So, as with most everything, there's no substitute for a proper diet (which may or may not include regularly taking a multivitamin supplement, after checking with your doc of course), plenty of rest, techniques to try reducing stress (but if you can rest properly, you'll be better able to cope with stressful situations), and don't forget to drink water once in a while. Our bodies are +/- 70 percent water and we need it for our cells to function like they're supposed to.

My son gets "nail-spots" too. He's 14 and has had them for a number of years. Unfortunately, I don't get to have much of a say in his diet, and I'm sure he doesn't smash his fingers with a hammer on a regular basis over the course of several years.

I try to eat well and do all the good things we're apparently supposed to do, and I don't have them (I'm a girl and rarely do my nails. I've had acrylic nails for over a year and have not had them either. I also paint my toes and have not had them, although the toluene in nail polish is not a great thing to be absorbed into your body), so maybe it's not one definitive "thing" but perhaps a number of variables to be considered. But hey, what do I know? I'm no doctor (Although my faith in doctors teeters on the edge most times).

I just believe that our bodies need to be taken care of because we only get one (as far as I know), and we're not invincible or immortal. Take care.

i am only 12 years old and i have these white spots on my fingers and my friends say it is because i don't drink that much milk but i drink milk every day. What is wrong with my fingers?

i need help! im 16 years old and have been biting my nails since i can remember (i always try to stop, just can't). anyway all of my fingernails are white, people frequently ask me whats up with them i say i dunno, and also the tips are even white :( im thinking the damage is irreparable? lol. any replies are welcome.

It is wonderful to think that so many people have such otherwise blissful lives, that spots on their fingernails have such a major impact. Long may it continue that you have nothing more significant to concern you all. best regards. Jofiach

hey guys, I am male and I have had this issue my whole life. My teachers used to accuse me of painting my nails with liquid polish. the spots come and go, but i'm not too concerned. I am fit and healthy like a warrior, don't be too scared.

I'm 200 billion years old and have been getting them since i was three years old and blah blah blah. So what? i've got them too and they're nothing to worry about. stop freaking out. Geez everyone's like, "Oh my God! I'm dying because my nails are broken!"

Wow. Are you all serious? Read a little about the cause of white spots from a reputable, reliable source. They are not going to make you "lose your love" or tell you if you are racist. Those comments are some of the dumbest things I have ever read.

I read a study that stated white spots are indicative of how racist you are. 1-3: Intermediate (Racial slurs are suggested during your normal everyday conversations), 4-8 High (You have participated in direct/indirect acts of violence directly related to your racist bigotry), and lastly 8+ Severe (Klan, panther, and or terrorist membership is likely in your immediate future).

Some males like me, have had them almost our whole lives. I've tried eating a lot of vitamins but they just don't seem to disappear. I also believe in the whole each white spot means that someone loves you, so I kind of want them to disappear and i also don't want them to disappear. -Flaco

If it's a deficiency why just fingernails and not toenails?

i was told by a friend that how many lines means how many people like or love me ._.

and because of that, i don't dare to cut my nail which has that white line. Because i'm afraid to lose my love.

Drink milk! i started drinking over 20 oz of organic milk, 4 oz at a time through out the day (about 2 hour spread between every 4 oz), and the white spots started disappearing! they are almost gone. I have been getting them my whole life. Now they are almost gone!

hi everyone, as far as i understand, the white spots are due to calcium deficiency.

for those of you who drink lots of milk (or ingest lots of dairy products except yoghurt) the problem is that the human body after a certain age cannot properly process milk, especially a protein in it called casein, which the stomach neutralizes by actually "borrowing" calcium from your bones (etc). so in effect, though milk has lots of calcium, you actually lose calcium when you drink it.

once i found out about this, i started cutting my milk and dairy intake to virtually zero and i do not get white spots anymore. it's down to the point where i can predict the appearance of a white spot by a week. i know that if i eat lots of cheese (especially processed) in roughly 3-5 days i get a spot.

try it yourself. remove all dairy from your diet and within weeks you will see the spots disappear.

sucks because i love milk and ice cream and all that.

it seems yoghurt is fine, however, since the bacterial cultures process the casein for you. -insaner

I've always had white specks on my nails, ever since i can remember, all over all of my nails. they grow long and fast and i always get compliments about how pretty my nails are but i've always had the specks that won't go away. and how on earth can you bruise a fingernail? that makes sense -- not. I've gotten my finger closed in a door and it turns black or purple like a normal bruise would, but that's under the nail. it doesn't make sense that you can bruise a nail. i totally think it has to do with a deficiency of something. Has anyone tried to get rid of the specks and if you did how did you do it?

