From your description, your skin may be affected by a fungal infection called tinea versicolor. This causes light brown to pale colored patches that appear about the trunk and abdomen area. A typical symptom of tinea versicolor is that the patches slowly grow in size and begin to merge together. You may even have noticed some scaling of the skin and minor scratching. Luckily this condition is easy to cure with home treatment. Try rubbing some aloe vera gel or lotion on the affected part of your skin. This natural wonder has excellent antifungal properties that can contain the fungal infection and stop it from spreading further. You could also use tea tree oil, which has similar benefits. However, if you notice that the pale areas keep growing even a week after home treatment, consult your doctor immediately since you may require more powerful antifungal medication. Even when the fungal infection is defeated, the paleness will stay for a few months. Keep a close watch, since tinea versicolor often re-appears in the same area.
Another possible cause of your symptoms is Vitiligo, an uncommon skin condition that sometimes causes patches of depigmented, pale skin on the torso. This is a long-term, chronic condition for which there is no clear cause. Most experts agree that it could be hereditary, but other factors such as a poor diet or stress also lead to a breakout. In this case, the skin’s color pigment, melanin is destroyed, leaving the affected area permanently pale. However, dermatologists offer cosmetic procedures that can bring back some level of pigmentation, or color. Ultraviolet (UV) light is often used, since it can stimulate the melanin in the surrounding skin, leading to re-growth of healthy melanocytes (pigment cells) in the affected area. Some people believe that high dosages of folic acid and methyl B12 can help repigment skin. Vitiligo patients can also choose chemical pigmentation, where 20% monobenzene is used to offer complete repigmentation in affected patches. However, this process is irreversible so any mismatch in skin color cannot be corrected.
In some cases, pale areas around the middle body are caused simply because the rest of the skin is exposed to more sunlight. Since melanin reacts with sunlight and turns darker, the areas with less exposure to light naturally appear paler. If the pale area in your torso does not have any boundaries or if you have not experienced any welts, raised areas, or mild irritation in the pale region, you may simple need to get some more sun on you!
answered by G M