Anyone know about this skin problem?

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I've got a bunch of fairly small (but pretty close together) discolored patches of skin along my back and lower stomach/pelvic region. I'm not a real tan person to begin with, but you can clearly see that these patches are a very faint white color compared to the rest. I've had one doctor look at it (my regular doctor, who was at the time examining my throat) and she said that it was a virus (it had a particular name that I can't remember) and that there were no cures but it would go away in five years time. She did seem highly unsure however, so I thought maybe some of you would know -- I am going to another doctor soon, but I'm looking for immediate ideas here since some of you may have studied this area. Any ideas on what it could be and/or how to cure it?

― Michael D, Monday, 27 June 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago)

i know that you get white patches in your skin if you only drink distilled water.. since it lacks minerals. It's a long shot, but is that what you exclusively drink?

― donut e-g (donut), Monday, 27 June 2005 04:49 (twenty years ago)

You've got..leprosy! Goodbye.

― Aramyr, Monday, 27 June 2005 04:51 (twenty years ago)

The skin becomes whiter in places where the melanin is missing - it's called Vitiligo - and usually something has happened to cause this, such as skin damage (i.e. sunburn, or some kind of trauma to the skin in those places), but I think diabetes can affect the presence of melanin too.

Have you ever had sunburn to those areas? Or very dry skin? Or any allergies? Or eczema?

― C J (C J), Monday, 27 June 2005 04:57 (twenty years ago)

i know that you get white patches in your skin if you only drink distilled water.. since it lacks minerals

that would mean that nothing else he consumed contained minerals either!

― monsanto and yanni (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 27 June 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

I hardly drink any water, but C J --

I do have very dry skin and eczema, but interestingly enough, it's never been a problem to either of the areas that's discolored.

― Michael D, Monday, 27 June 2005 05:01 (twenty years ago)

that would mean that nothing else he consumed contained minerals either!

It's a degree of mineral intake that can make a difference, and not just a complete lack thereof... either way, that doesn't sound like the answer to michael's issues.

― donut e-g (donut), Monday, 27 June 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

prolly it be fungus http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec18/ch212/ch212d.html

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 27 June 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

Vitiligo is progressive, so if they're isolated patches...probably not.

― Bob Amal (bobnope), Monday, 27 June 2005 11:55 (twenty years ago)

I mean, it's probably not vitiligo, it's probably a fungus.

― Bob Amal (bobnope), Monday, 27 June 2005 11:57 (twenty years ago)

I second the Tinea versicolor. If you don't want to use pharmaceuticals, try tea tree oil to kill it. This is one of the essential oils you can apply directly to skin without diluting. Often it works better than the drugstore crap. Discontinue use if there is irritation, obviously.

― Jeanne (Tim Ellison), Monday, 27 June 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

Are you on any medication? Contraceptive pills affect skin pigmentation so I imagine other types of medication could as well.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 27 June 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

I have this same thing in the same places mentioned above and my doctor seemed pretty sure that it was vitiligo. If this is the case then there's not a hell of a lot that can be done to remedy it, it might go away after a (totally unspecified) period of time or it might not. I was a bit worried that it would end up careering wildly all over my face at some point, but was reassured that my age (24) and the fact that it does consist of specific isolated patches mean that it's unlikely to spread any further. It STRIKES in early adulthood generally, although not invariably; obviously the contrast does tend to be slightly more apparent if you've been sitting in the sun a lot and the unaffected skin has darkened at all.

― Alex in Doncaster (Alex in Doncaster), Monday, 27 June 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

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