Beautiful and healthy nails always attract a lot of attention. Sometimes by looking at somebody’s nails you can even determine in what area a person works. Everybody would like to have perfect nails but often you can notice unpleasant spots on nails. Many people have problems with the appearance of spots on the nails. Since, in addition to the fact that the appearance of the nail is not very beautiful, they do not cause any more worries, people usually do not pay attention to such a trifle, considering that this is not serious. Only a few people have information about what exactly can mean the appearance of such spots on the nails. Sometimes the problems of white spots can signal about more profound problems of your body. If the cause of leukonychia is the fungus, you need to be treated for this infection. To do this, use special drugs in the form of tablets and external means. Treatment of fungal infection lasts several months.
The spots on the nails may be a sign of some kind of malfunction or problems that have occurred in your body. Here you can find the most frequent examples of problems that can happen in our body causing such unwanted problem as white spots on your nails and effective ways of getting rid of this problem.
Contents
- Thing to do number 1: Define the reason of white spots on your nails
- Thing to do number 2: Keep to a healthy diet
- Thing to do number 3: Do baths for nails
- Top- 7 useful pieces of advice how not to have problems with nails’ condition:
- Video
Thing to do number 1: Define the reason of white spots on your nails
There are two possible reasons why white spots appear. Sometimes this is an exclusively cosmetic defect, and then really you can ignore this problem. But often white dots are the first sign of the immunity problems.
Let’s take a closer look at the first version of the appearance of white dots on the nails. This is leukonychia. The symptom of leukonychia can be not only spots but also white bands and even a discoloration of the entire nail. These white inclusions appear due to the appearance of air bubbles between the layers of the nail. But why does the air appear in the nail plate? And what are the causes of leukonychia? That is, nails signal a person that his or her nutrition is unbalanced. It is possible that a man adheres to some very tough diet, and the body has formed a deficiency of vitamins and minerals. Avitaminosis promptly signals itself by the appearance of white marks on the nails. It will not pass by itself. It is necessary to have a course of vitamins and microelements.
At present, it is often possible to observe such a phenomenon, which is called the Bo line. Nails have transverse strips that are closer to the hole pass more often. The reasons for this phenomenon are many and they can be very diverse. The most important of them can be called an unprofessional manicure, during which a manicure tool severely damaged the nail plate.
If some time ago you suffered a disease accompanied by fever, then this too can leave a mark on the nails in the form of white spots. High body temperature can cause a short-term stop of nail growth, which in turn leads to the appearance on the nail surface deep grooves of white color. You shouldn’t worry about this, since everything will return to normal, as soon as the body is fully restored after the illness. Health assessment of the state of nail plates is a traditional method of diagnosis in Chinese traditional medicine. Specialists of Oriental medicine believe that the energy channels opening on the fingers are connected with certain internal organs. That is why the changes occurring in the body, as in a mirror, are reflected on the surface of our nails. A sign of physical and spiritual health are smooth nail plates, having a matte or slightly shiny surface, pink color and the right shape. When white spots appear on the nails at the first stage, it is advisable to consult a dermatologist who, if necessary, will recommend consultations of other specialists – gastroenterologist, nephrologist, cardiologist, etc. To clarify the state of mineral metabolism, it is advisable to perform a spectral analysis of the nails on trace elements.
Sometimes it happens that two or three white spots appear on the nail, but the nail grows and the spots no longer arise. This suggests that there was a shortage of vitamins and minerals in the body. However, lack of vitamins is not the only possible reason of such unwanted problem as white nails. Check out the list including common reasons of white nail spots.
Top-9 reasons for the appearance of white spots on the nails:
- Various injuries of the nail plate, for example, often a white spot occurs if the nail is hit.
- An incorrectly made manicure and false nails can also injure the nail and cause leukonichia.
- The appearance of white spots can result in exposure to chemically aggressive substances, paints, detergents, etc.
- Fungal nail infections can also contribute to the appearance of white spots.
- Lack of vitamins and microelements in the body.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, excretory system.
- Diseases of the nervous system, depression.
- Metabolic disease.
- Some infectious diseases
Important: If there are simultaneous white spots in large numbers and they do not disappear in a period of time, then it says that some disease is developing in the body, and only after revealing the cause and having passed the necessary treatment, this cosmetic defect can be eliminated.
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Thing to do number 2: Keep to a healthy diet
Admirers of severe unbalanced diets should keep in mind that as soon as the body begins to lose its vitamins and trace elements, especially such as:
- zinc,
- calcium,
- iron,
- vitamins C, E, A.
Your body will immediately signal you about this by the appearance of white spots on nails. In the event that the body formed a lack of protein, the nails will tell you about the appearance of paired transverse strips. An erroneous decision in this case will increase the consumption of protein foods. It is necessary to understand what is the reason for the increase in the excretion of protein from the body. Alternatively, it may be associated with a chronic kidney disease.
Chronic disorders in the work of the kidneys also leave their own drawings on the nails. The nail becomes half white, half pink. Most often the upper part of the nail is white, and the lower part remains unchanged.
