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Condition hub · vitiligo
Vitiligo guide: diagnosis, treatment options, daily life, and NB-UVB
I answer your vitiligo questions straight, including the ones nobody can answer yet.
What brings you here today?
You do not need to move through these in order.
1 · I noticed a changeI noticed a white or lighter patch
See what else it could be and how a clinician checks it. Then find a dermatologist and prepare for the appointment.
2 · I need clearer answersI was diagnosed and want to understand itLearn what vitiligo is, what is happening in the skin, and what the label does and does not tell you about what comes next.
3 · I am decidingI am choosing or comparing treatment pathsCompare creams, light therapy, whole-body medicines, procedures and complementary approaches. Choosing between them is the question I see asked most, and I do not rank these paths best to worst.
4 · I am choosing no active treatmentI do not want active treatment right nowSee what waiting can involve. Find support, camouflage, and acceptance. Plan when to look again.
5 · I am using treatmentI am wondering whether the plan should changeReview progress, reactions, and day-to-day effort. See how change is measured and what to raise at the next appointment.
6 · This is affecting lifeI am scared about what vitiligo could changeStart with diagnosis shock, grief, self-image, and other people's reactions. Find words, privacy, support, or simply room to feel what you feel.
Already know what you came for? Every page on this site is listed by name in all topics.
Wider reading elsewhere: American Academy of Dermatology: vitiligo treatment overview (opens in a new tab). A broader patient guide from a dermatology organization.
Last updated
Questions to take to your next appointment.
Save only the ones you want to ask.
What might this lighter patch be?
Saving keeps this on your device and needs JavaScript, which is off in this browser.Does my vitiligo appear active or stable?
Saving keeps this on your device and needs JavaScript, which is off in this browser.What is the goal of each treatment option?
Saving keeps this on your device and needs JavaScript, which is off in this browser.
Start with what you want help with
These four paths are equal starting points, not a treatment ladder. Your priorities can change.
Slow or stabilize change
Ask what evidence addresses activity, what is inferred, and how progress would be judged.
Camouflage or non-medical support
Appearance control, coping, and practical support can matter without claiming to treat vitiligo.
No active treatment now
Waiting can be a deliberate choice, with support, acceptance, and a plan for when to review.
What the published evidence establishes
A narrow starting point, not a personal forecast.
Narrowband UVB is used for skin conditions including vitiligo and psoriasis. Evidence Evidence That does not establish whether it is appropriate for you or how your skin will respond.
Reasonably supportedFacts checked July 29, 2026
What's known
- Narrowband UVB is used to treat vitiligo.
What's uncertain
- Whether it is appropriate for you, or how your skin will respond.
If phototherapy is on the table
The decision is only the beginning.
Use the part of the practical path that matches your next decision.
Available nowUnderstand narrowband UVBRead the sourced guide →Decision guideCompare home and clinicCompare convenience and supervision. Weigh cost and time.Insurer policy researchCheck current home-device criteriaCheck plan rules and approval steps. Find suppliers and questions to ask.Ownership guideEverything else about owning a devicePrepare for delivery and home safety. Find manuals, support, and disposal help.
Evidence behind this page
Sources
Each evidence badge opens the source and its limits. The full list stays available here.
- British Journal of Dermatology (Goulden V, et al.)Guideline · Regulatory / guideline, tier 1Independent source
- Published
- SteadySkin last checked
What this source can and cannot tell you
What this source supports
It supports that traditional NB-UVB fluorescent lamps emit a narrow UVB band peaking around 311 nanometres. It backs wearing UV-protective goggles and keeping UV scatter off people nearby. It records the consent form naming goggles and the same clothing at each session. It also covers clinical uses, how it compares with other light treatments, safety limits including sunburn-type reactions, and the added safeguards home phototherapy needs.
What it does not support
It does not provide a personal treatment plan, approve a particular home setup, or replace the instructions for your own device. SteadySkin never reproduces its treatment schedules.
- British Association of DermatologistsPatient education · Patient education, tier 5Independent source
- Published
- SteadySkin last checked
What this source can and cannot tell you
What this source supports
It supports a plain-language explanation that NB-UVB uses a small part of the UVB spectrum, is used for conditions including psoriasis, eczema, and vitiligo, and is distinct from sunlight or a sunbed. It also supports what a unit asks of its own patients during a course. It asks them not to sunbathe or use a sunbed for the whole of it, and to reduce sun exposure so that skin does not burn. It asks them to report a medicine, a cream, or newly exposed skin such as a haircut. It asks them to arrive without perfume, deodorant, aftershave or other cosmetics, because some of those raise light sensitivity and can leave patchy discolouration for months. It carries the unit’s own account of repeated courses. It states that the full risk of narrowband UVB is not known, and that roughly one in ten people in the UK develop skin cancer. It states that a review becomes usual practice past a stated number of treatments, and that many treatments can bring the wrinkling and discolouration of photoageing.
What it does not support
It is patient education, not primary evidence for an efficacy claim. Its printed next review date was June 2025 and it has not been updated since June 2022. It is therefore used only for what it plainly states, and never as current guidance. It is written for a UK hospital unit whose nurses examine skin at every visit, so it sets no rule for a device used at home. Its numbers stay in this record rather than in the copy. Those are the sun protection factor and star rating it names, the hours it names, the treatment count that triggers a review, and the multiple by which it estimates lifetime risk. That multiple is stated there as an assumption that narrowband UVB behaves like sunlight, not as a measurement.
When you are ready to record
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