Happy World Vitiligo Day!

​Today is World Vitiligo Day! We’ve blogged about this day before but I wanted to talk about it again because the theme is all about young people with the condition and it’s a subject that’s really close to my heart.  If you’ve read my son Nike’s blog from earlier this year, then you’ll know that he has inherited the condition from me. My youngest son, Conor who is also in his early 20’s has vitiligo as well. As a mother, you always feel some degree of ‘mum guilt’ and I feel upset that the boys have a condition that has affected me so deeply. Luckily, both Nike and Conor deal with it really well and you can see what Nike thinks on this little video clip he did last week here.

Last week, we did a photoshoot for Vitiliglow™ and met the fabulous Joti Gata-Aura. Joti has had vitiligo for most of her adult life and like me, has struggled with the impact it has had on her confidence and self-esteem. As a mum of two young children, Joti is very conscious about her patches and how her children see them. Luckily, they are very accepting and have given her the confidence to go out without covering up.  This confidence is actually a great thing for her to pass on to her children, especially if they go on to inherit the condition.  It is thought that one in five people with Vitiligo is related to somebody with the condition although the exact prevalence rate hasn’t yet been calculated.
 
Please take a look at Joti’s story and check out her Instagram page @vitiliglo_and_me to find out more about what she’s doing to raise awareness of vitiligo in the British press.

​The subject of this year’s World Vitiligo Day is around young people and I’m often asked by parents who’s children have vitiligo whether Vitiliglow™ is appropriate for them to use.  This is a really tricky area – obviously no parent wants their child to be distressed and it is a personal choice as to whether you allow your child to use a camouflage cover or not.  My advice is to speak to your child about the condition and look at the range of resources available so that children can understand why they don’t look the same as their friends and classmates. There’s a great guide from the Vitiligo Society that will explain how to cope with vitiligo is your child has it, plus social media has really started to raise awareness of the condition – particularly high profile people like Winnie Harlow, who is making Vitiligo more mainsteam now. 

If you are the parent of a child with the condition, I would urge you to work on their self esteem and confidence before they start to cover up with a product and I really hope that the stories from Nike and Joti will help young people to accept life with a condition that they can’t control or change.
 
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the videos! We’ll be doing lots more on Instagram over the coming months and have some new plans to engage with people via Facebook so keep looking out for us on social media.  Happy World Vitiligo Day everyone!
 
Best wishes
Polly
 
Polly Gotschi
Founder of Vitiliglow™