Vitiligo is a depigmenting autoimmune disorder associated with genetic, environmental, and metabolic factors. It leads to depigmented patches on various body regions, including the lips, which are a delicate area to treat. While some therapies promote repigmentation, are there specific solutions tailored for the lips? Let’s explore this together.
Lip vitiligo: what treatment is used to restore pigmentation?
Summary
Published on November 7, 2025, updated on November 7, 2025, by Lilia, Scientific Editor — 6 min of reading
Themes:
Tattooing for the repigmentation of lips affected by vitiligo.
The vitiligo of the lips is a relatively rare form of the disease that affects a particularly sensitive area of the face. The goal of treatments is to achieve homogeneous, long-lasting repigmentation, and several therapeutic approaches are currently being explored.
The first option is medical tattooing, considered as one of the simplest and fastest methods. A study conducted on fifteen patients with labial vitiligo demonstrated that after two to three tattoo sessions, eleven of them exhibited excellent color matching with the surrounding skin and two exhibited good concordance. This technique, considered effective, inexpensive, and rapid, thus represents an attractive solution, although it is essential to consult a dermatologist before considering it in order to assess the stability of the vitiligo and the potential risks.
Tattooing is a simple and effective therapeutic option for stable lip vitiligo.
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Skin grafting in cases of lip vitiligo.
Among the surgical methods, punch skin grafting (PSG) and suction blister epidermal grafting (SBEG) are regarded as simple, inexpensive, and effective techniques for treating cases of vitiligo of the lips that are resistant. PSG involves harvesting small cylinders of skin that are then transplanted onto depigmented areas, whereas SBEG relies on creating skin blisters to collect the epidermis and graft it onto the affected regions.
A study comparing these two approaches in 18 patients showed that both techniques were able to achieve effective lip repigmentation, confirming their therapeutic relevance. The results are presented in the table below.
| Type of graft | Repigmentation level | Number of patients |
|---|---|---|
| PSG | 50 à 75% | 2 |
| PSG | 75 à 90% | 1 |
| PSG | 90 à 100% | 3 |
| SBEG | 50 à 75% | 1 |
| SBEG | 75 à 90% | 3 |
| SBEG | 90 à 100% | 2 |
Comparison of the efficacy of PSG and SBEG grafts.
Source: TELANSERI J. & al. Punch grafting versus suction blister epidermal grafting in the treatment of stable lip vitiligo. Dermatologic Surgery (2008).
However, color matching, that is, the correspondence between the tone of the grafted skin and that of the lips, was rated slightly better in the PSG group compared to the SBEG group. Although both procedures are effective for lip vitiligo, PSG thus appears slightly superior, although the small number of participants in the study does not allow for definitive conclusions.
In general, after skin grafting, PUVA-SOL therapy (psoralen plus UVA) is used to stimulate skin repigmentation. Indeed, after a skin graft, the melanocytes transplanted melanocytes must proliferate and migrate to the surrounding skin to ensure uniform repigmentation. PUVA-SOL therapy is thus often used to promote this melanocyte reactivation and accelerate the production of melanin in the grafted areas, although this is not always the case.
Phototherapy for the treatment of lip vitiligo.
The 308 nm excimer laser, combined with topical calcineurin inhibitors and calcipotriol, is another effective technique in the treatment of vitiligo. Indeed, a study involving 979 patients (3,478 lesions) demonstrated that 308 nm excimer laser therapy was effective and safe for treating progressive‐stage vitiligo. At the end of the treatment, 1,374 vitiligo patches out of 3,478 lesions, i.e., 39.50%, had achieved at least 50% repigmentation, and 1,167 patches of vitiligo (33.55%) had shown higher levels of repigmentation. Although this treatment seems effective for repigmenting certain body areas, its compatibility with the lip region remains to be determined.
A study attempted to answer this question. Three individuals with lip vitiligo underwent a single 308-nm excimer laser session, and near-total repigmentation—estimated at 75%—was observed after 18 weeks.
Although the limited number of patients in this study does not allow for a statistically significant confirmation of the efficacy of the 308 nm excimer laser in lip repigmentation, the results are promising and warrant more extensive research on the subject.
Sources
TELANSERI J. & al. Punch grafting versus suction blister epidermal grafting in the treatment of stable lip vitiligo. Dermatologic Surgery (2008).
KARKI D. & al. Micropigmentation: Tattooing for the treatment of lip vitiligo. International Journal of Surgical Reconstructions (2009).
ZHANG FR. & al. Treatment of vitiligo with 308-nm excimer laser: Our experience from a two year follow-up of 979 Chinese patients. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (2017).
BOUKHEDOUNI N. Mécanismes immunologiques impliqués dans la perte des mélanocytes au cours du vitiligo. Médecine humaine et pathologie – Université de Bordeaux (2018).
DESHPANDE A. J. & al. 308 nm Excimer lamp monotherapy for lip vitiligo-a short case series. Journal of Cosmetics and Laser Therapy (2020).
