What is Vitiligo?

Vitiligo is a condition characterized by white patches anywhere on the body. The white patches are the result of the destruction of the melanocytes in the skin, the cells responsible for the production of pigment.

Four categories of options are currently available for the treatment of vitiligo:

1. Sunscreens
2. Cover-up dyes and make-up
3. Bleaching normal skin to remove pigment to create an overall even skin colour, and
4. Restoration of normal skin colour.
5. Tattooing
6. PhotolLaser Stimulation Therapy

Drug Therapies:
The use of topical steroids, systemic steroids, plus other topical gels and ointments.
• Light Therapies:
  Ultraviolet (UVA or UVB) treatment, either full body or targeted, and some drugs used in combination with either sunlight or UV therapy (including PUVA treatment).
• Surgical Grafting:
  Surgical grafting therapies may be successful on localised areas.
• Tattooing:
  Tattooing can lead to infections if not taken care properly and it is not suitable for all body areas.

PhotoLaser Therapy treats only the skin affected by vitiligo. Unlike light-boxes, which expose the entire body to the damaging effects of UV radiation, Dr Joseph Georghy limits PhotoLaser Therapy only those areas requiring treatment.

• Typical drugs, lotions and gels can offer relief for some patients. For many patients, however, typical therapies will be ineffective.
• Large UVB light-boxes have been used for over 75 years. A serious drawback to light-box therapy is that treatment exposes the entire body, including healthy skin, to the potential damaging effects of UVB light.

PhotoLaser Therapy uses a fibre optic delivery device to provide the same proven UVB light used in light-box therapy directly to the affected area of the skin. The IPL wavelengths of UVB light stimulate the production of pigment into the affected area. For many patients, over a period of treatments, normal pigmentation can be restored.

No anaesthesia is required, and most patients feel no discomfort during treatment. A few patients report a warm, sunburn-like sensation afterward that can last a few minutes. Treatments are discreet and require no downtime.

Depending on the areas to be treated and the extent of involvement, each treatment can take only a few minutes, or up to 30 minutes or longer. Multiple treatments lasting several months may be required for satisfactory re-pigmentation.

Dr Joseph Georghy can now offer you advanced, painless PhotoLaser Therapy to treat the white patches associated with Vitiligo or any skin discoloration. PHOTOLASER Rejuvenation Therapy is a physical phenomenon with an unlimited magnitude of medical applications. As the name indicates it is a stimulation therapy administered via equipment delivering laser/light energy in the form of:

• Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)
• Low Level Laser Stimulation Therapy (LLLST), and
• Low Level Continuous Heat Therapy (LLCHT)