Karkhana, Secunderabad Mon–Sat, 11:30 am – 5:00 pm  ·  formerly BNR Skin & Vitiligo Hospital ★ 5.0 on Practo · 10,000+ patients treated →
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Vitiligo

Consult about vitiligo from anywhere in India

Vitiligo is a condition people travel for, often without knowing in advance whether the journey is worth making. A video consultation answers that question first, and for many patients it is the whole answer.

At a glance

Fee
₹1,299, paid in advance
Booking
WhatsApp: video link sent back
Good for
Diagnosis review, plan, second opinion
Not for
Procedures, grafting assessment in isolation
You’ll need
Daylight photographs, old prescriptions
Languages
English, Hindi, Telugu
Outcome
A written plan you can act on locally
Consultation fees

What a consultation costs

Both fees are fixed and are the same for every condition. Consult online first and, if an examination in person turns out to be necessary, only the difference is charged.

Anywhere in India

Online video consultation

₹1,299

History and photographs are taken on WhatsApp first, so the doctor has read your case before the call begins rather than during it.

  • Paid in advance, then you choose a date from the open slots
  • In English, Telugu or Hindi
  • Diagnosis and plan sent back to you in writing
  • Follow-up questions on the same WhatsApp thread
At the clinic, Secunderabad

In-person appointment

₹1,499

The full examination, including the two instruments that cannot travel over video: the Wood’s lamp and the dermatoscope.

  • Booked on WhatsApp; a time is confirmed back to you
  • Bring previous prescriptions and any recent reports
  • Only the difference is charged after an online consult
  • Procedures are quoted separately, after examination

Fees are for the consultation itself. Where an online consultation turns out to need an examination in person, only the difference of ₹200 is charged, not a second full fee. Medication, tests and procedures are separate and are quoted after examination, in writing.

Before you decide

Who is treating you, and what his patients said.

Dr. (Lt Col) Khagendra Varada, dermatologist and dermatosurgeon

Dr. (Lt Col) Khagendra Varada

  • 45 years in dermatology and dermatosurgery
  • 25 of them in the Indian Army Medical Corps
  • MBBS, Osmania Medical College
  • Dip. Practical Dermatology, Cardiff · Dip. Dermatology, AAAM

Reg. No. 10461, Hyderabad State Medical Council

Full background →

“I have been going pillar to post to get my son cured of his white spot on his left side of lip and chin. It appeared 8 years back. I was told it’s special type of nerve vitiligo which has no cure. After reporting to him he told us that it is SEGMENTAL VITILIGO and unlikely and difficult to be cleared by medications alone. He suggested for surgical melanocyte transplant… I was amazed after around one month that he started rapidly getting pigmentation. I wholeheartedly suggest please do not waste time like I did.”

★★★★★Gunaganti Madaru · Google

“Dark spots are seen in one month… Even before perticular treatment for vitiligo, great”

★★★★★Manojkumar Kalapala · Google
Read all 70 stories →
Why this exists

Most of vitiligo care is decisions, not procedures.

The things that determine a vitiligo outcome, whether the disease is active, whether the current treatment is the right one, whether a patch is a candidate for surgery, whether the diet advice you were given matters. Are all judgements. Almost none of them requires being in the room.

India has among the highest vitiligo prevalence in the world and a very uneven distribution of dermatologists who treat it in depth. A patient in a district town is frequently told either that nothing can be done, or that a cure is available for a fee. Both answers are wrong and both are common.

A video consultation is a way to get a considered opinion without a thousand-kilometre trip, and, when travel is genuinely warranted, to arrive knowing exactly what for.

The limit of a photograph

What a camera cannot do.

Photographs settle a great deal — the pattern, the distribution, the change since last time. What they cannot do is fluoresce. A Wood’s lamp reveals patches and borders that no camera in ordinary light will record.

The same patch of brown forearm skin shown twice. In ordinary daylight two pale patches are faint and low in contrast with soft edges. Under a handheld lamp casting a violet glow, the same two patches stand out as sharp-edged chalk-white areas — and three more patches are visible that could not be seen at all in daylight.
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  1. 1Two faint patches
  2. 2Under the lamp
  3. 3The same two, sharp
  4. 4Three more

This is the honest boundary of an online consultation for vitiligo. Plans, drugs and expectations can be settled remotely; a full assessment of extent needs the lamp, and the lamp needs you in the room.

