Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Vitiligo
Vitiligo causes white patches on your skin. It can also affect your eyes, mouth, and nose. It occurs when the cells that give your skin its color are destroyed. No one knows what destroys them. It is more common in people with autoimmune diseases, and it might run in families. It usually starts before age 40.
The white patches are more common where your skin is exposed to the sun. In some cases, the patches spread. Vitiligo can cause your hair to gray early. If you have dark skin, you may lose color inside your mouth.
Using sunscreen will help protect your skin, and cosmetics can cover up the patches. Treatments for vitiligo include medicines, light therapy, and surgery. Not every treatment is right for everyone. Many have side effects. Some take a long time. Some do not always work.
It sits within Skin, Hair and Nails.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Vitiligo
332 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- A Study of LY4005130 in Adult Participants With Non-Segmental VitiligoEli Lilly and Company
- Topical Ruxolitinib Evaluation in Immune-related Vitiligo-like DepigmentationUniversity of Zurich
- A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Ruxolitinib Cream in Pediatric Participants With Nonsegmental VitiligoIncyte Corporation
- A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Ruxolitinib Cream in Children (6 to < 12 Years Old) With Nonsegmental VitiligoIncyte Corporation
- A Study of Zasocitinib in Adults With Nonsegmental VitiligoTakeda
- A Multicenter, Randomized, Parallel-Group, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase II Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of QY201 Tablets in Subjects With Non-Segmental VitiligoE-nitiate Biopharmaceuticals (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd.
Research already completed
- Adipose-derived Stem Cells Combined With Excimer Light in the Treatment of Stable VitiligoTanta University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Patchy Skin: Vitiligo ExplainedNational Institutes of Health
- VitiligoNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
- Vitiligo: OverviewAmerican Academy of Dermatology
Diagnosis and Tests
- Vitiligo: Diagnosis and TreatmentAmerican Academy of Dermatology
Treatments and Therapies
- Micropigmentation for VitiligoAmerican Society for Dermatologic Surgery
Genetics
- Vitiligo: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: VitiligoNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Vitiligo. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Vitiligo, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.