Nathalie,
I read your article about pepper possibly improving repigmentation in vitiligo patients. I have had vitiligo for nearly 10 years. However, it is a very mild case and was not exposed on my face until a few years ago. My dermatologist has put me on a topical cream that doesn’t seem to do much for me. I applied it for three months with little to no improvements. I actually seemed to have more success without the medicine on my face. My case seems to be based on stress. Vitiligo didn’t even break out on my face until I had a breakup with a girl I dated for three years. At the time I was very depressed and the vitiligo became noticeable on my face. Since then I got married and am living a very happy life. However, the vitiligo is still noticeable when I am not dying my beard. My question to you is….How could someone crush up the black pepper small enough to be absorbed and could it be mixed with Vaseline for application? I was also curious about your thoughts on home UVB lights. Could these be beneficial for use if exposure was very minimal. I can’t afford the treatments at the dermatologist. I would really like to do laser treatments (Excimer laser). However, that is well out of my budget as well. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I really enjoyed your article.
Gabe
Hi Gabe,
It seems that stress is a trigger for vitiligo in many people that write to me. The key thing to remember when searching for cures is that everybody reacts differently to the myriad of ideas available. The topical cream didn’t work for you (or me), but it works for other patients.
UVB treatments (e.g. Excimer laser) is the only treatment that I have found works for everyone. The possible drawback is that we don’t really know if the new pigmentation is permanent. On that note, the fact that repigmentation even occurs is promising because that means we haven’t lost the ability to pigment; something is just turning off the gene temporarily. Find that trigger and you’ll be a savior to many! The treatments are expensive, but some insurance companies now cover it, so check with yours. Also, I have experienced repigmentation by just sitting in the sun for a few minutes each day…the color only lasted through the summer months though.
The concoction to make a black pepper emulsion is a mystery to me. A few people have commented that they re doing it, but there haven’t been any photos submitted to get a true grasp of the healing ability.
Stay in touch and visit the site often. I post new finding often.
All the best,
Nathalie