Black under toenail

[42isthemeaning]

Hello mumsnetters! This seemed to suddenly appear under my nail a couple of weeks ago. It isn't sore and I don't remember it being bruised. I did have a white fungus type thing on the same nail a while ago which I just trimmed off when I cut the nail! Google says it could be fungal, a bruise or cancer. Has anyone else experienced a nail bed changing colour like this?

Sorry about the minging nail pic by the way!

Looks exactly the same as my bruise / cause by wearing too tight shoes. Mine is fading now after 3 months

Possibly fungal. I'd take a trip to your local pharmacist.

Thanks for the answer - did your toe hurt? That's what's curious about mine - it doesn't hurt at all.

I wonder if it's because I didn't treat the white fungal stuff originally. Thanks for the answers - I'm grateful someone was kind enough to reply!

Please see your doctor. Could be fungal, a bruise or a melanoma.

Although highly unlikely to be the latter.

Yes that's what google said. Here comes my good old anxiety...

Keep an eye on it and see does it grow out over the next couple of weeks

Well I showed it to a pharmacist who told me to I need to see a gp. She has referred me to the dermatologist as an urgent case. This is because she can't for certain say that it's a bruise; neither can she say it's a mole. Feeling a bit anxious now, but I guess it's best to get it checked properly.

A friend had this (or v similar) it was a fungal infection.

Good to hear you've had it checked out and are being referred. Hopefully it'll just be an infection but you'll be in the right hands if it's anything more worrying.

I had something similar to this last summer after wearing shoes that were too tight. It was exactly like yours in the same place. I just saw it appear from nowhere and panicked but then remembered a day where I wore some shoes that were narrow pinching the toe area in my biggest foot.

It took four or five months to grow out completely but after a few weeks I noticed it moving away from the nail bed and a perfect nail growing down so knew it wasn't anything to worry about. Mine didn't hurt either.

Thank you very much for the replies everyone. I think some of you sensed my anxiety about this! Also, sorry about the gross photo earlier. I'm going to try to forget about it before my referral comes through. There is always something! I'm so glad that mumsnetters are so supportive!

Just a little update in case anyone else found this thread and had a similar weird toenail situation. The dermatologist took a look and said it looked like there was a trace of blood, so most likely to be a bruise, even though it wasn't sore and there had been no toe stubbing. He gave me the option of returning in 3 months for reassurance, but it started to 'grow out' and disappear, so I cancelled the follow up. Thanks to everyone who answered my post!

Glad you had a happy ending here op