How I became a skin detective

Last Updated on 15th September 2023 by Caroline Haye

Investigating the mystery of vitiligo

I don’t remember exactly when my addiction to detective stories began. It might have been back in the 1970s, when I first started watching the disarming and dishevelled homicide detective Lt. Columbo. I loved how he relentlessly hunted down his prime suspects with “just one more question”… Until they were finally forced into revealing themselves as the killer. Or it might date all the way back to endless childhood hours engrossed in the latest thrilling adventures of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Secret Seven. Nowadays I am a sucker for a good episode of Miss Marple, Poirot or, my guiltiest pleasure of all, Midsomer Murders. And I always have a ready supply of whodunnits on my Kindle as well as on my book shelf.

My preoccupation with murder mysteries may sound a little morbid but, in my defence, it is not the blood and guts that draw me to the genre. It is the intriguing plots and the challenge of piecing together a seemingly impenetrable puzzle. Of course, the pleasure in most crime dramas comes from looking for clues and motives, spotting red herrings and attempting to solve the mystery ourselves. The enjoyment in an episode of Columbo, on the other hand, comes from watching someone else put the pieces together, whilst we – the audience – already know who the killer was and how they did it. Maybe this fascination is how I became a “skin detective”.
​ 

The puzzle of vitiligo

I find the mystery of vitiligo every bit as interesting as those fictional tales. But I have not always felt this way. When I was still in the midst of my own drama, I was too deeply psychologically affected by it all to want to spend too much time dwelling on it. It was easier to cover it up and try not to think about it any more than necessary.

But once my re-pigmentation was in full swing, it was like watching another episode of Columbo, knowing how the story would end. The solution to the mystery was in plain sight. And this meant I could relax and enjoy watching the rest of the story play out. Suddenly I didn’t mind focussing my attention on what was happening to me because it was no longer depressing. In fact, it was thrilling to see the colour returning to my skin and I became fascinated by the process. This was when I began to read everything I could find on the subject. All of a sudden, I wanted to understand as much as possible about what causes vitiligo, ways of treating it and ways of coping with it.

What I have learned (and am still very much in the process of learning) is that, unlike the fictional detectives who solve every crime, catch every villain and tie up every loose end, a vitiligo detective’s results are not as clear cut. It seems there are always differing medical opinions and conflicting theories… Inconclusive and contradictory research results… Even deliberately misleading and bogus claims. All of these have to be sorted through before you can come to any conclusions on the subject. But I suppose this just goes to show that vitiligo is not a work of fiction. It is real life. An ongoing investigation that will most likely culminate in a complex set of answers, reflecting the fact that it is a complex condition.  

The most effective treatment

Clearly, there is no definitive cure for vitiligo yet. It is a mystery that is still under investigation by researchers and sufferers alike. It is a detective story that looks set to run for quite some time. But everything I have learned, and experienced, so far convinces me that nutritional deficiencies play a central role. For me, at least, it was the central role. And correcting those deficiencies was the most effective way to reverse it and keep it at bay. Saying this is not the same as solving the mystery and closing the case. But it has certainly made a world of difference to me… And to many others who have adopted the same, or a similar, approach to their condition. 

Just why a significant minority of the world’s population randomly lose patches of their skin colour is evidently a complicated puzzle. One that is still in the process of being solved (though I am confident it will be eventually). Until that day, I shall continue to be a vitiligo detective and hunt down every fascinating clue I can find. I shall, like the good lieutenant, keep on asking “just one more question” and keep passing on any potentially useful answers I come across in this blog. However, much as I enjoy researching and writing it, I look forward to a time when the only mysteries I try to unravel are fictional ones. Because vitiligo will have become a straightforward condition to cure and this blog will have lost its relevance.