How does Photochemotherapy Treat Vitiligo?

There are many ways to treat vitiligo, and photochemotherapy is one of the more advanced ways to treat vitiligo. With the advancement of medicine, photochemotherapy is becoming more and more perfect in the treatment of vitiligo with outstanding effects. Photochemotherapy is also divided into two types of internal and external methods.

The internal method is to receive sunlight or ultraviolet radiation after taking drugs with photosensitive effects orally, and the external method is to irradiate sunlight or ultraviolet radiation after applying drugs on the white spots of the skin in order to achieve the therapeutic effect of treating vitiligo.

The internal method involves oral administration of methoxy psoralen or trimethylpsoralen and exposure to sunlight or long-wave ultraviolet light on the lesioned skin 2 hours after taking the medication. This therapy is performed two to three times a week and requires continuous treatment for more than three months.

Oral medications are photosensitive and have the effect of increasing pigment production under sunlight or ultraviolet radiation. These medications have some toxicity and need to be used under medical supervision. Foods such as celery, carrot, and lime should be avoided during oral medication to avoid affecting the efficacy of the medication.

Topical use is to apply an alcoholic solution or ointment preparation of methoxy psoralen or trimethylpsoralen to the white patches of the skin and irradiate them with sunlight or long-wave ultraviolet light after 1 hour, once a day or every other day.

These drugs are more irritating to the skin when applied topically, and local skin changes such as erythema, swelling, and blistering may occur, so they should not be applied to genital area white patches. The topical application should also be avoided for progressive white spots to avoid aggravating the condition by causing the isomorphic reaction.

Although photochemotherapy has an outstanding effect in the treatment of vitiligo, that also varies from person to person. Photochemotherapy is more stimulating to the skin and can cause more serious effects on patients if not treated properly, so patients must choose carefully.