Greek is to language as the Matrix is to the natural nail. It provides the base for most modern day English words (except for oi!, cuppa, and tequila). People of great importance use Greek in everyday conversation and it makes them look, well, simply bad ass.

Could you imagine how silly we would look when a client came up to us asking what those white spots were on their nails and you were to reply, “simple my dear Emily… Whitespottednailplates”. Yup, you would look like a real moron if you couldn’t use the poetic word Leukonychia. Leuko is from the Greek word for white and Onychia is derived from the Greek word for nail (Onyx). Put them together and you have a word that will make you the gas of the next rotary meeting.

Speaking of… What on earth causes Leukonychia? I have heard some real classics that make people saying “Whitespottednailpaltes” sound smart. People believe everything from calcium and zinc deficiencies to excessive amounts of Hellmans mayonnaise on your Tuna and Rye. Heck, at that rate why not chalk it up to alien abductions and be done with it?

Leukonychia is a common nail occurrence which has more myths attached to it than Richard Whitley has bad ties. So where does it come from and what the heck can I do about it aside from trying to pass it off as the latest in nail art craziness?

Punctate what?

There are a few differing forms of Leukonychia however the most common form is Leukonychia spots (or if you insist on being a bad ass Greek; try ‘Punctate Leukonychia’).

The natural nail plate is made up of the keratinization of cells incubated and produced by the matrix. When new baby cells emerge from the matrix, they don’t look a damn thing like a nail plate. Instead, they look more like little round and white squidges. During the keratinization process, these cells ‘flatten’ out and link together to form the natural nail plate. When large areas of these white squidges don’t fully keratinize, the result is an area of the natural nail that still contains unformed natural nail plate, or rather… white squidges.

These spots are most often caused from some type of damage or trauma to the matrix during the incubation or keratinization period. Most miss this aspect though as the portion of the natural nail plate that contains the said spot will generally take up to 6 weeks before it makes its debut from under the eponychium.

Most of the time Leukonychia spots are seen within the natural nail plate instead of on top of it. That is because if they appear in the top portion of the natural nail plate, they usually just flake off, leaving behind small pits where the cells should have getting down and funky (keratinized) with its neighbors. This type of pitting can be frequently seen in clients with psoriasis of the natural nail plate.