I was diagnosed with vitiligo about nine months ago. I started using 100% cocoa butter in the tube, and it helped make the white spots around my eyes and ears less noticeable.

I've had vitiligo my whole life. I'm 20 now with 80% coverage of it. I have a hubby and a kid and a life outside of the house! The greatest treatment I've found is simply accepting it. It is who you are. I think of it as art. I had a horrible time with people (even family) gawking at it and treating me horrible. School was especially horrible! But I found great friends who used my white patches like a coloring book. (I'm part Native American so I had it visible year-round). I love to safely tan every summer to see what changes happened during the winter. I finally embraced it. I'm not like all the other sheep in the pasture, so to speak. I'm me! Sure it's hard, but what isn't? Life shouldn't stop because you are different.

I am 23 and from India. I have suffered from vitiligo since I was 5 years old. I started medication, but of no use I had given up but my parents were still hoping. My tensed parents tried many doctors and treatments, but none of them were useful. They are tense because I'm single. I had white patches on my legs, hand, eyes, ears which are visible to everyone. I always try to cover myself completely, but it is not possible every time. Everyone always asks how I got my white patches; people have been making hurtful comments even my brother. Maybe they feel ashamed of me, but it hurts really. So, I try not to get stressed because of vitiligo, but even though it is spread not rapidly, but slowly I am not interested in going out to parties. It burns in the sun. My true friends in college don't notice my condition until I share my story with them. I am embarrassed of my scar.

I'm 55 yr old woman who has vitiligo for 16 years. Mine spread rapidly throughout my body, with depigmentation on joints, under eyes, hair, etc. I tried oral and light medications to no real avail. I eventually used Benoquin which is a medication to permanently depigment the skin. Which for the most part is complete but for some spots on my face. I have to be extremely careful in the sun using hi SPF's all the time. Self tanners are great, also dying your hair to enhance your very white skin helps. People have been making hurtful comments before during and after treatment, and I chalk it up to ignorance.

I'm 16 years old and was diagnosed with vitiligo at age 10. I started to get the white spots on my knees and stomach when I was younger, around age 5 or 6 and they gradually spread and increased in size. Now I have them on my feet, elbows, armpits, stomach, knees, groin area, chest, and even a white streak in my hair. As a kid I was always picked on or asked what happened to my skin. It took a while for me to get over my skin pigment, but I've learned to live with it. I'm not afraid to wear cute swimsuits anymore or wear shorts. I have naturally dark skin year round so it is very visible and during the summer I have to wear high SPF sunscreen. I think the best treatment for this is to just live with it. I'm not going to lie, I actually have come to like it and other people do too. Everyone always asks how I got my white streak and I tell them it's natural from my skin pigment and they really like it. Maybe it's the time and place we live in now, but I believe things like this are respected and accepted. As long as you feel comfortable with it, you'll look comfortable and confident too. One of my goals in life is to be a model, and I'm not going to let my skin pigment hold me back, it's who I am and no one is going to ever change that.

I'm 28 and living in South Africa. I've been living with vitiligo since I was 9 years old. It spread all over my legs in my teens and I used homeopathic medicine for several years that worked very slowly, but most of the spots on my legs disappeared. It's mainly small spots on my fingers, feet, elbows, and eyes now. It hasn't spread very much for several years, and I have started using a vitamin B12 supplement, as it was recommended to me by a well-known South African dermatologist. I find it works in keeping it at bay!