Vitiligo in Winter Time

People who have a diagnosis of vitiligo prefer cold weather to hot, for obvious reasons. During the winter, you don’t have to worry about what to wear to how to hide the white spots on your skin because nobody will notice them under sweaters and jackets. Nobody will inspect your pigmented skin and focus their attention to it, and that is definitely a good thing. Finally, you can forget all about summer stresses. Constant thoughts about your looks are very tiring. Also, in the summer, your body gets tanned and spots become more noticeable.

Many people who suffer from vitiligo are worried that after the winter season, even more vitiligo spots will show up on their skin. Unfortunately, that’s what usually happens, and there are reasons that cause it.

As we know, moderate doses of ultraviolet light play an important role in vitiligo treatment. But not everyone has access to sunlight all year long due to the climate where the person lives, but there is a solution for this problem. Special ultraviolet lamps allow you to take the necessary irradiation course, not only at the specialized clinic, but even at home. When using ultraviolet light, you should remember that excessive doses can cause burns and pigment loss. The time of exposure and the treatment should be discussed with the doctor.

Vitiligo in hot climate

People suffer from vitiligo regardless of where they live. People who live closer to equator have less severe forms of the disease, while those who live further away from the equator have bigger amounts of spots on the body. This is the result of the frequency of sun exposure. Populations in the temperate climate zone can’t afford yearlong tanning in the sun, which is when UV-therapy can help. In moderate doses, it will normalize the condition and decrease the number of white spots on the skin.

What should vitiligo patients remember during the winter?

Besides reduced sunlight, winter brings some other risks. During the winter, people forget about some precautions and become more vulnerable. The first and the most common mistake is the wrong diet. It’s not always easy to find the necessary variety of fruits and vegetables, causing the diet to become imbalanced, which increases the work of the digestive system and can cause a vitiligo outbreak.

Besides that, it is still important to be careful when choosing your clothes. You shouldn’t forget that artificial materials include chemical dyes, which will negatively affect the condition of your skin.

Winter is tricky. On the one hand, it allows you to relax and hide the vitiligo under your clothes, without attracting looks. On the other hand, it can aggravate your disease.