I've had these white spots on my hands for a while but just recently they've gotten worse. i'm kind of worried.

I have been getting white spots on my nails since I was a child and I'm now 25. I dont use nail polish or any product on my nails, I don't bite or pick my nails or injure them and I am always receiving positive comments about my nails otherwise. I drink a lot of milk and dairy and also alot of Vit C but I believe I need more iron and zinc in my diet. Zinc keeps your hair, skin and nails healthy.

I have had white spots on my nails ever since i was a child. i'm 25 now and i have never remembered a time when they have ever gone. used to bite my nails so i thought it was that but when my sister bit her nails so much more than me and she never had them. I know its not milk (calcium) deficiency as my wife hardly drinks the stuff as it makes her sick at times and again does not have white spots at all. Never has. I feel i have a balanced diet of vitamins and minerals, potassium and zinc. I havent hit my nails, plus if it was trauma to the nails why doesnt everyone have them as we all cut our nails with clippers, surely that should ignite trauma to the nail. Im confused as sometimes it decreases and other times it increases but i havent done anything differently than normal. Can someone help?

I have had a white spot appear in the middle of a finger nail occasionally throughout my life. I am 48. Right now I have one on my right index finger. I noticed it several weeks ago. I *may* have injured it but I don't remember. After reading this article, it appears they are no big deal.

white specks are there for a reason, stop pickin ur nails.

I have white stripes on top of nails, but they are quite faded as compare to bottom stripes on nails... I see such stripes after some infection, especially, urine infection or food poisoning... and they vanish after infection is over.

For me it was not trauma related (one doctor said that white spots on nails are caused by banging the nails against a bed headboard while sleeping--which made no sense for me because my bed does not have a headboard or anything else hard within arm's reach). My white spots cleared up completely when I eliminated gluten foods from my diet due to diagnosed intolerance and added zinc supplements, and they have not been back for years since.

Wheat is known to deplete zinc and other minerals in the body, so that also supports the zinc connection.

It was so nice to read that other people have the same as me: I've always had white spots on my nails all my life and they disappear if I wear nail varnish for a while. I do bruise easily so maybe it is related to that. I never get them on my toenails.

I've had the white spots on 7 of my fingers since childhood. I am now 38. I developed the disease Alopecia (which causes hair loss) when I was 23. I don't know if the two are related or not. I do know that people with Alopecia often have tiny pin hole sized indentations in the fingernails.

I am a nail technician and have been for 12 years. I was taught that white spots were small injury marks. Over the years I have learned that they might appear if you have an allergy to formaldehyde, so check your nail polishes and hardeners.

I've had them my whole life and they seem like they're part of my fingernail. They moves as my fingernail grows and they never stop coming.

My spots are definitely a zinc deficiency, but it took years to work out because taking zinc didn't help and taking VitC did (only in larger doses). It turns out that VitC removes copper and copper interferes with zinc absorption.

So sometimes the link isn't straightforward,but zinc is definitely the major cause of your normal white nail spot.

My white spots also correspond to what I eat ie. my nutritional status. They stay away if I eat well and regularly which complicated working out what was causing them.

When my zinc levels are up the spots don't occur regardless.

I found the simplest way to ensure you get enough zinc is to take a multi-vitamin (one without copper!).

:-)

PS. My copper excretion levels are 10x normal and have been for the past 3 years or so. That's a good thing it's coming out. Ran this all past the doctor just to make sure I didn't have Wilson's, but the test is negative.

The white spots aren't from biting your cuticles at all, as I read someone said in one of these comments. I attack mine all the time from stress and I don't have any of these white spots on those fingers at all.

Today I noticed a light peach/white spot on the lower left 'corner' of my index fingernail. My first reaction was to worry. I thought "Is it an infection? Should I be worried about this?" Until I came here and read the part of the article that said "you are likely to have forgotten all about banging your fingernail against the car door."

About 2 weeks ago I was opening our kitchen window for the first time since moving in. They're one single pane windows and do not glide open smoothly like newer windows. I had my right hand holding open the latch and my left hand helping guide it when the window got caught. I wiggled the window loose and it shot open, crushing my poor index finger between the open window and the metal frame.

Well I'm glad I figured that out. haha :D

i have these spots since childhood. i am in my sixties now ..the cause not related to any diseases or lack of vitamins..it is caused simply by air under the fingernail.. like let's say bubbles under the nail...this information from a very smart dermatologist i consulted long time ago...

You don't get them because of lack of calcium. You get them because they are little bruises on your fingernails.

Well I have been getting these spots on my nails for maybe a year and a half. It turns out during this time I had an exhaust leak in my car and was getting carbon monoxide poisoning. It's been a little over a month since I had my exhaust fixed and I'm already noticing that the spots are going away and I feel 100% better. Crazy...

