Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder because vitiligo is a generalized abnormality of your immune system that result in white spots on in the body, and there are currently no acceptable permanent means to halt this process. When we say treating vitiligo, it means eliminating the white spots weather root cause is addressed or not.
 
Melanocyte the special skin cells  in the human skin  that produce the pigmenting substance melanin. Melanin is responsible for the skin coloration.
In Vitiligo white patches of skin appear on different parts of the body  specially on the exposed parts of the body like face, hand, foot, leg, eyelids and head etc.

Vitiligo is categorized in the following subcatagories:

A. Generalized Vitiligo:
      1. Universal Vitiligo  
      2. Acrofacial vitiligo
      3. Vulgaris Vitiligo,

B. Localized Vitiligo:
     1. Focal pattern vitiligo
     2. Segmental pattern vitiligo


Generalized Vitiligo

Universal Vitiligo

Universal vitiligo normally cover all body except some small part which contain the original skin color or the pigmented skin. So theuniversal vitiligo is the complete or nearly complete loss of skin pigment and hence also calledVitiligo totalis. Permanent medical bleaching of the normal skin is usually the only option.

Acrofacial Vitiligo

Acrofacial vitilgioeffects the exposed parts of the body such as head , face , feet and hand, therefore it also causes the great emotional distress in the patients due their physical appearance.
Acrofacial vitiligo is very common distribution of the disease in this type of vitiligo the white spots are restricted to parts away from the center of the body.
Affecting distal extremities and face. Some patches on face and some on other body parts, but not on all over the body.

Vitiligo Vulgaris

Vitiligo vulgaris is very difficult to cure it and normally due to wide spread it may take long period for treatment. Also surgery may not be an option for patients of vitiligo vulgaris. In vitiligo vulgaris small patches of vitiligo are spread in a pattern like shower admixed with normal skin in segmental or acrofacial pattern. This is the most common type with bilaterally symmetrical lesions, predominantly distributed over face, neck, torso, fingers, toes, palms, soles and facial orifices.

 
Localized Vitiligo

Focal Vitiligo

One or more macules in one area but not clearly in a asymmetric distribution. In general terms Focal Vitiligo is situated at a single area. If the patient has a single patch on hand, face or leg with no other occurrences of disease on other body parts Focal vitiligo if not active is generally more suited for localized treatments. The first option would be a topical medicine and if it does not work or is unacceptable due to other reasons, surgery and tattooing may be considered.

Segmental Vitiligo

It is often called Lip Tip vitiligo because it is mostly limited to lips , distal parts of the fingers and toes. It is more difficult to treat segmental vitiligo.
Segmental vitiligo has quasi-dermatomal pattern with one or more spots. These patches are not in regular shape and distributed asymmetrically and have a clear border.
One or more patches are distributed within the same segment (anatomical distribution ) of the body.