So, your Skin is breaking out. You have to do something about it, but you’re unsure what the best course of action.

You need to know your enemy. You need to find out whether it’s a fungal infection or if it’s Vitiligo. This way you know best how to tackle the issue.

So, what is the difference between the two? The differences are quite simple but are important in seeing which is which.

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. What this means is that it’s progressive and needs to be tackled in a different way to fungal infections.

What it does is attack the skins pigment cells, meaning that they can become discolored.

The skin isn’t unhealthy in this case, it just means that it’s spotted white. The skin loses its pigments of melanin, meaning that there are a variety of white spots breaking out around the place.

So, as it’s due to immunity and not illness, the skin can be nourished, healthy and perfectly maintained. It is simply the color that is being attacked.

Fungus

The most similar Fungal infection is called: Tinea Versicolor. It’s basically just a yeast infection from normal bodily yeast, but it also bleaches the skin.

This means that there are discolored patches that could affect the skin for weeks, even after treatment.

Because of this, you may have this infection, treat it, and it does not heal instantly, making it look like Vitiligo.

This isn’t much to worry about though, either. As it is a superficial infection it only affects the top layers of skin.

Spot the Difference

So, they both look similar. The obvious difference is that they’re caused by different factors. Where Vitiligo is widely accepted to be caused by how environmental factors interact with genes, Tinea Versicolor is known to be caused by yeast.

However, there are subtle differences in how both of them look.

Where Vitiligo is specifically white spots affecting normally pigmented skin, Tinea Versicolor creates variations of color.

“Versicolor” means “color variation”, meaning that there will also be red patches or darker patches mingled in.

Also, Tinea Versicolor can create an itchy rash, whereas Vitiligo will not. As Vitiligo is a pigmentation disease, it means that the skin itself will be unaffected. Tinea Versicolor specifically affects the skin, however, meaning that the effects will be felt.

Neither illnesses are contagious, and both are treated differently.

Treatments

While there is no allopathic cure for Vitiligo it can still be treated by holistic and nutritional approaches, such as the combination approach taken by Dr. Michael Dawson.

Fungal diseases are treated with anti-fungals and can be treated with over-the-counter remedies such as anti-dandruff shampoo. As it’s important to keep PH levels and fungal levels healthy and consistent, though, it’s best to consult your doctor before choosing a treatment.

Conclusion

So, both are skin diseases, but there are both large and subtle differences. The large difference is that Vitiligo affects the makeup of the skin itself, changing the pigmentation, where fungal infections attack the top of the skin.

The subtle differences are more important in telling the difference, however. For example, Vitiligo is exclusively a loss of pigmentation or melanin, meaning that the spots will be lighter, whereas fungal infections make more colors appear.

But it is always best to consult your doctor before making any treatment choices, or if over-the-counter methods aren’t working.

Written by Michael Dawson – nutritionist, health consultant, and author of Natural Vitiligo Treatment System: The Home Vitiligo Cure that Doctors Don’t Want You to Discover.