Chennai: Ever since she was 15, Chandini K of Anna Nagar has been advised to cover up the white patches clearly visible on her left arm and neck.
However, it wasn’t until recently that she found out about ‘therapeutic tattooing’ - a method to cover the patches on her skin with coloured pigments. Chandini, now 26, has vitiligo,, a condition that leaves white patches on the skin due to loss of melanin. Having got tired of trying to deal with societal pressure as a result of her skin condition, the young woman finally decided to give in and cover up her ‘imperfection’.
Vitiligo, a skin condition, affects 10 to 12 per cent of the Indian population - around 12 crore people. With the condition being a social stigma, most tend to go in for different therapeutic treatments to get rid of the colour.
Stanley medical college and hospital’s cosmetology department alone sees around 50 to 60 similar cases each month. “We do therapeutic tattooing, in which we match the skin and cover up the white patch with the dye. It stays for around six to seven years,” said Dr G.R. Ratnavel, head, cosmetology department, Stanley Hospital.
With the psychological discomfort - as a result of the skin condition - found to be very high, tattoo studios and clinics too see a number of individuals with vitiligo approaching them desperately looking for a way to cover up their patches.
“I had no issues with the patches on my arm and neck. My parents too were okay with it, but my relatives and the rest of society wasn’t. My aunts convinced my mother that no one would marry me because of my condition,” said Chandini.
