Without realizing it, nails can reveal a lot about a child’s health. Infections caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, underlying conditions, and inherited diseases can all cause nail disorders.
Nail disorders are common in infants and children. Unfortunately, changes in the nails are also often overlooked, because most parents do not perform routine nail checks in this age group.
So, what are the common nail disorders in toddlers? Here Thevolume.net has summarized seven common nail diseases that occur in toddlers, below!
Koilonychia (spoon nails)
Koilonychia, also known as spoon nails, is characterized by a flat, concave surface of the nail, which has a soft texture and looks flaky. This is because the nails of small children are generally still thin and soft.
The curvature of the nail plate reversed on the transverse and longitudinal axes that lead like a spoon. They often occur on the thumb and big toe. This condition tends to disappear spontaneously in the first 10 years of a child’s life when the nail plate thickens.
Although rare, koilonychia has also been associated with iron deficiency.
Onychoschizia
The next nail disease that is common in children under five is Onychoschizia. This condition is manifested when the part of the nail is detached transversely and flattened from the distal portion of the nail plate.
This causes the tips of the nails to become brittle and dull, often splitting.
FYI, this nail problem will generally be seen in children, especially on the big toe and thumb. It is suspected that the cause is repeated trauma, as well as thumb sucking and nail-biting habits.
Onycholysis
Furthermore, there is also Onycholysis or Onycholysis. In this condition, you will see how your little one’s nails become separated from the nail bed.
Onycholysis can affect one nail or several fingernails and/or toenails. Another symptom is, the presence of ‘island onycholysis’ which is a sign of oil spots under the nails.
The cause could be due to trauma or a hard impact. But it can also be caused by autoimmune diseases in children.
Onychomadesis
Onychomadesis is a fairly complex nail problem because it is caused by viral infections, such as measles, hand, foot, and mouth disease, and Kawasaki disease. This disease will cause the nail to separate from its pad and peel off completely.
Other diseases that cause high fever can also cause onychomadesis. In addition, there are several other conditions that cause onychomadesis, including severe systemic disease, nutritional deficiencies, trauma, periungual dermatitis, chemotherapy, and drug consumption.
Paronychia
Paronychia or acute paronychia is inflammation of the nail folds caused by bacterial, viral, or fungal infections in children. Factors that cause this condition include trauma from nail-biting, finger sucking, nail pulling, and nail knots.
When your child has paronychia, you will notice red, swollen, and pus-filled areas at the corners of the nails. When infection or inflammation causes cuticle loss, this can lead to chronic paronychia.
Leukonychia
Leukonychia is a condition when white spots appear on the nails. It can involve all or part of the nail, or it may be brindle, transverse or longitudinal
Punctate leukonychia is often seen in newborns and toddlers as a result of minimal trauma to the proximal nail matrix at birth and is not a sign of excessive vitamin or mineral intake as is generally believed.
While transverse leukonychia can occur in children, especially in the big toe due to trauma to the distal matrix from the use of shoes.
Onychomycosis
Fungal nail infections, or onychomycosis, are more common in toenails than fingernails. Symptoms that often appear are a change in nail color to white, black, yellow, or green, thickening of the nail, more brittle and easy to peel or break, and dry or scaly skin around the nail.
In contrast to adults, children under the age of 2 years are less likely to develop Onychomycosis (OM). However, over the past few years, OM has increased in fingernails in infants and children under 3 years of age.
Onychomycosis tends to run in families due to an inherited predisposition, but not everyone is susceptible.
Rarely occurs in children unless one or both parents are infected. Factors that increase the risk of onychomycosis are Down syndrome and other immune disorders.
So that’s seven common nail diseases that occur in toddlers. Although rare in children, nail disease can indicate an underlying disease, such as psoriasis, a connective tissue disorder, or an autoimmune disease.
If your little one’s nails are worrying you, be sure to see your pediatrician or pediatric dermatologist for a proper diagnosis and treatment guidance.
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