White Spots on the Skin

The skin is generally prone to a variety of ailments, white spots being one of them. White spots on the skin can occur just about anywhere on the body, such as the upper back, upper forearms, neck, shoulders, shins, and so on. Many types of white spots usually don't cause irritation, itch, or hurt, but nevertheless, there they are, and can be quite conspicuous on dark or tanned skin. And most people find them quite distressing. So, what white spots on skin? Well, given below are some of the conditions that cause them.

What Causes White Spots on Skin?
White spots on skin can affect people of all skin colors and types. It is common in people living in hot and humid climate. One generally observes white marks on back, neck, arms, chest and face. These spots can vary in size from tiny white dots to large white marks. Some turn into brown spots on skin covered by white scaly skin. They may even itch in some people. Let us have a look at what causes white spots on body.

Tinea Versicolor:
Also called pityriasis versicolor, this is a fairly common benign, or non-cancerous skin condition that is caused by a kind of yeast, known as Malassezia, that normally occurs on the skin. In certain conditions, such as when the skin becomes moist, oily, and warm, the yeast can overgrow, and thereby cause white spots on the skin, which can also be reddish-brown in color. These usually occur in the upper arms, abdomen, neck, and thighs. Even though it is an infection, since tinea versicolor occurs normally in the skin, it is not contagious.

Some of the conditions that make white spots appear on the skin due to tinea versicolor more likely are: humid and warm climate, oily skin, excessive sweating, malnourishment, medications like corticosteroids, or anything that weakens the immune system, and pregnancy. It can be treated with antifungal medications like terbinafine, miconazole and clotrimazole, which can be bought over the counter. There is also a shampoo that is available over the counter which contains selenium sulfide. It can be applied like a lotion on the affected areas before going to bed, and rinsed off the next morning. However, if the condition persists for over two weeks of daily treatment, it is best to consult a dermatologist.

Vitiligo
One of the most common reasons of white spots on skin is vitiligo. It affects about 1 to 2 percent of the people all over the world. It generally shows up as white spots or patches of skin. It is caused because vitiligo destroys the cells that produce the pigment of the skin. Although it is still not known what exactly causes vitiligo, however, it seems to occur more commonly in people with certain kinds of autoimmune diseases such as hyperthyroidism, pernicious anemia, and adrenocortical insufficiency, alopecia areata.

Any kind of stress that affects the immune system may also lead to vitiligo. Sometimes, a mild trauma to some part of the skin may cause new patches of skin, such as the ankles due to being rubbed with footwear. Vitiligo also often runs in families, so there may be a hereditary factor too. There are various methods of treating vitiligo such as photo therapy, skin grafting (especially at the early stages), steroid creams, psoralen photochemotherapy, depigmentation treatment, immunodulator creams used with UVB Narrowband treatments, laser treatment, and so on.

Idiopathic Guttate Hypomelanosis
This causes flat white spots on the skin, measuring about 2-5 mm in diameter. As the cause of this condition is unknown, it is called as 'idiopathic', 'guttate' refers to the fact that the spots resemble teardrops, and 'hypomelanosis' means the lighter color of the areas that are affected. It mainly affects fair-skinned people, although it can sometimes occur in darker skin too. Although it usually occurs on the areas of the forearms that are exposed to the sun and the shins, it can also appear on the shoulders, neck, and face. The white spots are generally smooth, although sometimes they can even be scaly. They seem to be associated with the natural process of aging, usually occurring in people more than 40 years of age. Women seem to get them more than men. It is thought that hereditary factors may be involved, since it seems to occur in families.

Hypopigmentation
Loss of skin color is called hypopigmentation. This condition occurs when the melanin or melanocyte cells in the skin are depleted or amino acid tryosine decreases. This causes reduction in the production of melanin. Thus, one begins to observe white patches on skin due to depletion of melanin cells in the skin.

Pityriasis Alba
A common skin condition that affects children, adolescents and teenagers is Pityriasis alba. This condition causes dry, scaly patches on the face. There is no exact cause found for this condition. These white patches on skin are more noticeable during summer due to tanning of surrounding skin. In winter, these patches turn dry and appear scaly. This condition causes raised red spots, that are often mild in appearance. These spots then turn raised and pale and finally become smooth flat pale patches. These patches can also occur on the upper arms, neck, shoulders apart from face. They may be itchy at times.

Nevus Depigmentosus
This condition causes depigmentation of the skin. It can easily be differentiated from vitiligo. Nebus depigmentosus causes white spots on the skin and appear anywhere on the body. These spots are stable and are permanent in nature. The skin is not completely achromic and hair growing on that skin area is usually white in color.

Many times white spots on skin can occur due to malnutrition. Lack of calcium, vitamins like vitamin D, vitamin E, etc. can cause the appearance of harmless white marks on skin. Thus, make sure you eat healthy and help your body absorb all the natural nutrients to prevent skin discoloration. As far as treating the other conditions is concerned, the measures taken include improving the appearance of the skin. Some of the common methods for treating white spots on skin include topical steroid creams, covering it up cosmetically, tretinoin cream, microdermabrasion or superficial dermabrasion, light cryotherapy, laser therapy and grafting of skin in extreme conditions. If you observe brown or white spots and skin that do not disappear in a few weeks, speak to a dermatologist for more details.