Vitiligo On Penis

[Hockeyfan]

Hi, I recently purchased a Dermalight80 to help with vitiligo on my penis. This was recommended by my dermatologist as being a safe and effective way to treat this disease. However, I am a little concerned of cancer risks especially due to the fact of what area of the body it is. I have it on my shaft and underneath my scrotum. I noticed a few freckle like spots appearing afer a few sessions on my scrotum which freaked me out a little. Should I not use it down there? Should I worry about risks of long term use?

[Matthew Balgowan]

Hello Hockeyfan,

Available data indicates that in general therapeutic UVB has a low risk of producing cutaneous cancers. However, with the possible exception of those on male genital skin. There is a definite cutaneous carcinogenic risk from oral PUVA.

Please be aware that we can not provide you with medical

Having said that based on what you have described, I think you should halt your treatment and speak with your doctor.


How long is your treatment duration and how often are you treating yourself?


If you wish to continuie with your treatment reduce both the duration of your treatment and how often you treat yourself.

regards,

[Hockeyfan]

I would hope my derm wouldn't have told me to use this if there was health risks. I tried protopic in the past and it didn't help whatsoever. This is really my last resort and I am hopeful that it'll help. I started out at 20 seconds for my first session and increased 20 seconds each time. This was the treatment times recommended in the pamphlet and they say to do 3 of these treatments a week. I found that this gave me mild sunburn so I am increasing it 20 seconds every OTHER time. I'm only up to 1 min 20 sec as I've only had it a few weeks.

[Matthew Balgowan]

If the treatments generate any negative skin reactive I would suggest not increasing the exposure. Rather, reduce these until you do not get such a reactation. The reaction is your skin in trauma. It is this reaction to damange that can increase risks.

So you may wish to try dropping back to say 40 seconds every three days to see if you get no reaction. If you continue to react negatively continue to reduce both duration and fequencey of your treatments. You should find this will allow you to continue to use yor device in a safe and effective manner

regards,

[james103]

Available data indicates that in general therapeutic UVB has a low risk of producing cutaneous cancers. However, with the possible exception of those on male genital skin.