I have 'em too, except thanks to this page, I now know it's from trauma. I have a bad habit of attacking my cuticles on my thumbs, and those are the only fingers I have them on. You don't have to actually hit the spot where they show up, if u harm the cuticles or the skin nearby they can appear.

i like white because its a color that is nice. nails are sometimes with white spots therefore i like it aesthetically speaking but i fear it may mean i am sick. i eat calcium 2 times a day and zinc as well so i dont understand. ive tried using nail polish but it didnt work too. im 74 now and ive had it since i was 73. i am male but but i have erectile dysfunction. probably is related? thank you in advance for helping me on my query...

A doctor told me white spots on nails mean you are not getting enough potassium.

I've had white circles for 6 months now, and my hair started to fall out 3 months after the spots appeared. Having a poor diet (Joy, college), I think mine is zinc related. But mine are more along my tips of my fingernails, not in the bed of my nail. Could it also be trauma too?

my music teacher told me that is should drink more milk, i drank so much milk that i got a kidney stone!!!!!

im at freshman at college and started taking vitamins to stay healthy on the college student diet". A few weeks ago, a white spot appeared on 3 of my fingernails. I dont think it's from trauma though because the spots showed up in the middle of my fingernails, not just at the cuticle. And it can't be zinc or calcium deficiency because those are both well accounted for by my vitamins. and ideas?

i always have white spots on my fingernails when one goes away another one pops up. i dont drink milk except for when i eat cereal in the morning. does this mean i should drink more milk?

the only time I get white spots on my fingers is when im trying to get the cuticle off my fingers. I tend to dig to deep and hit the bed of the nail. after about a month I see white spots then they just go away later.

i dont think i can believe it's from lack of calcium, because i drink a half gallon of milk a day. milk does not give you strong bones i'm skinny as hell and my bones are slim and weak.

i've had these white spots on my finger nails since childhood. now i have a few dark lines running through my nails. its not fungus. all doctors i spoke with said it's a hemoglobin thing and i should quit smokin.

I heard that white spots come from your mother not loving you.

I've always had the white spots, but when I started to eat A LOT of cereal, they mostly went away, meaning it's either lack of calcium or lack of Zinc...eating cereal supplies you with those minerals. I have also wondered about nail polish, though, cuz remover seems very bad for the nails.

White spots which appear in your fingers nail which are not caused from an injury, generally relate to a lack of zinc. I have white spots and have regular blood tests to monitor my zinc levels, white spots are definitely an indicator that zinc levels are low.

i am 35 and recently got these white spots on my nails. i don't eat a lot of dairy, but i don't go without either. i have only gotten this since i have gotten an autoimmune disease. so go figure, i have always been told your finger nail can tell you something about your health. i have looked up finger nails and everytime i have it shows my nails say i have an autoimmune disease.

I have noticed these white only every now and then since I can remember sometimes years with out them then one year in a few they seem to just appear and I never knew why yet thought the most likely reason would be - not enough vitamins or too much vitamins - and then they would just fade and disappear again so I never thought too much about them. So I've recently got them again, for me its definitely not a case of trauma or damage to the nail bed (i don't use nail polish or acrylic nails etc either) and the fact that they appeared from nowhere all over the nail at the same time (maybe over a day or two) including the tips means they didn't grow from the nail bed. So I was thinking WHY?. I had been to the doctors and had all blood tests done just a few weeks ago - because I hadn't been to a doctor for years and just wondered for piece of mind - all the tests were fine so for me it's nothing to do with iron intake etc. So, after looking at this page I am convinced I have these spots as a result of too much calcium, because I have recently been eating a lot more yogurt and dairy products milk drinks etc - because I've been so busy I forgot to buy bread to make my lunch for work so i've been eating 3 yogurts and an apple and milk drink instead for this week and am very sure it is linked to this now. I remember I always had stages when I was young where I drank lots of milk and ate cheese everyday also which could explain why I've had them off and on, I guess it is also possible too much calcium could cancel out another vitamin and cause a deficiency which could cause the white spots but I'm going to do more research on this - overall for me too much calcium is the culprit!!.

Mine are definitely not calcium-related. When I'm at home I get through several bowls of cereal a day - loads of milk. When I'm at university (1/2 the year) I consume no milk. None. And the spots stay all year round. They are definitely not "bruises" to the nails - I know I haven't hit them on anything, because I'm have slight OCD and would notice.

