How to follow a vitiligo treatment plan

How to follow a vitiligo treatment plan

Following a strict plan of UV sessions like the one needed for vitiligo treatment can be a daunting task. Up to 6 months of home photo-therapy with 3 or 4 weekly sessions take a lot of time. Missing out on a UV session can result in a decrease of the overall efficiency of the treatment.

This is where a smart-phone can come in handy. I've set 3 weekly reminders in the calendar of my Nokia phone in order to receive a screen notification each day a photo-therapy session is due. The reminder triggers an audio alarm in the evening, around the treatment time.

To keep track of the exposure times for different spots, I use a mobile application. It's known that in vitiligo, body parts react differently to UV radiation. For example the hands require more treatment time then the face to achieve the slight reddening. This is why precise timing is a key factor during a treatment plan.

The application can be used as a countdown timer during the actual photo-therapy session: an audio alarm is played when the exposure time is exhausted, notifying you to proceed to the next body part.

The timers can be suggestively named with the exposed body part eg: face, neck, left hand, foot as in the screen-shots below. Each timer is editable allowing gradual increase of the exposure time.

For Android Phones, a good app that allows definition of custom timers is Timer & CountDown

Keep track of vitiligo treatments: auto reminders for days when you need to perform them
Keep track of vitiligo treatments: auto reminders for days when you need to perform them
Keep track of vitiligo treatments: remember the durations of UV exposure for each zone
Keep track of vitiligo treatments: remember the durations of UV exposure for each zone
Keep track of vitiligo treatments: configuring the duration of UV exposure
Keep track of vitiligo treatments: configuring the duration of UV exposure

 

Tags