Vitiligo treatment

Diagnosis and treatment of pigment disorders such as

• Laser treatment for pigment, age and sun spots
• Melasma (see peeling)
• Vitiligo white spot disease e.g. with light therapy

Vitiligo treatment

The information provided here on vitiligo treatment is general information. A treatment tailored to your needs can only be carried out after a correct diagnosis in our dermatology clinic in Bern by Dr. Urs Büttiker, MD.

Vitiligo in particular is a difficult disease to treat. Nevertheless, up to 40% repigmentation can be achieved with various therapy modalities, and with special measures such as UV light therapy, a 60% chance of healing can be achieved. This is achieved with topical steroids followed by special immune-inhibiting ointments and the intake of special vitamins for 3 months. UVB light therapy can also be discussed. In very special situations, completely new methods such as melanocyte transplantation are available, but we are currently unable to perform these transplants ourselves in practice.

Research approaches for vitiligo treatment

The subject of research is the so-called hair root sheath cell treatment for vitiligo. The cells are obtained from the outer epithelial hair root sheath of a few plucked hairs from the patient's head and immediately applied to the area of skin to be treated. Penetration of the cells into the skin is made possible by microneedling with a dermaroller or laser. The hair root sheath cells contain precursor cells of melanocytes (pigment-forming cells) and keratinocytes (epidermal cells). Consequently, the procedure is suitable for the treatment of skin depigmentation (especially vitiligo, depigmented scars) and skin ageing (skin rejuvenation). However, this treatment is not yet established or cannot yet be offered.