Im 11 and I have a white spot occasionally on one of my fingers and they are usually big. I remember slamming the door on my finger where the white spot is. But its no big deal for me, they go away in like 3-4 months. My friends say that its how many people that like you or my parents say that I told a lie too

you've all had these white spots since childhood? i remember some years back that one of my friends told me that when u have white spots on your fingernails it means someone has a crush on you. a bit childish i know, but sometimes it's a little easier to hold on to a superstition instead of nothing at all. especially if you don't remember being injured.

This website was so helpful.....by sister and brother both have a few white spots on their nails. We thought that there might be something wrong, but after reading the article, we are sure that it was just some past injury to their nail beds. Thanks again for your helpful article.

I had these spots since I was 4-years old. They finally went away at the age of 43. Not trauma related. Probably metabolic in origin...

hi im 15 and i have had white spots on my nails for ever. there are always about 7 on each nail. never on my toenails and i only put nail polish on my toes. it isnt from biting my nails or cuticles or anything because i dont do that. i also get enough calcium, and the right vitamins. but i do drink LOTS of milk - calcium - so maybe that does have a link to it. im not anemic. it isnt caused by trauma. yes well its just a bit strange and all the things i have heard on this page i have heard before so it didnt really help me a lot. i was also told that it was for each lie i told but that cant be true... =]

Don't bite your nails or cuticles. This is what causes it :) Trauma to the nail base, then it grows out and shows up.

hmmm, that's interesting... well now i know what those white spots r, lol, i used to have my nails full of them when i was in elementary school!! wild child... jeje, i used to ask my mom & dad & they'd tell me that was how many presents i was getting on my b-day, christmas, etc... which ever holiday was closest, then they went on to telling me each one stood for a lie i've told, wow....... my parents r crazy, i'm almost 20 now & i have a 2yr old boy & i can see myself telling my kids the same thing just for the hell of it, lol...

i have had them since childhood. I take a lot of milk and dairy products so i think there may be a calcium link to it. I have them several finger nails and they change shape each time. Now i have this one that looks like cumulus clouds-beautiful! I dont think it is caused by any trauma or vitamin deficiency as i eat a fairly well balanced diet.

White spots are just minor bruises on fingernails. I never have them on my toenails. They go away if you wear polish for awhile...I take in plenty of calcium, zinc, etc. But...if I bump my nails, the white spots eventually appear. If I wear nail polish...even clear polish, they go away.

I agree with one of the responses on this page. White spots on the fingernails indicate that you are getting lots of calcium in your diet. I used to get them once in a while. This time, I have white spots on 6 out of ten fingers all of a sudden. These white spots started when I started taking a new vitamin pack. This vitamin pack has 6 different pills. one is a calcium pill.

Umm.. I'm eleven years old. My mom's anemic, and my doctor is saying I probably am too. I started getting white spots when I was ten (when I switched different vitamin brands), and now there are four or five huge spots that have stayed for over a year. I can't switch back to that vitamin brand because they give me daily nosebleeds though... like 2 or 3 per day.

I have always had several white spots on all my nails since a child and I am now in my fifties--if anything, it is now worse. My spots seem to go away if I wear nail polish for a while--but then they gradually come back. No doctor has been able to give me a definitive answer for these spots--the last response I have had is that it is related to psoriasis, which I do have. It is definitely not calcium related--I have always had high levels of calcium in my body. Nor is it from anemia--I have never been anemic. And I have never had them on my toenails!

Ok I'm A Guy, So I Don't Wear Fake Nails, Therefore Why Do I Have These "White-Spots". + I've Had Them Since I Was A Kid And I'm 20 Now.

I think the white spots are when you're getting enough calcium in your diet. If you ever notice the white spots disappear, it's because you're not getting enough.

I have also had these spots since a child, maybe not in the exact same spot, but anytime you look at my nails you would see 3 or more on each nail, it also looks like stripes on my nails when you look at them from an angle.I have always seemed to have less energy than other people and was anemic as a child,probably still am but don't go to the doctor because I don't have insurance.I just wonder if they are caused by some deficiency and that would explain the lack of energy.

have had these spots since childhood ..they don't seem to go away they disappear and re-appear!!

now i notice them on my toe nails too..but strangely the white spots turn hollow if too much pressure is applied on it ...when it is being manicured!......

Today I removed my nail polish. It had been on for two weeks.

I almost died from fright. Each nail had big white spots on them. I NEVER, NEVER ever had this. I am scared.

Why now after all these years and I have just turned 64 do I have this?

I agree with the "not trauma" part.

As far as I can tell it certainly is diet related. Possibly zinc or copper.

i've had the same white spots on the same four fingers since i was little and i am now in my thirties. i don't think this is caused from trauma, considering it hasn't gone away and i haven't had any trauma. I also don't think it is a zinc deficiency.