Vitiligo: Causes
Vitiligo runs in families
Having a close blood relative with vitiligo increases your risk of developing this condition, but not everyone with a family history of vitiligo will develop it.
What causes vitiligo?
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease. This type of disease develops when your immune system mistakes part of your body as foreign.
If you have vitiligo, your immune system mistakes as foreign cells in your body that give skin, hair, and eyes their color. This case of mistaken identity causes the immune system to attack and destroy pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.
Depending on where in your body the immune system destroys these pigment-producing cells, you will have:
Areas of skin that look lighter than your natural skin tone, white, or even pink
Loss of color inside your mouth or nose, which may spread and cause loss of color on your lips, around your mouth, or outside your nose
Hair on your head that turns gray prematurely or develops a white streak
Part (or all) of an eyebrow or eyelash turns white, or hair covering a patch of vitiligo turns white.
Loss of color in part of an eye
Hearing loss, as the inner ear contains melanocytes
If the body continues to attack melanocytes, the patches will grow. New spots and patches can appear in other areas.
Who gets vitiligo?
People of all races and skin tones can get vitiligo, and the disease occurs about equally in people of all races.
About half the people who develop vitiligo get it before they turn 20 years of age. For many of these people, vitiligo begins when they’re a child. Children who develop vitiligo often have a relative with this condition.
Is vitiligo hereditary?
While vitiligo can run in a family, having a close blood relative with vitiligo doesn’t guarantee that you will get vitiligo. A number of genes are involved. Vitiligo develops when changes occur in these genes, and the changes happen in the right combination.
If you inherit certain genes, you have an increased risk of something triggering (causing it to happen) vitiligo.
Known vitiligo triggers include:
A severe sunburn
Injured skin (cut, scrape, burn)
Getting certain chemicals on your skin, such as those used in some hair dyes or products that can even out skin tone
What increases the risk of getting vitiligo?
Some people have an increased risk of developing a type of vitiligo called non-segmental vitiligo. This is the most common type of vitiligo.
Your risk increases if you have:
Blood relatives with vitiligo.
Blood relatives who have certain autoimmune diseases (develop when your immune system attacks part of your own body), such as alopecia areata (type of hair loss) or an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid (gland in your throat).
Moles on your skin with a white ring around them (medical name = halo nevi)
If you see areas of skin that look lighter than your natural skin tone, white, or even pink, it’s important to find out if you have vitiligo. Not every light patch of skin is vitiligo.
A board-certified dermatologist can tell you whether you have vitiligo or another skin condition. If you have vitiligo, you can benefit from being under a dermatologist’s care. Your dermatologist can watch you for signs of another health conditions that can develop, such as another autoimmune disease like thyroid disease, some hearing loss, or a problem with your eyesight.
Your dermatologist can also treat vitiligo if you wish. To find out how dermatologists diagnose and treat vitiligo, go to Vitiligo: Diagnosis and treatment.
Related AAD resources
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References
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Dahir AM, Thomsen SF. “Comorbidities in vitiligo: comprehensive review.” Int J Dermatol. 2018 Oct;57(10):1157-64.
Failla CM, Carbone ML, et al. “Melanoma and vitiligo: In good company.” Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Nov 15;20(22):5731.
Gill L, Zarbo A, et al. “Comorbid autoimmune diseases in patients with vitiligo: A cross-sectional study.” J Am Acad Dermatol. 2016 Feb;74(2):295-302.
Grimes PE. “Vitiligo.” In: Taylor and Kelly’s Dermatology for Skin of Color. (second edition). McGraw Hill, USA, 2016:341-8.
Passeron T, Ortonne JP. “Vitiligo and other disorders of hypopigmentation.” In: Bolognia JL, et al. Dermatology. (fourth edition). Mosby Elsevier, China, 2018:1087-96.
Rodrigues M, Ezzedine K, et al. (Vitiligo Working Group). “New discoveries in the pathogenesis and classification of vitiligo.” J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017 Jul;77(1):1-13.
Written by:
Paula Ludmann, MS
Reviewed by:
Jennifer Adams, MD, DTM&H, FAAD
Estaban Fernandez Faith, MD, FAAD
John E. Harris, MD, PhD, FAAD
Roopal Kundu, MD, FAAD
William Warren Kwan, MD, FAAD
Darrell S. Rigel, MD, MS, FAAD
Desmond Shipp, MD, MSBS, FAAD
Last updated: 4/15/26