What does leukonychia mean?
What does leukonychia mean?
Leukonychia describes a whitish discoloration of the nail, which may be due to persistence of nuclei in the cells of the ventral nail plate (true leukonychia), or to a pallor of the nail bed (apparent leukonychia).
What is pseudo leukonychia?
In pseudo leukonychia, the nails temporarily become white when an area of the natural nail becomes stripped of oil and moisture. This is often due to excessive use of solvent on the nails. Any type of solvent will strip oil and moisture from the skin and the uppermost layers of the natural nail plate.
What is transverse leukonychia?
Transverse leukonychia is defined as bands or lines of white discoloration in the nail. It has been described in association with repeated trauma including cryotherapy, key punching, and salt immersion; systemic illnesses; and medications including chemotherapeutic agents.
What is apparent leukonychia?
Apparent leukonychia is characterized by a white appearance of the nail due to abnormal vasculature of the nail bed. Pseudoleukonychia is white nail caused by exogenous factors.
What causes leukonychia?
The most common cause of leukonychia is injury to the nail bed. These injuries can occur if you pinch or strike your nail or finger. Frequent manicures and pedicures or the use of gel or acrylic nails can also damage nail beds. Several other causes may be responsible for the unusual spots on the nails.
What is the effect of leukonychia?
Leukonychia (or leuconychia), is a medical term for white discolouration appearing on nails. It is derived from the Greek words leuko ‘white’ and onyx ‘nail’. The most common cause is injury to the base of the nail (the matrix) where the nail is formed….
| Leukonychia | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Dermatology |
Is Leukonychia serious?
Leukonychia is a condition where white lines or dots appear on your finger or toenails. This is a very common issue and entirely harmless. Many healthy adults have these spots at some point in their lives, so developing them is likely not a sign of a serious medical condition.
Will Leukonychia go away?
These areas will grow out as the nail does. Apparent leukonychia occurs when the bed underneath the nail is affected. With apparent leukonychia, the nail bed affects the color of the nail plate. It will lessen or disappear under pressure and will not grow out with the nail.
What is the cause of leukonychia?
Does leukonychia go away?
Where does the word leukonychia come from?
The base of the nail or matrix is the place where your nail forms. Leukonychia is a word derived from Greek words leuko that means white and onyx meaning nail. You can classify the condition into different types based on how the spots appear on your nails. The different types are:
What are the different types of leukonychia partialis?
Leukonychia partialis. This condition consists of a whitening of parts of the nail plate in the form of small white dots. There are three different variations of partial leukonychia; punctate, transverse and longitudinal leukonychia. Some of the more serious variations of leukonychia partialis may lead to leukonychia totalis.
What is the difference between leukonychia and Muehrcke’s lines?
There is a similar condition called Muehrcke’s lines (apparent leukonychia) which differs from leukonychia in that the lines fade with digital compression and does not migrate with the growth of the nail. Also known as “true” leukonychia, this is the most common form of leukonychia, in which small white spots appear on the nails.
How long does it take for white spots on leukonychia punctata?
Leukonychia punctata. When this is the case, white spots disappear after around eight months, which is the amount of time necessary for nails to regrow completely. The pattern and number of spots may change as the nail grows.