WTF is this?

[toetoetoe1]

I’ll post a photo below!

Got a new brown patch of skin- on my fifth toe on the skin just above the nail. I don’t know exactly when it started but it wasn’t there a fortnight ago and I randomly noticed it in the shower on Friday. It isn’t that dark but it’s definitely brown and discoloured- I didn’t have any freckles or moles there before, and I haven’t had any blisters or cuts recently either. It’s flat and it’s not a scab or mole, it’s just the skin is brown. But I don’t use sunbeds and my toes are never exposed to the sun so I know it’s unlikely to be serious.

has anyone else had this before?!

rubbish photo sorry it’s surprisingly difficult to photograph your toe😂 it’s not big but I definitely didn’t have anything there before, not sure what it could be?!

Chilblains

Not dyed your hair and dripped it on your toe?
Give it a week or 2, if its no better or worse, a gp/nurse visit to make sure its nothing to worry over.

Oh I’ve never even heard of that! I’ll have a little Google of it 👍

Mould

Definitely not, no hair dye or fake tan for months, I did wonder if it was a patch of makeup somehow on it but it’s not come off and I’ve had multiple showers since I noticed it on Friday

Oh god that’s terrifying please tell me you’re joking 🤢

It's probably a bruise. Perhaps you knocked your toe and forgot?

Your nail is too long and it’s pushing against your shoes and causing a bruise at the base of your nail.

Ah no my bad sorry its not your actual tonail.

Does it hurt?

Yeah that’s possible! I don’t remember hurting it but it’s definitely possible I could have bumped it and just forgot!

oh I hadn’t thought of that but that makes sense!

Or just pushing on your shoe as @Whydidimarrythis suggests, although I would expect you to know if your shoes hurt you.

You need to cut your toenail! Its far too long and probably caught in either a sock or getting pressure from your shoes which is pulling your nailbed into a bruise

Trim that nail before it rips

Yeah those toe nails are long overdue a trim.

Whew 🤮🤣

no it’s completely painless- it looks a bit red and swollen in the photo but it’s just the flash and it always looks like that. It’s not sore at all and the brown mark isn’t directly touching the start of my toe nail, it doesn’t show up in the photograph but there’s a slight gap between the brown patch of normal skin and my toenail.

its definitely got a little bigger since I first noticed it on Friday which is why I started to get a bit worried. Sorry to drip feed but we have a family history of melanoma although I suppose that saddly isn’t common in very pale irish people, but it’s made me slightly more wary of skin changes. Not saying I think this is melanoma because I don’t, but I think it’s just made me more aware of skin problems!

Honestly I don’t know why I let me toenail get so long- I don’t usually! My shoes don’t feel sore at all and my toes on my other foot are even longer and I don’t have any patches on them but I’ll get my toenail cut right now and see if the patch gets better over the next few days 🤞🏻🤞🏻

That's one expressive talon OP (I meant that in jest).

I think once you trim it down as others have said it should sort itself out. It doesn't look like anything to worry about. Keep an eye on it incase. My birthmarks (God felt one wasn't enough obviously) are the same colour.

that made me burst out laughing 🤣🤣 I’ve just cut my toenail now so hopefully that improves it 🤣 that’s good to know! Did your birthmarks randomly start in adulthood or were you born with them? I just got myself a little worried because I didn’t have any freckles or marks there before

If you have a FH of melanoma and it's grown since Friday you need to get it checked ASAP. No point in worrying until there's something to worry about but i think it needs to be seen to

That seems the most likely explanation.

I think the bruise via nail theory is very likely to be correct, but just to say this bit:
my toes are never exposed to the sun so I know it’s unlikely to be serious.
is not correct as far as I'm aware. Melanoma doesn't just appear on bits that are exposed to the sun, they can appear anywhere. As you have that family history, if it doesn't improve after cutting the nail then you should get it checked out.

thats what I was worried about, deep down in the back of my mind! Although I feel better as it doesn’t look like a typical bad patch of skin but obviously it’s always a concern when skin cancer has affected the family before. The GP doesn’t open for another few days anyway so I’ll see if it improves now my toenail has been cut. It’s weird because it’s totally painless and I wouldn’t know it’s there had I not noticed it!

Oh that’s good to know, in my ignorance I just assumed areas covered up from the sun would be less likely to be serious or cancerous. Shows how little I know!