Vitiligo: Diagnosis and Treatment
Skin ConditionsVitiligo
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Vitiligo: Diagnosis and Treatment

Vitiligo: Diagnosis and Treatment
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Updated on July 9, 2025
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Vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that causes areas of skin to lose pigment and appear white, is a lifelong condition. While it can’t be cured, several treatment options, including medications, surgery, and cosmetic approaches, can lessen the appearance of the patches.

Vitiligo can often be diagnosed just by looking at it, but dermatologists may use a variety of tests to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other conditions.

Who Gets Vitiligo?

Dermatologist Andrew Alexis, MD, walks through some factors that can put you at greater risk of developing vitiligo.
Who Gets Vitiligo?

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Diagnosing Vitiligo

A dermatologist will ask you about your health history and whether anyone in your family has vitiligo because the condition tends to run in families. About 20 percent of people with vitiligo have one or more close relatives who also have it.

Additionally, the doctor will  examine your skin; in some cases, this may be enough to diagnose vitiligo.

For lighter-skinned people, where there’s less of a distinction between the affected and unaffected skin, the doctor might use a tool called a Wood’s lamp, which shines ultraviolet light and clearly shows the contrast between pigmented and depigmented skin.

The tool can also distinguish loss of pigment versus temporary discoloration caused by a rash and help rule out other skin conditions, such as psoriasis.

Some doctors may recommend additional tests to confirm the diagnosis. A skin biopsy, for instance, will show whether melanocytes are present. A lack of melanocytes can confirm a vitiligo diagnosis.

A biopsy can also indicate whether or not you may have symptoms of a skin cancer called hypopigmented cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Your doctor may also recommend a blood test to help determine if the vitiligo is related to an underlying autoimmune disease, such as anemia, thyroid dysfunction, or type 1 diabetes.

Treatment for Vitiligo

“There is no cure [for vitiligo],” says Michele Green, MD, a New York City–based dermatologist in private practice. However, many safe and effective treatments can even out the skin tone and make the patches less noticeable.

Cosmetic Options

Using makeup or self-tanning products may help cover the white spots caused by vitiligo.

“A self-tanner stains the skin, so you can stain all the skin and camouflage a little bit of the vitiligo patches,” says Sandy Skotnicki, MD, a Toronto-based dermatologist and the author of Beyond Soap. “That’s a useful suggestion sometimes for people with fairer skin colors, though it can be tricky to find the right shade.”

Applying sunscreen regularly can help prevent the spread of vitiligo. By preventing sunburn, regular sunscreen use may help prevent the spread of vitiligo, and it will lessen the contrast between your natural skin tone and discolored skin.

Medication

Medications don’t stop vitiligo from spreading, but in some cases they can restore some skin color. Anti-inflammatory corticosteroid creams have been shown to help, especially if you start using one soon after your diagnosis. It may take several months to notice a difference; topical steroids may also cause side effects, such as streaky-looking skin.

Topical medications containing tacrolimus (Protopic) or pimecrolimus (Elidel) can help vitiligo that affects small areas, such as the face or neck.

In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new class of medications known as topical Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors for the treatment of vitiligo. These medications block a protein that leads to inflammation and pigment cell destruction. The JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib (Opzelura) is applied as a cream twice daily to the affected areas for up to eight weeks.

Ruxolitinib also comes with a strong warning, linking it to serious infections, major adverse cardiovascular events, clotting (thrombosis), cancer, and even death. However, these side effects are predominantly seen with oral administration of this medication class. More commonly, redness of the skin and inflammation of the nasal passages can be seen. Ruxolitinib is also used to treat eczema and can be used for nonimmunocompromised patients age 12 and older.

Light Therapy

With light therapy, the skin is exposed to ultraviolet light to stimulate the growth of pigment-producing cells. It’s an effective treatment, though you may need to repeat the treatments three times a week for up to a year.

Light therapy may also be used in conjunction with psoralen, a plant-derived medication that can help restore color to the area, though this increases the risk of developing a burn and a skin cancer in that area.

Green says one type of laser in particular, the excimer laser, has been effective for treating vitiligo.

