white spots on body

[johnny72]

I am 22 years old and this problem has been happenning since I was 13. My legs started to get very itchy when I showered and as time passed the white spots began to appear. The white spots and itchiness spreaded from legs to my arms back and stomach. Any suggestions how to get rid of the spots and itchiness?

[basics14]

This happens with age to all races and in some(fairer skinned people) it is in greater numbers. It can happen anywhere on the body including parts that have not been tanned. It has nothing to do with the sun and never has. It is the process of aging and just as we lose pigment in our hair we do also in our skin. I have IGH and have done extensive research on it. Anyone under 30 will be extremely unlikely to have this. More than likely anything itchy on you younger people is a fungus. This has been misdiagnosed more than it has been diagnosed. No fungal cream in the world will cure this. You can try cryotherapy(freezing the small spots) to get rid of the damaged melanocytes or skin grafting of the cells to those areas. Try a wart removal kit touching the cold wand to the spots for no more than 3 seconds and give it 6 weeks to see a difference. This is the cheaper of the two ways. Staying out of the sun will not cure this but will simply make it harder to see the contrast from tanned skin.Everyone will eventually get these,some in greater amounts and some in lesser. Men and women alike.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis needs to be ruled out. It is 2 to 5-mm flat white spots found on the shins and forearms. It can be due to sun damage or ageing. Treatment options include protection from the sun, cryotherapy, dermabrasion or microdermabrasion, tretinoin cream or pinch grafts of normal pigmented skin. I suggest you to get an evaluation done from a dermatologist to confirm the diagnosis.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.