Many of us would have noticed white dots on the nails of fingers and toes. Ever wondered what could be the causes of those white dots? Well, some people think it’s due to calcium or zinc deficiency. But factually, it is not! This condition is medically called Leukonychia or can be simply termed as White nails. Though it sounds serious, the condition isn’t a serious one.
Basically these spots are caused on the nails due to trauma to the base of the nail where nail formation takes place. If you just can’t remember anything that would have caused injury, you may consider the fact that nails grow slowly so the spots which are visible could have been probably caused due to injury occurred weeks before the spots appeared. These can form on both fingernails and toenails but usually are more common in fingernails.
There are other possibilities as well for the white nails, but these are less common. Allergies, mild infection or some adverse reaction due to drug incompatibility from your medicine are amongst the possibilities. Whatever the source of spots may be, these usually do not require any specific treatment. You can just leave them as it is until they get removed as your nails grow out.
These do not return unless you’ve had a trauma again. However, unusually some people may have persistent white spots on more than one nail which is indicative of some serious ailment. They could be due to conditions like Anemia, Cardiac disorders, Renal disorders or even due to Diabetes. Therefore, patients with such persistent white spots should think of consulting a doctor and get your suspicions cleared.