  1. Two faint patches
  2. Under the lamp
  3. The same two, sharp
  4. Three more

Illustration, not a photograph.

Scope

What it can and can’t settle

Works well

What a video consult can do

  • Confirm or question a diagnosis
  • Judge whether disease is active or stable
  • Review a treatment that isn’t working
  • Advise on phototherapy available near you
  • Give a second opinion on a proposed surgery
  • Answer diet and myth questions properly
Needs a visit

What it can’t

  • Wood’s lamp examination
  • Any procedure: light, laser or surgery
  • Final surgical assessment on its own
  • Dermatoscopy of an uncertain lesion
  • Anything requiring touch
In between

The common outcome

A plan you can start locally, a clear statement of whether surgery is even a possibility, and a defined point at which travelling becomes worthwhile.

Preparing

How to make the appointment count

Photograph in daylight

Near a window, no flash, no filter. One wide shot showing the body region and one close shot of each patch.

Include a scale and a date

A coin or a ruler beside the patch. And older photographs if you have any. They establish whether it is spreading.

List what you’ve used

Every cream, tablet and course of light, with rough dates and how long each was continued.

Bring your reports

Thyroid function, vitamin D, B12, and any biopsy report. Have them ready to share during the call.

When to travel

The reason people come to Hyderabad.

Surgical repigmentation, melanocyte transplant and punch grafting, is the treatment patients travel for, because comparatively few centres in India perform it and because it is the only option for patches that light cannot reach.

The consultation exists to establish whether you are a candidate before you buy a ticket. A significant proportion of people who ask are told to wait until their disease is stable, and hearing that on a video call costs a great deal less than hearing it in a waiting room.

How graft surgery works

Stability decides it

Twelve months without new or expanding patches. Photographs are what establish that, which is why old ones are valuable.

Plan the trip once

Assessment and procedure can often be sequenced to reduce the number of journeys. Ask about it on the call.

Questions patients actually ask

Online consultation

What does a consultation cost?

An online video consultation is ₹1,299. An in-person appointment at the clinic in Secunderabad is ₹1,499. Both cover the consultation itself; medication, tests and procedures are separate and are quoted after examination.

Do I pay before or after an online consultation?

Before. Send your history and photographs on WhatsApp, settle the fee, and you then choose a date from the slots that are open. Paying in advance is what holds the slot — it is a video appointment with a doctor, not a callback queue.

If I consult online and then have to come in, do I pay twice?

No. Only the difference of ₹200 is charged. Being told a video consultation cannot settle your problem is a legitimate outcome, and you should not be charged twice for finding that out.

How do I book an online vitiligo consultation?

Message the clinic on WhatsApp and ask for a video consultation. The team confirm a time and send the link back on the same thread. One conversation, so nothing is lost between booking and consulting.

Can vitiligo really be assessed over video?

A great deal of it can: activity, distribution, whether the current treatment makes sense, and whether surgery is worth investigating. What cannot be done remotely is a Wood’s lamp examination or any procedure.

What photographs should I send?

Daylight, no flash, no filter. One wide shot per body region and one close shot per patch, with a coin or ruler for scale. Older photographs are especially valuable because they show whether the patches have grown.

Will I get a prescription?

Where it is appropriate, yes, with a written plan. Some medications require in-person examination and monitoring before starting, and those will not be prescribed remotely.

Can I get phototherapy near my home town?

Often yes. Part of the consultation is identifying what is available locally and specifying the protocol so a nearby centre can run it, with reviews done by video.

Which languages can I consult in?

English, Hindi and Telugu.

References

The clinical statements on this page follow the guidance and evidence below. They are independent sources. None of them is connected to this clinic, and none of them sells the treatments described here.

  1. Vitiligo: overview, causes and treatmentUS National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH)
  2. Vitiligo: diagnosis and treatmentAmerican Academy of Dermatology
  3. VitiligoDermNet (New Zealand Dermatological Society)

The first appointment is a diagnosis.

Not a treatment plan sold on the spot. Message the clinic and bring your history.

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