Leucoderma Causes

The term leucoderma literally means 'white skin'. It is also referred to as vitiligo disease. This is a common skin disorder where white patches of various shapes and sizes appear on the skin surface. It mostly affects areas like hands, wrist, neck, back, but in some cases, it may cover up the entire body. It can occur in people of any age group and any kind of skin. For some unknown reason, it is more commonly found in women than in men. Leucoderma causes no harm to the physical health of the patients.

Causes
Leucoderma is caused due to loss of a skin pigment named melanin from the layers of the skin. The exact reason behind loss of melanin is not yet known. Lecoderma is hereditary in almost 30 percent of the total known cases. That means these patients have inherited the disease from their parents. Some other possible causes of leucoderma are as follows:

• Excessive mental stress
• Skin trauma like burn injuries
• Certain physical illness like improper functioning of liver, gastric disorders, typhoid, etc.
• Worms or parasites present in the digestive system.
• Defect in perspiration mechanism.
• Some occupational hazards.

Symptoms
Usually, the first signs of leucoderma are observed in childhood or in adolescent stage. It starts as one or more small white spots which later grows bigger and develop into patches. As the spots expands, they merge with other spots around it and appear as a broader patch. In some cases, the patches may spread all over the body. In the initial stage, the color of the patches are dull and pale, but with passage of time, it becomes more prominent and turns into milky white in color. In general, the patches grow and spread very slowly. Even though the patches spread from one part of the body to the other, the disease is non contagious and it does get transmitted to others, through direct or indirect contact. Other symptoms are skin sensitivity towards cold or heat, loss of hair and whitening of the hair that grows on the patchy areas.

Treatment
There are several options of treatment available that can cure the skin disorder completely. Doctors prescribe medicines for both oral administration as well as topical application. Some of these oral medicines contain antioxidants. Doctors often recommend that after application of the medicinal ointments, the skin has to be exposed to the sun. During the course of the treatment, patients have to stop consumption of sodium in any form including table salt. It can also be treated by radiation therapy, photosensitivity therapy, etc. These treatments would show excellent results, if it is started at an early stage.

Home Remedies
There are a few home treatments that can be used for vitiligo cure. Two such effective remedies are given below:

Psoralea Seeds
The seeds of psoralea herbs can be taken orally to heal up white patches on the skin. The seeds are first soaked in ginger juice for 3 days and then a fine powder is obtained by grinding the seeds. This powder should be taken by mixing one gram in a glass of milk. The powder can be applied directly on the patches as well.

Turmeric
Turmeric is combined with mustard oil and is used for the treatment of this skin problem. About 500 grams of turmeric is soaked in 8 liters of water overnight. Then it is boiled for some time, so that only one liter of water is left behind. The mixture is the strained and 500 ml of mustard oil is added to it. This mixture should be applied on the skin patches for 3-4 months.

As the exact causes are not yet ascertained, there are lots of misconceptions and social stigma associated with leucoderma. Even though there is no physical discomfort or pain on the patches, it causes a lot of mental agony for the patient who is suffering from it. In such a scenario, we should not isolate these patients in our society. Rather, we must show them our support and encourage them, so that they can lead a normal life.