Hypopigmentation

Thank you all for your kind words of support and advice.
A similar situation has occurred before and she informed the consultant that the problem “is on my face not in my mind”. She refuses to acknowledge she could benefit from counselling.
Make up , however liberally applied, just slides off her face. She sees herself as “disgusting”. Hopefully it is just temporary but she just wants to see any progress of which there had been none over the past two months.
Hopefully consultant number 3 ( recommended by number 2 as having more specialised experience) will offer words of hope.
Thank you all once again

Shelflife's post is very helpful. I was wondering why the need for so many consultants. The good thing is none so far have diagnosed any long-term condition. So it is likely it will self-repair. I do understand that body dysmorphia is very real and distressing to the sufferer. If you can, this might be a good opportunity to encourage your daughter to seek support, even if she has had support in the past. Also for your peace of mind It might be helpful for you to be given support/advice on how to soothe and calm her distress. I wish you both well.

You must be very worried OP about your DDs mental state.
Is she having any help currently with that?
Is there someone you can contact to discuss your worries or the Mind helpline?

Evangeline, your anxiety is evident in your post. Has she had counselling or other therapies to help her?
There are special make ups that will help hide the area she finds so distressing. Not a solution, I recognise that but may help .
I can ' see' how worried you are. 💐

Thank you so much for your responses. We are on to our third consultant as the previous two have had no experience of this cause of hypopigmentation and we’re hoping this next one has. How do you find a consultant who can help? It’s a matter of ( very expensive) trial and error.
My daughter (33) probably suffers from body dysmorphia to some extent as her whole wellbeing depends on how she looks. I try each and every day to encourage her to value herself above her looks alone but despite being an educated professional she just cannot see past it. Yesterday she threatened the ultimate way out if this is not resolved. I’m at the point where I just don’t know what I can say or do.
My apologies and thank you for your good wishes

I don't know anything about this condition but many of us, will at some time in our life, suffer something that is disfiguring that is not temporary (hopefully your daughter's will be) I had to have a cancerous growth removed from my nose, its left a noticeable scar and affected the shape of my nose. Ar first I was very aware of it but it only took a few months for me to realise that although I thought it was very obvious, others (even those who knew me well) didn't even notice it. There are excellent cosmetics that can hide changes in skin colour. I'm mentioning this not to dismiss your daughter's concerns but perhaps to encourage support in helping her come to terms with it, should it be a permanent change. I hope the problem does resolve over time, good luck with your next appointment.

Vitamin D which we get from sunlight is good for skin cell repair but I think it would have to be done with very light exposure. I wonder if taking a Vitamin D supplement would help and be safer.

Again that is food for thought. A bit surprised that you've had to see 2 consultants. And now a third? I'm presuming they must be dermatologists?

Some more thoughts.

I am no expert but, as we are having this prolonged hot weather, I’m thinking about what happens to the skin when it is exposed to sunlight.

When UV rays damage skin cells, it's the melanocytes which produce more melanin, the pigment that darkens the skin to protect deeper tissue from further injury.

If the melanocytes are temporary stunned and are not producing melanin, could expose to sunlight set back the healing process?

The nose is often the first part of our face to burn in sun.

So a question to ask the consultant is whether, in this prolonged sunny weather, whether any exposure to sun is good or bad for the healing process.

Meantime to be on the safe side I’ll cover up with factor 50, wear a hat and keep sun exposure to a minimum case it’s doing more harm than good.

Many thanks for your responses.
It is not vitiligo but a result of the trauma she caused herself through squeezing the spot. I am fervently hoping the colour will return but neither of the consultants we have seen had experience of hypopigmentation caused in this way. If only we could be sure the colour would eventually return my daughter would have hope- it’s the not knowing that is causing her such profound distress.
Thank you again

Yes as Graphite says that makes more sense.

From what I read, this all depends on the depth of skin damage, and whether the pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) have been temporarily stunned or permanently destroyed. From what you describe happened, I would say this is more likely to be temporary. It may just need more time (and patience) for the cells to start to making melanin again.

The reason I mentioned all of the above conditions is because they are autoimmune conditions and apparently genetically connected.

I have family members with Vitiligo, Lichen Sclerosis, thyroid issues. The one with Lichen Sclerosis also has small white patches on their arms but not vitiligo. She was told LS and the small white patches often occur together. The one with Vitiligo has larger white patches over his neck, arms and face. He can put a cover up cream on but doesn't bother any more as it looked odd. Doctors are much quicker with diagnosing Vitiligo now so I'd have thought they would have said it was that if suspected. There's a lot more clinical trials for potential treatments now Sunscreen as HelterSkelter said, is essential. So hopefully if it's because of over-squeezing a spot then hopefully it will recover.

If you google vitiligo treatment there's some helpful info. Especially recommending using high factor sunscreen as depigmented skin can burn easily.

My mother had white patches on her arms. I dont know what caused it nor if she had any treatment, but that was called vitiligo.