Has anybody here had a nail-bed melanoma scare?

[WorriedAboutNail]

Sorry to post here for the traffic, I'm terribly worried about something and would love to see if there is anybody else out there who has experienced the same.

I have had 2 faint brown strips, poker straight about 2mm wide, on my index finger nail for a number of years. I never got it checked out as I'd trapped said finger in the door and when I noticed them, I thought it was just because of that. They haven't changed in size or colour from what I can tell, they've always looked like they have.

I saw a post on Facebook the other day warning against melanoma that starts in the nail bed, one of the symptoms being dark stripes. Apparently it is rare and black people or dark skinned people can get them regularly and they are nothing to worry about. I am Indian so not sure if I automatically fall under the "dark skinned" category.

I've tried to avoid googling it but unfortunately I couldn't help it, and I'm bricking it that it's cancer.

I have a GP appointment booked but it's a few days away yet.

Has anybody had these stripes appear on their nails and have you had them checked out?

Thank you

[Bantanddec]

Go to the gp for your peace of mind, but as you say there is a reason for the marks on your finger nail from when you got them trapped in the door, it's I most likely trauma/scarring from that incident.

[Idefix]

I have seen this a couple of times and it has always ended up being linea melanonychia which is a harmless condition found in black and Asian people.

The advice is always to get it checked as the symptom is also typical of cancer. Easy to say but I would focus on the more likely benign condition.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/nail-abnormalities/Pages/Introduction.aspx

This is a useful info pg.

[CMOTDibbler]

My dad did - it was a toe nail that developed a new black area that stayed. It was nothing sinister after a thorough check from the dermatology team, and they rechecked a few months after.

[WorriedAboutNail]

Oh thank you guys for the reassurances, I'm trying not to think about it and I'm sure it will he fine. I'm a catastrophiser at the best of times and for something like this my panicky mind will be having a field day!

Glad your dad is ok CMOT

[DJBaggySmalls]

I've never heard of that, I'm not sure I would have thought to get it checked out. So for that reason I'm glad you posted this as I doubt I'm the only one.

Good luck at your check up.

[GoesDownLikeACupOfColdSick]

To misquote the hunger games, the odds are very much in your favour. Try to focus on that and not to worry too much, you are doing the right thing in having it checked out, but it is far more likely to be nothing. Lots of luck.

[CoraPirbright]

I had never heard of it but I have had tiny little black stripes come and go in my nails for as long as I can remember (maybe one a year?). They grow up with the nail and then finally I can dig them out with a hoof stick which is not at all satisfying, oh no. Didn't occur to me that there was anything sinister so will investigate but, if they were, I would be long dead! But yanbu and if you are worried perhaps ask the pharmacist/gp/dermatologist (or would a really good nail technician know maybe?)

[lanbro]

Those posts on fb are a load of scaremongering! Get it checked out for your own peace of mind but please don't worry

[Dawndonnaagain]

Get it checked. It's probably nothing, but if you're concerned then it's worth it for piece of mind. I had something a few years ago, a red line, a small lump and some pain under a nail on my hand. Nail removed, lump removed, all checked, nothing wrong.

[Isadora2007]

Hubby had toenail marks like this and the GP referred him to dermatology to get checked out. It was all okay - trauma from squash or badminton I think.

Please do get checked out but also please try not to worry much as it could be something or nothing. Worrying won't change that.

[contractor6]

Not nail bed melanoma, but I had melanoma last year, you are doing the right thing by getting it checked out. Early diagnosis is key in skin cancers. Hope all goes well.

[WorriedAboutNail]

Thank you, yes hopefully the odds are in my favour, apparently it's more common in older ladies, I'm 32 but you just never know. I've read that this is what Bob Marley suffered from and died from aged 36, but according to reports he refused treatment on religious grounds.

The actual video I saw on Facebook did look like scaremongering, it was posted by OK! Magazine and tried to link melanoma to regular gel manicures under UV light. I rarely have manicures, probably had about 5 in my lifetime but after watching it I googled "dark stripes on nails" in general where it was pretty much conclusive that it could be linked to melanoma.

I will report back after I have seen my GP in case anybody in a similar situation comes across this thread one day

[Sarahjy123]

Has anyone had a lesion removal on their neck just waiting for a phone call for me to go in for excision and I'm scared.

[CrohnicallyPregnant]

If it was melanoma, how quickly would it spread?

My DD (4) has a discoloured nail, we first saw it about 2 years ago and it was a thin, light brown stripe. I took her to the doctors and they checked for fungal infections but otherwise dismissed me saying it was probably just one of those things or a birthmark or something.

2 years on and the whole nail is now discoloured a dark brown. When I cut her nail, it's definitely the nail itself that is discoloured and not underneath.

Does it sound like it could be sinister, should I go back to the GP?

If it's relevant, we are mixed race but only a tiny % and DD is not noticeably dark skinned, she just looks tanned.

[Doingmybestmum]

just wondering if there is an update OP? Hopefully good news. My DSIL has a biopsy tomorrow for stripe on his thumb

[CrohnicallyPregnant]

Ha, I was just reading this and thought 'ooh, DD has brown stripes on her nail..'

And then I found my previous comment.