White spots on fingernails can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'worrying' to 'needs attention'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose white spots on fingernails, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Stomach Acid Deficiency | 99% | Confirm |
Pyroluria | 19% | Unlikely |
Zinc Need | 1% | Ruled out |
Do your fingernails have white spots on them? Look at all of your fingernails on both hands and count the total number of white spots.
Possible responses:
→ No / none / don't know→ Yes, one or two white spots → Yes, 3-5 white spots → Yes, more than 5 white spots |
Leukonychia punctata (white spots) are a sign of pyroluria.
Spots on the nails indicate injury to the nail bed that was not repaired successfully by the body. This may indicate an underlying zinc deficiency because zinc is crucial to successful wound healing.