The Mysterious White Spots On Your Nails Do NOT Mean What You Think
We were WRONG.
Warner Bros. / YouTube @ SciShow / Med Guy /
You know those mysterious little white spots that appear on your nails for no apparent reason?
The ones we freak out over and our mothers, fathers, friends and foe always tell us are a result of not having enough calcium or zinc in our diet?
WELL!
Mama and Papa didn't exactly know best, because those scary spots do NOT mean what we thought they did.
The spots, what everyone dubs as milk spots, and little white lines are caused by a condition called Punctate Leukonychia.
If you heard the word condition and started freaking the f#$%... then calm yo farms.
All it means is that they are a sign of trauma to your nail, where you've accidentally bumped your nail a little and the trauma can be so slight you didn't even feel it happen.
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This bump disturbs the nail-making process and because your nails grow at a slow rate it takes time for this nail to appear.
As well all know, it takes even longer for it to go away as you have to wait until it reaches the end of your nail to file it off.
However, there is another cause for these lines: fungal nail infections or infections with high fevers.
Why? Because your body shifts priorities from things like the growth of nails to save your life from disease, which means these white nails are a temporary pause in the growing progress.
You'd know if this was the cause, though, as it's hard for a high fever to go by unnoticed.
There is another reason though!
If there are white bands going parallel to your nail bed running across ALL of your nails, then you may have Mee's Lines.
These lines are signs of lead or arsanic poisoning, as there are deposits of led of arsanic in your nail...
Again, you'd know if you'd been poisoned and they appear two months after.
We feel a little wiser now that we can prove our parents wrong...
If you're still freaking out about those spots and lines, head on over to your local GP.
But rest assured, you're most likely going to be fine.
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