What is the Cure for Leukonychia?

Leukonychia is a kind of nail disease and the term is taken from the Greek term Leuko that means white and the term Onyx, that means nails. Leukonychia is such a disease of nail that causes partial or complete discoloration of the nails. Basically, Leukonychia is a hereditary problem.

This nail disease changes the natural color of your nails. This condition is actually characterized by staining of the entire nail white.

Causes of Leukonychia

The commonest cause of the nail disorder, called Leukonychia is the injury to the base of the nail where the nail is formed. This area is referred to as the matrix region. A white spotting may appear on the nails similar to a streaking effect. Other probable causes for this discoloration are arsenic poisoning, heart disease, renal failure, pneumonia, ill health, vitamin deficiency or hypoalbuminemia.

Symptoms of Leukonychia

White spots or streaks appearing on the surface of the nails are termed as symptoms of Leukonychia, a nail disorder. The most common reason for these white spots are mild trauma, like hitting or slamming your fingernail on or into something.

Persons at Risk of Leukonychia

• Persons using nail enamels, nail hardeners, or artificial nails may develop these white spots or streaks as a result of an allergic reaction to the product since these can cause nail fragility and very fine splitting or layering of the nail plate, which may result in whitish spots.
• Persons frequenting gyms and beauty saloons are at greater risk of developing Leukonychia since these white spots can be easily picked up at the gym or during a manicure session, because it can be a fungal, yeast, or bacterial infection. This nail infection attacks the substance of the nail directly and leaves a whitish streak or spot behind.
• If one gets timely medical attention, Leukonychia can be controlled and treated. Generally doctors take the scrapings of nail tissue for fungal and bacterial cultures and discover if the culprit is a pesky organism causing the spots. Upon final testing, the doctor may prescribe both topical and oral therapies to help clear up this problem, which may take a few weeks.

Treatment and Prevention of Leukonychia

Usually the white marks caused by Leukonychia disappear on their own, when the nails will grow outwards. However, this may take up to eight months for the new nail to completely grow out. The only prevention one can take to prevent Leukonychia is to reduce possibilities of minor injury to the nails so the white marks do not occur.

• A temporary measure to treat Leukonychia is to use nail polish on the affected nails to hide these white marks for a special occasion, but care should be taken to not overdo this since frequent nail polishing can worsen the condition by causing allergic reaction in the surrounding skin and damage the nails.
• Improving the diet to internalize the treatment for Leukonychia will prevent its occurrence if an individual eats a balanced diet full of green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts to do away with any deficiency of zinc in the body - which is associated with the appearance of white spots.