Our skin contains melanocyte cells, which produce pigment and therefore give our skin its colour. When these melanocytes are damaged for various reasons, pigment cannot be produced in the skin. As a result of the pigment deficiency, scattered, patch-like, well-demarcated white areas (patches) form on the skin. Vitiligo is a skin disease characterised by white plaques caused by loss of colour of the outer skin. The white plaques are as distinctly white as milk. These patches can be as small as a dot or the size of 2–3 coins. The areas of the body where the patches are most often seen are the hands, arms, legs and face. They are also common in the genital area.

Vitiligo is a disease caused by the loss of the cells that give the skin its colour, appearing as white patches. It can appear anywhere on the body. It is more common in exposed areas that are exposed to the sun. It appears more in people with darker skin.
Vitiligo is a genetically inherited disease. However, at which gene level it is transmitted is not fully known. In typical vitiligo, milk-white areas appear on the skin. The rate of pigment loss can vary in different parts of the body, so there may be colour differences in each area where vitiligo appears. Vitiligo starts with rapid pigment loss and continues until it stops for no apparent reason. After that it may not change and may remain like this for life. Spontaneous return of pigment is very rare. Because some patients lose all their pigment, no colour difference may remain in the skin, and so they may think that they no longer have vitiligo. Even though all the skin is the same colour, these patients still have vitiligo. The severity of the disease varies from person to person. Fair-skinned people notice the disease in summer, from the colour difference between the vitiligo areas and their tanned skin. In general, people with darker skin can notice the disease at any time of year.

Some internal diseases are more common in patients with vitiligo. In these patients, thyroid hormone function, diabetes and anaemia must always be investigated.