Leucoderma - World Class Holistic Homeopathy Treatment
SKIN – Leucoderma
“Give me a blue sky, brown mountain, silver falls and green around, Nothing
more I want,” is a popular saying. Nature is always wondered and admired at for
its colourful beauty, the colour being the main attraction. The attraction in
colour is the reason for huge sales of fairness creams. But the whiteness
offered by skin disease – leucoderma – is often depressing for all the
sufferers.
Skin is a protective covering for our body. It protects our body from heat
or cold, external germs, toxins, etc. Melanin is the colouring pigment of our
body. It is mostly black in colour. Sometimes it may be brown or creamy yellow
in colour. Melanocytes are the cells responsible for the formation of melanin
pigment. It is present in the basal layer of the epidermis and the first layer
of the dermis, i.e. melanin is present in two layers. Generally, the colour of
the skin acts as a shield for rays which enter the body, i.e. colour acts like
a dark film in a car which restricts UV rays.
UV rays from sunlight penetrate the epidermis as well as the dermis. This
UV penetration makes melanocytes produce more melanin as a natural defence or
protective mechanism. More pigmentation makes skin more opaque to prevent the
body from harmful effects of UV rays. So, black skin protects us from the
harmful effects of UV rays like a black umbrella. The black umbrella is the
best anti UV rays shield, better than any other coloured, beach or rain
umbrella. Likewise, in white skin people (even for leucoderma patients), hot
sun UV rays penetrate more, putting them at risk for sunburn, skin cancer, etc.
Leucoderma is a miserable acquired skin disorder, making skin white due to
loss of the melanin pigment. It is a non-contagious disease. It is otherwise
termed as vitiligo. This progressive, cutaneous discolouration or
depigmentation of the skin disturbs the sufferer cosmetically more and rarely
functionally i.e. they feel ashamed to face the public.
Pathology
You notice whiteness of the skin while healing of a wound takes
place. This indicates that melanin pigment is not yet formed and occurrence of
black spots indicate the beginning of pigmentation. But if there is any
dysfunction in the production of melanin, due to functional or hormonal or
structural problem, whiteness (by losing colour i.e. becoming colourless) appears
in the affected spots.
Leucoderma is mostly restricted to the epidermis layer. Herethe , skin
function is otherwise normal with texture, hair growth, thermostat functions
and sweat. Congenital absence of melanin pigment is called albinism. In this albinism
the pigment is entirely absent in both layers of skin, hair and eyes. Also
albinism has no treatment at all, since it occurs due to complete absence of
melanocyte cells to get induced for the production of melanin pigment.
Incidences and risk personalities
The occurrence of leucoderma is more
markedly noted in the dark people of the tropical countries. It can occur in
any age group (infants to old age), sex and races. Females are more commonly
affected than males. The most commonly affected areas are face, neck, back,
wrist, hand, groin, genitals, armpits, etc. i.e. dark places, places where
folds occur or where friction takes place. It can co-exist in many cases of
endocrinal disorders especially with pituitary, thyroid & adrenals.
Causes
Till now, researchers have not identified any causative factor for
leucoderma. Generally leucoderma can be seen in older people. As skin loses its
texture and other things due to ageing or the natural
degenerative process, it may happen to become devoid of melanin also, like
the graying of hair due to loss of melanin in the hair. Many doctors or
patients correlate the occurrence of leucoderma with the other complaints which
occur simultaneously during of the start-up of the complaint, i.e. they often
correlate with diabetes, jaundice, typhoid fever, measles, etc. But nothing has
been proved. It can also be commonly seen in friction spots like knees or
elbow. It can also be familial i.e. hereditary factor also has some role in the
prevalence of leucoderma. Being emotionally upset may also precipitate or
aggravate the complaint in certain circumstances. Some suspect sin, lack of sun
exposure, infection, etc., to be the reason for the problem. All these are risk
factors only, but the real cause is still obscure or unknown.
Symptoms
Leucoderma appears as odd, harmless, white spots or patches disturbing the
appearance of the sufferer. Mostly, no other symptoms can be noted except
whiteness of the skin. The whiteness usually starts as a small discoloured
white or pale or brown spot which spreads and becomes whiter day by day
and becomes milky white in the course of time. The occurrence may be in a
single spot or multiple spots. Hair on the spot will also become white. The
hypopigmented or white skin is usually margined by hyperpigmented demarcations.
The person’s health is no way affected except for leading to depression.
Usually, it spreads very slowly, but sometimes it may also be very fast to
appear all over the body. Also many a time it may remain the same for a
prolonged period without spreading, even without treatment. It may cause
itching sometimes, due to exposure to the sun or coming in contact with
chemicals, which shows easy friability and susceptibility of the skin.
Leucoderma sometimes appears pale, sometimes red and some other times, milky
white.
Diagnosis and investigation
Diagnosing the patient with
leucoderma is very easy and simple. Everyone can easily identify the disease as
leucoderma or vitiligo with its characteristic whiteness of the skin. No
other special investigations are necessary for diagnosing the complaints. Also,
since leucoderma is restricted to the epidermis, there won’t be any change in
blood or urine. Biopsy can reveal the absence of pigments. Fungal infections
can resemble vitiligo patches. So, in doubtful cases, it has to be ruled out
with biopsy and culture. Also, sensation over the leucoderma is normal,
compared to other discolouration diseases.
