Q: I am a 27 years old woman who met with an accident 8 months back, which led to white pigmentation on my skin. The doctor asked for skin grafting and gave Megain to apply on the site of the injury. I consulted another doctor and he said that the white pigmentation was not due to the accident but instead diagnosed it as vitiligo. Can white pigmentation on the skin due to an accident develop into vitiligo later? The white area has not increased and is accompanied by brown pigmentation. Please advise.

A:Injury of any kind can lead to death of pigment producing cells in the skin. This can lead to depigmentation. However this will not spread beyond the area of the injury. In fact in most cases there is spontaneous recovery. In those cases where this does not occur, some of the medicines used for treating vitiligo can be given. Generally the response is good. If new patches (of vitiligo) occur spontaneously, at some point later in life, one cannot say that injury was the cause of vitiligo. However, one can say that the patient had a tendency for vitiligo, which was precipitated at the site of injury and then developed at other sites in its due course of time.