Should I see a GP with this toenail thing (pictures included)?

[flourella]

Just wondering if I should go to a GP with this toenail issue.

I wear socks day and night and don't really look at my feet from one month to the next. Every so often I think to check the length of my toenails and cut them if necessary. Earlier this year (February or March) I looked and found that all my toenails needed clipping except those on my big toes, which appeared to have not grown at all since I had last looked. The cuticles had also disappeared and there was minor inflammation down one side of one nail. I assumed they were ingrowing or headed that way, and soaked my feet in epsom salts twice a day for a couple of weeks. The cuticles reappeared and the redness faded a little so I stopped the routine.

A few weeks later I looked and there was indication that both nails had started growing again: near the cuticle of each was a narrow band of nail less thick than the rest and an abrupt step up to the older nail. So I assumed all was fine. Since then I've cut the big toenails once (and the rest a few times), so they are growing (but relatively slowly).

Today I looked and there is a black... thing in the corner of one nail, filling the space between the cuticle and the thicker, older nail. Thought it was a bit of fluff from my socks, but it's fused to the nail. Could it be fungus? Or something more sinister? Or a bit of fused sock fluff?(!). I've googled images of black toenail things and all the pictures seem to be of blackness under the nail, but this is sitting on top of the recent growth. Has anyone here had anything that looks similar? Should I bother a GP with it?

I see a chiropodist regular that's who you need to see you can find them in high streets or they come to your house they can yell you as that's their speciality with nail but the yellowing of a nail suggests fungal but I am not an expert .

Go to a podiatrist. They specialise in nails and foot issues. I went to the GP for an ingrown toenail and they gave me injections of local anaesthetic and caused my toe to bleed so badly I couldn’t get shoes on due to the thickness of the bandages. My podiatrist took 2 seconds using a special scalpel to take the edge off my nail, no pain and no bleeding. When I told him what happened at the GP he said ‘well the gp sees one ingrown toenail a week, I treat up to 6 a day…’

The podiatrist I see can actually do foot surgery. So I’d see one for foot issues before a GP.

Also he said be careful with Chiropodists as many of them aren’t as highly trained as podiatrists. Not sure if that’s true.

The one I see is a podiatrist but if she googles she will find out if good reviews etc

Thank you both. The nail is a bit embarrassingly yellow . None of the others are, including the other big toenail which is back to normal apart from the ridge.

So podiatrists and chiropodists are private businesses and you find them just by googling? They are not part of an NHS service? I will look up what's in my area.

There are nhs podiatrists and gp can refer you.
you can do that but while you waiting for that appt you may as well pay a high street one for speed
And start any treatment.
It might be circa 60 to 100 £??

Chiropody is actually an outdated term for podiatry rather than being a separate profession. There are also foot health practitioners, but this isn't as highly trained as podiatry and it isn't a regulated profession yet so I wouldn't see one unless they're working in a podiatry practice or the NHS. You can ask the GP to refer you to a podiatrist but the wait might be much longer than seeing one privately.

It's hard to tell from the photo but it looks as if you have a new nail growing underneath the existing nail, which can happen. I'd see a podiatrist who'll be able to tell you what's happening.

Podiatrists are on the NHS you get referred by your GP. Our local clinic lets you self refer

I’m going against the grain here and say to go and see a GP. They can refer you on if they think it needs further investigation or to a podiatrist otherwise but don’t leave it.

It is quite difficult to get in to see and NHS podiatrist in my area. They tend to focus on the most serious problems and particularly complications from other diseases such as diabetes. I only got in to see mine on a technicality because my problem can very loosely be described as a neuropathy.

By the time you even get an appointment with a GP (based on my practice), I'm sure you'd already have got that treated by a private podiatrist if you make a few calls.

I shall rephrase my post more strongly, OP, you need an urgent appointment with the GP to look at this to rule out a malignant melanoma. Please don’t leave it.

I'm not sure I can afford/justify spending £60 to £100, so if that's how much it would cost to see someone privately I might have to trouble the GP and see what they make of it.

It does look like an entirely separate, new nail growing underneath in those photos. I've noticed it in real life as well, but not been sure if that is what I'm seeing, because if anything it's less obvious than in the pictures. The other big toenail has the look of it as well. Not sure if the black spot would likely be related to that or not?

@maverickfox Right. Shit. I expect it's obvious that that's what I meant when I said "something more sinister" in the opening post, but I wasn't terribly concerned because it seems to have come on the back of both big toenails going a bit weird. But I suppose that could be a coincidence. I will make a GP appointment on Monday.

Could you mail the photo to your GP surgery - for speed and ease?

I pay 45 and he does a great job home visit to

In that case I would make an appointment with the GP or nurse to have a look to rule out anything medical. Usually a new nail growing is as a result of trauma but if it's both big toes it can be from wearing the wrong shoes, and I've also seen it in runners. Anyway, the GP will be able to tell you I'm sure 🙂.

Did you have a viral infection with fever a bit before you noticed this? The line looks like a Beau's line that can occur eg with COVID. The black bit is more concerning and in very rare instances could be something serious as mentioned above, so it's worth having it checked just in case, even though it might not be.

I didn’t mean to scare you and it could be nothing but I’d always get something new and unusual checked out to rule out a sinister cause. I hope it turns out to be nothing to worry about.

Have you bashed it ages ago without realising? This happened to me. But obviously get it checked.

I agree with seeing the GP rather than a podiatrist. Get it looked at urgently, you need it checking to rule out anything sinister.

I wouldn't I had the same thing at the beginning of the year. I broke my 2nd toe last January and earlier this year my big toe (next to it) started doing this. From what I read it's just caused by trauma and it's growing a new nail underneath. I was a little worried that at some point the top nail would fall off and leave some sensitive skin exposed but it never did, they stayed overlapped the whole time and I just trimmed regularly. It took a while to grow out from what I remember - a few months at least, just be patient. My nail now looks completely normal and no thicker than the others.

That's okay. Like I said, I was already aware that melanoma can appear under toenails. I've spent the last few minutes searching images of it and can't find much other than the classic dark line under the nail, which this definitely isn't. Googled "melanoma on top of toenail" and "black spot on top of toenail" and just got more pictures of dark lines or patches under the nail. I suppose this could have started that way and broken through, maybe?

I am going to book an appointment on Monday morning and try not to think about it until then.

I do stub my toes every now and then, but nothing that ever really hurts. Not sure I could have bashed both at the same time to interrupt the growth in the same way, but only one has a black spot so perhaps that could be from an injury unrelated to the pause in growth.

I would find some well-rated podiatrists near you and go in/email with photos and ask what they could do and for how much.

It's difficult to get to an nhs podiatrist in my area too. I saw a local podiatrist for overgranulation on a toe (v painful). They saw me within 48 hours and it cost £40, job done.

@LL1991 did your big toenail have a black bump on the surface as well as the interruption in growth?