White spots on newborn's belly

I believe that many parents will find white spots on their baby’s belly while taking care of their baby. If a baby has white spots on his belly, it is a symptom of vitiligo in most cases. Of course, anemic nevus and mottled disease can also cause this symptom in babies. So in order to determine the specific cause of the disease, if parents find white spots on their baby’s belly, the first thing to do is to take the child to check the cause!

1. What is the reason for white spots on the newborn's belly?

1. Vitiligo

When parents find white spots on the belly of their newborn, they can observe it carefully and gently rub the white spots to see if there is any scaling falling off or redness of the skin. If the skin is smooth, pale white or milky white, and spreads along the normal skin, then it is very likely vitiligo. Moreover, vitiligo is mostly distributed symmetrically, and some babies have white hair. Vitiligo is sensitive to sunlight, and the white spots will turn red when exposed to the sun.

2. Anemic nevus

It is a localized hypopigmented macule, usually unilaterally distributed or confined to a certain area. It occurs after birth or soon after, and rarely continues to expand afterwards. The color is hypopigmentation rather than depigmentation. When rubbed hard, the local area does not turn red, while the surrounding normal skin turns red. After pressure examination with a glass slide, the edge of the lesion becomes more blurred.

3. Mottled disease

It is an autosomal dominant genetic disease. It differs from vitiligo in that it has a clear family history and skin lesions are present at birth, most commonly on the forehead, combined with white hair. The white spots are often triangular or diamond-shaped. Rashes may also occur on the chest, abdomen, and proximal limbs. There are often dot-shaped normal pigment islands in the white spots. Some patients may also have other developmental abnormalities.

2. What should I do if there are white spots on the newborn's belly? If it is vitiligo

Vitiligo can be cured. It must be discovered and treated early. Early treatment of vitiligo is very important. The shorter the onset time, the higher the cure rate. The cure rate for early onset can reach more than 80%. It is recommended to go to a regular hospital for examination for the treatment of vitiligo. Professional hospitals have advanced treatment equipment and can accurately detect the cause of the disease. Only symptomatic treatment can be given according to different causes to achieve the effect of cure.

Therefore, it is recommended to take the child to the local children's hospital for systematic diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. Some trace element supplements can be prescribed to control the progression of the disease. When the child is older, vitiligo can be treated by improving subcutaneous microcirculation and activating epidermal melanin. It is developed based on the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in treating both the symptoms and the root causes and having no toxic side effects. It improves microcirculation from the pathological basis to completely cure vitiligo.

Specific treatment methods

1. Drug treatment

(1) Oral administration of psoralen and its derivatives such as methoxsalen followed by exposure to ultraviolet light.

(2) Long-term use of large doses of vitamins such as B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin P.

(3) Treatment can include taking copper-containing drugs, such as 0.5% copper sulfate solution orally.

(4) Oral immunomodulatory agent levamisole, intramuscular injection of freeze-dried BCG, oral administration of bovine placenta, etc.

(5) Topical application of skin irritants

It causes inflammatory reaction in the skin and promotes pigmentation. Commonly used ones include 30% psoralea corylifolia tincture, nitrogen mustard alcohol, phenol (pure carbolic acid), 25%-50% trichloroacetic acid, blister beetle tincture, etc. This method is only suitable for small skin lesions, and blisters may appear on the lesions after application.

(6) Corticosteroids: Various corticosteroids such as beclomethasone dipropionate ointment, halometasone cream, triamcinolone urea ointment, etc. are used for local packing treatment.

2. Surgical treatment

Patients with stable skin lesions and no progression can undergo autologous epidermal transplantation.

3. Depigmentation therapy

It is suitable for those with large skin lesions that exceed more than half of the body surface area. 3% to 20% hydroquinone monobenzyl ether cream can be applied externally.

4. Physical therapy

Treatment is with narrow-wave ultraviolet light, long-wave ultraviolet light or 308nm excimer laser.