where he continues to see families on a military base outside of Tokyo, teach Japanese residents and serve remotely as a medical director for Roots Community Health Center. He also enjoys editing and writing podcast summaries for Hippo Education.
Yukiko Ueda, MD (Dermatology)
Dr. Ueda graduated from the Niigata University School of Medicine and trained at the University of Tokyo Medical School. She is currently a clinical assistant professor at the Department of Dermatology, Jichi Medical University, and holds several posts in the dermatology departments at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Komagome Hospital, University of Tokyo, and the Medical Center of Japan Red Cross Society.
Content updated on Jan 29, 2025
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
Was this page helpful?
Tell your friends about us.
We would love to help them too.
Think you might have
Vitiligo Vulgaris?
Try a symptom check testHow Ubie Can Help You
With a free 3-min Vitiligo Vulgaris quiz, powered by Ubie's AI and doctors, find possible causes of your symptoms.
This questionnaire is customized to your situation and symptoms, including the following personal information:
Biological Sex - helps us provide relevant suggestions for male vs. female conditions.
Age - adjusts our guidance based on any age-related health factors.
History - considers past illnesses, surgeries, family history, and lifestyle choices.
Your symptoms
Our AI
Your report
Your personal report will tell you
✔ When to see a doctor
✔︎ What causes your symptoms
✔︎ Treatment information etc.
People with similar symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes
- Patches of skin with no pigmentation with patches of pigmentation inside
- Patches of skin with no pigmentation that look like a map
- White skin has white hairs growing from it
- Rashes
- Patches of white skin, that have spots of brown or black within
- Map-like vitiligo
- White hair on a patch of white skin
- Patchy white spots with brown speckles on the skin
- Leg rash
- Hypopigmentation with white hair
- Whitish patches on the skin, that enlarge and look like continents on a map
- Patches of white skin with brown spots inside
- Large white area (like a country on a map) on the skin
- Hand skin is dry
- White hair growing over the patch of white/pale skin
See full list
Symptoms Related to Vitiligo Vulgaris
Diseases Related to Vitiligo Vulgaris
FAQs
Q.
Is it Vitiligo? Why your skin is losing pigment & medical next steps
A.
Skin losing pigment may be vitiligo, an autoimmune attack on melanocytes that causes sharply bordered, often symmetrical white patches, but infections or post-inflammatory changes can look similar. Diagnosis is clinical with a Wood's lamp and sometimes blood tests for related autoimmune disease, and next steps include early dermatology evaluation, strict sun protection, and evidence-based treatments such as topical steroids or calcineurin inhibitors, phototherapy or excimer laser, and newer topical JAK inhibitors, with urgent care if pigment loss is rapid or you have systemic symptoms. There are several factors to consider; see below for key signs, look-alikes, testing, treatments, and when to seek urgent care.
References:
* Srivastava, A., & Kumar, M. (2021). Vitiligo: A Review of Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment. *Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology*, *14*(3), 22–32. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33976865/
* Rodrigues, M., Ezzedine, K., Hamzavi, I., Pandya, A. G., & Harris, J. E. (2017). New insights in the pathogenesis and treatment of vitiligo. *Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology*, *77*(1), 1–13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28623023/
* Mohan, P. M., & Parsad, D. (2020). Management of Vitiligo. *Indian Dermatology Online Journal*, *11*(4), 493–508. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32904323/
* Goulart, L. B., & Ramos, E. B. (2017). An overview of pigmentary disorders: an update. *International Journal of Dermatology*, *56*(7), 701–710. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28543789/
* Speeckaert, R., & van Geel, N. (2017). Vitiligo: an update on pathophysiology and treatment. *Expert Review of Clinical Immunology*, *13*(2), 167–177. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27852156/
Q.
Vanishing Pigment? Why Your Skin Is Fading and the Medically Proven Next Steps
A.
Fading or sharply defined white patches are most often due to vitiligo, an autoimmune loss of pigment, though infections like tinea versicolor, postinflammatory hypopigmentation, chemical exposures, and rare disorders can also cause skin to lighten. There are several factors to consider. Proven next steps include early dermatologist evaluation, sun protection, and evidence-based treatments such as topical steroids or calcineurin inhibitors, phototherapy, newer JAK inhibitors, and screening for related autoimmune disease. See the complete guidance below to understand timing, risks, and which options may best fit your situation.
References:
* Ezzedine K, Eleftheriadou V, Kasbari C, van Geel N. Vitiligo: Pathogenesis, clinical features, and management. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2023 Feb;88(2):297-307. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2022.09.006. Epub 2022 Sep 9. PMID: 36087754.
* Goel N, Gupta P, Kumari N, Singh I. Postinflammatory hypopigmentation: a review of the etiology, clinical features, and treatment options. J Dermatolog Treat. 2023 Dec;34(1):2217688. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2023.2217688. PMID: 37944062.
* Kim M, Yeom Y, Cho D, Heo EP, Cho SH, Kim HO, Park KC, Kim WS. Idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis: A comprehensive review. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021 Mar;84(3):711-722. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.07.031. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PMID: 32682333.
* Ghasemi F, Haghani I, Saeedi S, Zarei R, Ahmadi B, Mahmoudi S. Tinea Versicolor: A Comprehensive Review. J Fungi (Basel). 2023 Mar 14;9(3):351. doi: 10.3390/jof9030351. PMID: 36983750; PMCID: PMC10057069.
* Wang M, Guo R, Chen Z, Liu Y, Li C, Fu M, Chen X, Yang F, Liu Y. Contact leukoderma: A comprehensive review. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022 Nov;87(5):1111-1120. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2022.04.053. Epub 2022 Apr 21. PMID: 35460867.
Ubie is supervised by 50+ medical experts worldwide
Our symptom checker AI is continuously refined with input from experienced physicians, empowering them to make more accurate diagnoses.
Ubie is recognized by healthcare and tech leaders
“World’s Best Digital
Health Companies”
Newsweek 2024
“Best With AI”
Google Play Best of 2023
“Best in Class”
Digital Health Awards 2023 (Quarterfinalist)
Which is the best Symptom Checker?
Ubie’s symptom checker demonstrated a Top-10 hit accuracy of 71.6%, surpassing the performance of several leading symptom checkers in the market, which averaged around 60% accuracy in similar assessments.
Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Ahmed jan N, Masood S. Vitiligo. [Updated 2023 Aug 7]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559149/Allam M, Riad H. Concise review of recent studies in vitiligo. Qatar Med J. 2013 Dec 23;2013(2):1-19. doi: 10.5339/qmj.2013.10. PMID: 25003059; PMCID: PMC4080492.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4080492/Nordlund, J.J., Le Caroline, I.P., Boissy, R.E. (2008). Vitiligo Vulgaris. In: Gaspari, A.A., Tyring, S.K. (eds) Clinical and Basic Immunodermatology. Springer, London.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-84800-165-7_38