A very frequent cause of the appearance of white spots on the nails is a low hemoglobin. Accordingly, if the white spots on your nails are constant, it is better to check out the blood, and in case of confirmation of the problem remove the white spots on the nails with the help of preparations that increase the hemoglobin content, such as liver, buckwheat, apples, dried apricots, pomegranate and tomato juice. Diet is the main component of treatment. The diet is built on three principles:
- Sufficient maintenance in the diet of protein products (meat, fish, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.);
- Refusal of semi-finished products, canned goods, fast food and sweets – or, at least, their restriction;
- Variety of food.
As for the vitamins, once again you should be careful choosing the complex of multivitamins. Now you are offered a huge variety of different vitamin-mineral complexes. But not everything is as simple as it may seem first. The problem is that some vitamins and minerals are absorbed better or worse in the presence of others. For example, ascorbic acid is absorbed only together with iron, and vitamin B 6 is destroyed by interaction with vitamin B 12. Thus, any complex should be carefully balanced.
Important: Try to eat balanced. In the diet there should be a place for fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, eggs and dairy products. Try to plan your menu in advance, so it will be easier for you to make your ration diverse and useful.
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Thing to do number 3: Do baths for nails
To get rid of white spots by using natural homemade recipes it is possible in those cases when their appearance is not connected with diseases that need to be treated exclusively in a hospital or under the supervision of a doctor. To get rid of spots caused by a nail injury, recipes will help to increase the strength of the nail plate and accelerate the circulation of blood inside it:
- Sea salt bath: Hot bath for hands with sea salt is considered to be very effective. After dissolving it in a glass of water, pour the liquid into a suitable container and put your hands there for 15 minutes. At the end of the bath you can lubricate the nails and the area around them with castor oil.
- Vegetable bath: If you want, the salt bath can be alternated with the vegetable one (from chamomile or oak bark). It is enough to pour a tablespoon of dry grass with a glass of boiling water and let stand for 30 minutes. After filtering the bath is ready for use.
- Bath procedures with garlic: After taking a regular bath or shower, you can rub the steamed legs with half a clove of garlic. This will strengthen the nails and help them regain their former appearance.
- Oil bath: A good effect is noticed after oil baths for nails. To do this, you need to warm up about half a glass of any vegetable oil and add to it two teaspoons of lemon juice. Keep the nails in this solution for 10-15 minutes.
- Vinegar bath: In cases where the culprit of white spots becomes a fungus, a good healing effect can be obtained from the bath with the addition of vinegar. First, you need to steam up your nails to remove excess cuticles. Then you can hold them for about 10-15 minutes in vinegar (a glass of warm water one tablespoon of vinegar). This procedure is recommended to be performed every other day, at least 7-10 times in total.
- Bath with potassium permanganate: For 2-3 weeks you should take hot nails with the addition of a weak solution of potassium permanganate. And after the procedure, it is useful to lubricate the nails with tea tree oil.
Important: To have the better effect after baths you are recommended to do wrapping nails with fish oil or castor oil, where there are fat-soluble vitamins A and E (they can be purchased in a capsule form in a pharmacy). After applying the nutrient, put on the hands cotton gloves or of cotton socks on the feet and go to bed.
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Top- 7 useful pieces of advice how not to have problems with nails’ condition:
- If the reason for the formation of white spots lies in the lack of vitamins and unbalanced nutrition, then you need to start keeping to a healthy diet. This will help not only to treat the nails but also to improve the condition of the skin and hair, as well as increase the overall tone of the body.
- Start taking multivitamins. Even if you try to organize your diet properly, you will not be able to make up for all the body’s needs: it already suffers from a shortage of useful substances, and it is almost impossible to get so many vitamins from the usual products without special multivitamins.
- Lead an active lifestyle, go in for sports, go out into the fresh air more often. This will increase the speed of all metabolic processes in the body, support immunity, help cope with stress and relieve nervous tension.
- Try to do work about the house with the hand gloves on. This applies especially to the use of household chemicals, as well as various detergents and cleaning agents, no matter how soft they are.
- After each washing of hands, especially in the heating season, do not be lazy to apply a nourishing cream on your hands and nails.
- If you like having nail varnish, try to give preference to better and more expensive brands. Do not forget to give nails a periodic rest from the nail polish. For the entire period of treatment it is desirable to abandon the build-up of nail gel, linings, the use of nail polish and the use of funds for its removal containing acetone.
- The drugs offered for the treatment of nails have a combined effect, that is, they simultaneously affect the nutrition and the rate of nails’ growth. They can be presented in the form of varnish coatings and oils. In any case, different forms must be combined to achieve a better effect. You will not find any composition, in the annotation to which you could read that it fights against white spots on the nails. But this does not mean that such medicines are ineffective. The spots disappear not by themselves, but are cut off as the nail grows, which is accelerated by the treatment. The only thing to remember is that among a wide variety of goods it is easy to stumble upon a pacifier or fake. Therefore, choose only coatings and oils from professional lines of medical cosmetics.
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