Depigmentation

In some cases, depigmentation — a therapy that evens out the skin tone by removing pigment from skin that’s been unaffected — is an option. This treatment is usually needed one or two times per day for about nine months and tends to be the most helpful for people who have very widespread cases and haven’t had success with other treatment options. The change in your skin tone will be permanent. The skin will be sensitive to light going forward, and you may also experience dryness, itching, or swelling.

Surgery

Some people turn to surgery to treat their vitiligo. Surgical options include:

  • Skin Grafting This involves removing small sections of normally pigmented skin and attaching them to areas that have lost color.
  • Blister Grafting This treatment transplants intentionally created blisters from areas of normally pigmented skin to areas where color is gone.
  • Cellular Suspension Transplant In this procedure, your doctor takes some tissue on your pigmented skin, puts the cells into a solution, and then transplants them onto the prepared affected area.
  • Micropigmentation Micropigmentation involves implanting small particles of natural pigment under the skin, similar to a tattoo.

All these options aim to bring color back to the skin. Tattooing is particularly helpful for people with dark skin who have vitiligo on their hands or in and around their mouths.

There are some negative side effects to be aware of for each of these surgical options, such as scarring, skin that has a cobblestone appearance, and the potential triggering of vitiligo elsewhere on the body.

It’s also important to know that sometimes these treatments don’t stick, and new patches may appear even if it seems to be working well on existing ones.

Complementary Therapies

“Vitamin deficiencies may be a trigger for the loss of pigmentation,” says Suzanne Friedler, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in New York City. So it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about any potential deficiencies you might have, as supplements or dietary changes may help.

There’s also some evidence that supplementing with certain herbs and vitamins may help, such as the herb ginkgo biloba and alpha-lipoic acid, folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin B12 when combined with phototherapy.

Hal Weitzbuch, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in Calabasas, California, points out that the evidence is very limited. “A variety of vitamins and supplements have shown some benefit in small studies, but nothing has conclusively been shown to be very effective,” Weitzbuch says.

Always check with your doctor before trying a supplement; some may interact with other medications you’re taking or result in unintended side effects.

The Takeaway

  • Vitiligo, an autoimmune condition that causes white patches on the skin due to loss of pigment in these areas, is diagnosed by visual examination, often with the help of a Wood’s lamp. Blood tests and a biopsy are sometimes used to rule out other conditions.
  • Treatments for vitiligo include a variety of medications and surgical and cosmetic options.
  • Vitiligo treatments have varying degrees of effectiveness. Your dermatologist can recommend a treatment based on the specifics of your condition.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Vitiligo. MedlinePlus. February 24 , 2022.
  2. Diagnosing Vitiligo. NYU Langone Health.
  3. Wood’s Lamp Examination. Mount Sinai. October 14, 2024.
  4. Vitiligo. Mayo Clinic. February 1, 2024.
  5. Sheikh A et al. FDA Approves Ruxolitinib (Opzelura) for Vitiligo Therapy: A Breakthrough in the Field of Dermatology. Annals of Medicine & Surgery. September 2022.
  6. Micropigmentation for Vitiligo. American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
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Lydia J. Johnson, MD

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Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Lydia Johnson, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist. Her medical career of more than 20 years has included work in private practice and in an academic medical center, as well as various medical leadership positions, including department chair. In 2020, Dr. Johnson embarked upon a passionate journey to utilize her medical knowledge and experience to help create a more widespread and lasting impact on the individual and collective health of our community. She is doing this as a board-certified lifestyle medicine physician, board-certified dermatologist, and certified health coach.

Johnson envisions a future of healthcare that prioritizes and values maintenance of health, holistic well-being, and disease prevention. Through lifestyle medicine certification, she is committed to being a part of that transformation. As a coach, she empowers others to enjoy lives of optimal well-being and identify the ways to do so through lifestyle behaviors that are accessible to all. Her purpose is to help others thrive in all aspects of their lives, with a foundation of optimal health.
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Moira Lawler

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Moira Lawler is a journalist who has spent more than a decade covering a range of health and lifestyle topics, including women's health, nutrition, fitness, mental health, and travel. She received a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two young children, and a giant brown labradoodle.
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