Upon seeing depigmentation, it is easy to conclude that they are all caused by the same thing. But they are not. For example, I have spots that exist on their own, spots around scars, and spots around moles (halo nevi). My understanding is that they are all different biological pathways with unique and distinct pathways. All things are not created except for the fact that they are all likely caused due to some type of epidermal trauma. For scars, obviously, the epidermis was injured and the immune system had to respond. For moles, there is additional melanin and for whatever reason, the immune system has decided to target specific melanin of specific moles for depigmentation. Granted, some of these may re-pigment, but over a period of years. In most cases, I believe, they do not. And for the plain old spots, they are straight up vitiligo spots. The body is indeed a complex machine.
Regarding repigmentation, as everyone knows, there is no cure for vitiligo. That being said, I am currently here in Jordan at the Dead Sea to begin a particular type of treatment intended to counteract the symptoms of vitiligo, but will not address the cause of it. There has been evidence of some level of repigmentation. After day 15, I have seen a few dots of repigmentation that make me feel I can write a few thoughts and observations regarding the process of it. These are merely conjecture as I am not a physician. I noticed that the already existing pigments are now becoming stronger. I have noticed less new repigmentation and more stronger repigmentation of previous pigment. I know that sometimes this can return darker initially before it corrects itself to match the surrounding pigment over a period of a few months. I also noticed that the sharp edges of some of the spots are now a little softer. There is definitely an interaction at the interface of the regular pigmented area and the depigmented spot. In a larger area of mine, I have noticed a 3-layered sandwich pattern: the pink of the white spot, a white transition zone, and then the regular tanned colored area. Whatever the magic is that happens at this region, I'm all for it. Lastly, it seems as though the repigmentation process may occur in a reverse chronological order from that of the depigmentation process. So, if a spot developed from the inside out, then the spot would repigment from the outside in. I had hoped that a few pigmented spots would appear in the middle of a lesion, but it does not seem to initially be the case.
Just a few thoughts on depigmentation and repigmentation.
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