Prevention of spread
·
Check for any infective focus, worms, chemical contacts,
etc. if noted, they should be treated or eliminated
·
Start treatment early
Do’s
·
Take medicines regularly in the early days itself, so
that complete cure can be achieved
·
Don’t worry about leucoderma, since effective treatment
can arrest the course of the disease and cure it
·
Use umbrella when out in the hot sun
·
Track all your eatables and habits to streamline all the
irritants or chemicals or sun exposure to arrest the spread of the disease
Don’ts
·
Avoid working or roaming in the sun
·
Avoid fast foods, citrus fruits, coffee, tea, cold
drinks, alcohol, beer, non-veg, egg, etc., since it can cause spread of the
disease
·
Avoid multiple drugs or drug cocktails
·
Avoid chemical soaps
General treatment
There is no scheduled, conservative treatments at all. Even then, every
doctor aims at improving the cosmetic problem by improving the functioning of
the skin. With rudimentary knowledge, everyone speaks more, but none of the
available internal or external medicines claims guarantee for solid cure. No
single therapy for leucoderma produces good results in all patients. Treatment
course and medicines always vary and are unpredictable. Usually, treatment is a
long process which may take months or years.
As doctors prescribe, people go for internal medicines, external
applications, radiation therapy, photosensitivity therapy, depigmentation
therapy with bleachers and surgery. All have their own side-effects and
limitations. Patients should be aware of the risks of drugs or procedures
before undergoing treatment. In spite of it, being eager to wipe off all the
white spots, many of the sufferers apply a variety of external applications,
including steroid, psoralen, dyes, etc. Steroids may be helpful in repigmenting
the skin. But side-effects and continuous use is not acceptable. Drugs used for
production of melanin also cannot be continued in the long run, since they can
damage the liver (hepatotoxic nature). In cases that have a bad attack of leucoderma
and in failed cases, to avoid ugliness, some prefer and attempt permanent
depigmentation with bleaching agents.
Surgical options
Skin grafting, melanocyte transplantations and tattooing. All these
procedures are costly and painful.
Complications
Normally, there won’t be complications, even if left untreated, except that
it will spread more. But if maltreated, complication can arise from drugs.
Since there is no 100 per cent guarantee or sure cure in any system of
medicine, people often go on with drug cocktails from various systems of
medicines and doctors. This mode of treatment often brings drug effects or
side-effects. Likewise, people often go for external application, dyeing,
bleaching, etc., which make the skin more sensitive and cause infection or
boils.
Everyone knows that being in the hot sun make one’s skin darker. In the
case of leucoderma patients, it will be more, i.e., extreme darkening of the
skin and sunburn. Excess exposure to the sn even for treatment purpose, may cause
blisters, ageing of the skin, wrinkling and extreme darkness of the skin. Also,
if they had previously tolerated the sun (while having a sunbath), it may
become intolerable when they suffer from leucoderma. Itching red rash or
blisters may develop due to polymorphic light reaction of the sun. Everyone
should be careful about this as sunlight is a leading cause for skin cancer.
Leucoderma can reflect in the mind, causing psychological fears, emotional
upset, shame, and socio-behaviourial changes by trying to avoid being in the
public, attitude of others who insult by avoiding contact. These changes
restrict their social behaviour and communications. There may also be fear of
ugliness, fear of hereditary (infecting the generation), contagiousness, other
diseases, cancer, etc.
Homeopathic approach
A single spot has more chance of cure, i.e., 100 per cent, than multiple
spots which have less success rate or many failures. No one can deny the
Homeopathy effect in arresting or controlling leucoderma. In most of the cases,
Homeopathy treatment can improve the condition. It works and cures superbly
like a miracle in the early stages of leucoderma. Even then, Homeopathy or the
Homeopath cannot promise a sure cure in all the cases. Leucoderma, if left
untreated, goes on spreading. So, at least treatment should be followed for
arresting the spread. Good results often follow when leucoderma is of recent
onset, in children or youth, dark people, sun exposed areas & in
non-friction spots.
Homeopathy treats patients, not the disease, for betterment or cure. Also
Homeopathy treats leucoderma as a general complaint rather than a local skin
problem. So, Homeopathydoes not believe in external applications. The treatment
can also give good improvement in cases of white patches after burns or contact
with chemicals. The duration and success of treatment depends on the duration,
extent of the patches, and patient’s susceptibility. During the course of
treatment, in white spots, there appear black dots or spots as the process of
repigmentation which later merge together or coalesce to mask the diseased
whiteness. The patches often turn dark and then finally fade to normal colour
during treatment.
Homeopathy treatment can reward marvellous, dramatic and effective cure
during the initial stages of leucoderma. Homeopathic medicines commonly used
for treatment of this condition are Acid nit, Antim-crud, Apis mel, Ars alb,
Ars sulf flavum, Borax, Ferrum ars, Hydrocotyle, Kali ars, Kali bich, Kali
carb, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Medorrhinum, Nat mur, Opium, Psorinum, Pulsatilla,
Silicea, Sulphur, Thuja, Tuberculinum, etc. These Medicines should be taken under
the advice and diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath.
for
new hope
Dr. S.
Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD (Homeo)
Laxmi
Homeo Clinic
24 E.
New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai,
TN 625 001
India
Tel: +91-452-233-8833 | +91-984-319-1011
(Mob)
Fax:
+91-452-233-0196
E-mail:
drcheena@yahoo.com
www.drcheena.com / www.drcheena.in
(Disclaimer
- The contents of this column are for informational purpose only. The content
is not intended to be a substitute for professional healthcare advice,
diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of healthcare professional for
any health problem or medical condition.)