Little toe nail is freaking me out!

[JaneS]

Hi there - have just been to the doctors and asked her to look at my toe nails as I am about to start treating them with a fungal nail medication. I wanted her to tell me which nails to start to treat. Although I have several toes needing treating the one that concerned me most was one of my little toes which has a darkish line along the edge - she said treat that one as well as it looks like fungal nail as its thicker at that edge. She said she wasn't concerned that it was anything sinister as that usually starts at the nail bed. I am really struggling to accept what she said and am panicking that I need to go back and see another Doc in the practice who is a skin specialist - I did see him last September about my moles and he checked my toe nails too and said it was trauma on the little toe and he wasn't worried either. Now I don't know who to believe and all I can think of is the picture that has been flying around Facebook of someone's nail with a dark line down the middle which turned out to be melanoma - please can anyone help ease my mind! Surely if she was concerned she would have referred me??

[Munchlet]

If you are worrying about nail melanoma and it sounds like you are it is incredibly rare. I spoke to my Dr about it once who is also a dermatologist and has been a Dr for over 30 years. He told me in all his years of working in the surgery and various hospitals he has never seen a case of it.

That was when I was worrying it, once he told me that I calmed down a bit. Your Dr is also right it normally starts at the base and extends up the nail and I believe it also discolours the skin around the nail as well.

If you have several nails that need treating for fungal infections then that's the far more likely explanation not an incredibly rare nail cancer.

I know it's easy to worry about these things when you have HA but honestly you shouldn't worry about this.

[JaneS]

Thank you Munchlet for your kind reply, that has really helped me calm down and I will resist the temptation to go back again to the docs!

[Fishmanpa]

Gosh I hate this HA, am still analysing what the doctor said yesterday about my little toe nail! Please see my previous posts about it. After she had looked at my toe nails, I mentioned that I had seen the other doctor in the practice about it last year and he said it was trauma, she said ‘well he’s the skin specialist in the practice’. I also told her I was due to go back to see him for a routine mole check and she said that’s a good chance to show him your nail and see how it’s going (I presume she means the fungal treatment). Now I’m thinking that I need to go and seem him ASAP as she’s not sure what it is and he’s a skin specialist, despite the fact that when I asked her if it was anything to worry about she said ‘no’. Now feel like I saw the wrong doctor. Surely if she was concerned she would have referred me?? That’s what I keep telling myself anyway.

Added it to your thread... as admin has been saying, it makes it easier for others to get the entire picture

Positive thoughts

[JaneS]

Thanks I wasn’t sure how to do that technologically.

[AnxietyGirl30]

Hi there,

I have some experience of this, I have a light brown line on my toenail from nail bed to top of nail and i was referred to a dermatologist within 2 weeks by my doctor who only saw a photo of the toenail which i had to email to him as there were no available appointments for me to be seen at the time.

That two weeks of waiting was the worst of my life, i was thinking the complete worst, i was not eating or looking after myself at all. In the end, the dermatologist said she was not concerned after checking it thoroughly and that i had melanonchyia look it up if you don't know what it is. She still wanted me to come back for a check up 3 months later and this subsided my anxiety for a while but then i freaked out again about it even though i had been told i was ok, and asked for an earlier appointment which i got and yet again she told me everything fine and completely benign. So please please please try not to worry and do not look it up on google because you will only read the worst case scenarios. I now suffer from health anxiety because of this and i am seeking help for it.

Best wishes to you