When patches of your skin are losing color, you want to know why. The first step should be to talk with your healthcare provider. They’ll run some tests to find out if you should be diagnosed with vitiligo or another condition.

Understanding how vitiligo is diagnosed can help you feel more at ease throughout the process. This knowledge can also give you confidence that your doctor will get to the bottom of what’s going on and help you find the treatment you need.

Diagnosing Vitiligo

The path to vitiligo diagnosis is generally straightforward. Your primary care provider may feel comfortable diagnosing it. Sometimes, they may refer you to a dermatologist, a skin specialist who knows how to test for vitiligo and has training that allows them to distinguish it from similar skin conditions.

Typically, during the process of vitiligo diagnosis, your doctor will take a medical history and perform a physical examination. They may also conduct one or more of the tests discussed below.

Medical History

Your doctor will likely take a medical history during your appointment. They may ask questions about the following topics:

• Symptoms of vitiligo you’ve experienced
• Skin trauma (such as a sunburn or skin injury)
• Illness or stress preceding the loss of skin color
• Other autoimmune disorders
• Family history of vitiligo or family history of autoimmune diseases

Physical Exam

The dermatologist will conduct a full body examination to evaluate your skin. This can help them find patches of depigmentation that you might have missed. It can also help them determine the type of vitiligo to diagnose you with. They’ll note things like whether the depigmented patches are symmetrical (on both sides of your body), whether they only affect skin that gets exposed to the sun, and whether they appear in patterns or seem random.

Wood’s Lamp Test

If you have a light skin tone or if your doctor has questions about certain affected areas of skin, they may use something called a Wood’s lamp to look at the affected areas of your body. This lamp shines ultraviolet light (UV light) on your skin. Areas that are depigmented will look different under the lamp than they do in regular light, even if all of your skin is pale.

Skin Biopsy

If your doctor isn’t sure that vitiligo is the right diagnosis, they may also do a skin biopsy. During this procedure, they’ll take a sample of the affected skin. Experts will look at it under a microscope to see if your melanocytes (pigment cells) are missing. This is key for a diagnosis of vitiligo.

Blood Tests

Sometimes, your doctor may need even more information before they’re comfortable diagnosing you with vitiligo. In this case, they may order one or more blood tests. They’ll take a sample of your blood and send it to a laboratory. They’ll look for certain signs of an immune system response that’s connected to vitiligo.

Blood tests may also help with diagnosis of other conditions that are often related to vitiligo, such as thyroid disease or diabetes. If you have signs or symptoms of other health issues, they may order blood tests to find out if you also have an autoimmune condition and need additional medical care.

Differential Diagnosis

It’s important to remember that vitiligo isn’t the only possible cause of a loss of pigment or white patches of skin. Your healthcare provider will need to rule out other conditions in addition to looking for vitiligo. This is called differential diagnosis. Other possible causes of skin discoloration include:

• Infections such as tinea versicolor, a common fungal infection
• Pityriasis alba, a skin condition that starts out discolored and scaly and fades, becoming pale and scaly
• Albinism, a genetic condition where you don’t have as much melanin
• Chemical leukoderma, which is caused by exposure of the skin to certain chemicals
• T-cell lymphoma, a kind of cancer

Eye and Ear Tests Related to Vitiligo

Your skin isn’t the only place where vitiligo can affect your body. It can also cause problems in your eyes and your ears.

Vitiligo is associated with eye inflammation that can cause a condition called uveitis. Your doctor may ask you to have your eyes checked if they think you have vitiligo. This isn’t part of being diagnosed with the condition, but it’s part of understanding how vitiligo is affecting all the parts of your body so you can get the treatment you need.

Vitiligo can also affect your ears, causing partial hearing loss in some people. Even if you haven’t noticed problems with your hearing, your doctor may want you to get it tested. Once again, this is so you can understand everything that’s going on in your body.

Talk to Your Doctor

If you think you’re experiencing symptoms of vitiligo, talk to a doctor or dermatology provider right away. They’ll get you the diagnostic assessments you need so you can figure out what’s going on. From there, you can determine if you’d like to pursue treatment options.

Find Your Team

MyVitiligoTeam is the social network for people with vitiligo. On MyVitiligoTeam, members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with vitiligo.

Have you been diagnosed with vitiligo? How did you get your diagnosis? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.