Vitiligo is a skin condition where certain skin areas in your body are bereft of pigmentation. Those areas appear as white patches which grow in size as you age. Vitiligo doesn't affect your overall health but it can have an impact on your self esteem. It is more prominent on dark skin people due to the contrast in skin colors.
There are many unsubstantiated claims that home remedies can get rid of vitiligo. Red clay is one such useful treatment of vitiligo. Red clay is rich in copper content and it is found that copper helps in melanin synthesis in the body. Melanin is the pigment that gives our skin color.
What is Vitiligo?
Let us understand vitiligo first before looking into how it can be treated.
It is a skin condition where certain patches of skin become white. This happens because the pigment melanin that colors your skin is absent in those areas of skin.
Vitiligo is not a life threatening or even dangerous skin condition. There are two disadvantages of this condition. Number one is psychological. Since it affects the looks, people may lose self esteem. The other disadvantage is that these white patches are sensitive to sun exposure.
It is a genetic condition. If one of your parents had it then your risk of getting it is high. Other common risk factors include autoimmune conditions such as hypothyroidism and alopecia areata. Scientists have found some strong correlation between copper and zinc deficiencies and risks of vitiligo
Adding copper rich food items like the following in your diet can help in vitiligo
- Shellfish
- Organ meats (kidneys, liver),
- Whole grains,
- Beans,
- Nuts, like cashew nuts
- Dried fruits such as prunes
- Potatoes,
- Dark leafy greens,,
- cocoa
- Black pepper
- Yast
How to Use Red Clay to Get Rid of Vitiligo?
Red clay is widely used around the world for natural treatment of vitiligo. Red clay has high levels of the micronutrient copper. By applying red clay topically on the skin, you help copper to impregnate the skin where it can help melanin synthesis to get the skin color black.
The logic appears to be scientific, but there are no scientific research data available to substantiate the claim.
Red clay is a risk free natural remedy with other skin advantages so there is no harm in trying it out.
What you require
- 1 teaspoon of red clay
- 1 teaspoon ginger juice
What you need to do
- Mix 1 teaspoon of red clay with 1 teaspoon of ginger juice to make thick paste
- Gently massage the paste on affected white patches for a minute or so
- Make more paste in the same ratio if the skin area to cover requires more paste
- Keep a thick layer of the paste on your skin as mask
- Leave it there for 30 minutes
- Rinse it with warm water
- Do it 2-3 times daily
It is believed that ginger in the paste helps to improve blood circulation for the copper in the red clay to get absorbed by the skin. Copper then will help melanin synthesis to release pigments. This remedy with long term use should then remove white patches to free you from vitiligo.