What do your nails look like if you have cancer?
Melanoma can appear as a dark streak under your nail, distorting its color. Sometimes it will darken the cuticle surrounding your nail, too, which can be a sign of aggressive melanoma. Melanoma is life-threatening, so it’s important to get any dark lines under your nails checked immediately.
What does black lines in your fingernails mean?
This condition is called a splinter hemorrhage because it may look like a wood splinter under your nail. The condition is caused by damaged small blood vessels underneath your nail. Characteristics include the following: It’s black or reddish brown in color.
Is nail melanoma serious?
Subungual melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer that occurs in the skin under your nails. Subungual melanomas are rare, seen in only 0.07% to 3.5% of the people in the world who have melanoma. But these melanomas can spread to other parts of your body and cause death.
How do you treat black lines on fingernails?
Most causes of black lines on the nail do not require treatment. Melanoma is an exception. A doctor will usually first remove the area of melanoma as well as the skin under the fingernail. A doctor can perform a skin graft over the fingernail to improve the finger’s appearance post-surgery.
What does a line in my fingernail mean?
The bottom line Ridges in the fingernails are often normal signs of aging. Slight vertical ridges commonly develop in older adults. In some cases, they may be a sign of health problems like vitamin deficiencies or diabetes. Deep horizontal ridges, called Beau’s lines, may indicate a serious condition.
What does a line in your fingernail mean?
How does nail melanoma start?
Subungual melanoma often starts as a pigmented band visible the length of the nail plate (melanonychia). Over weeks to months, the pigment band: Becomes wider, especially at its proximal end (cuticle) Becomes more irregular in pigmentation including light brown, dark brown.
Why is there a line on my fingernail?
Will black line on nail go away?
Splinter hemorrhages appear as small black or deep-red lines and are caused by injuries to the small blood vessels under the nail beds. They usually heal on their own within a few days.
Why is there a line in my nail?
The vertical lines running from the cuticle to the top of the nail are nothing to be worried about. In most cases, such longitudinal ridging is simply a side effect of the normal aging process of nails. In addition, nails often lose their luster as they age and may appear opalescent and dull.