Essex beautician spots client's nail stripe as skin cancer

Essex beautician spots client's nail stripe as skin cancer



A nail technician has shared a photo online of her client's nail with a dark stripe down the middle to urge people to be aware of the little-known symptom of deadly skin cancer.

Jean Skinner, from Essex, posted the image on Facebook and explained that the woman had initially dismissed the mark as a blood blister.

However, Jean explains she immediately knew that it probably indicated melanoma - – the most serious form of skin cancer – and advised her to seek urgent medical help.

She wrote that the client called her to say she had since been diagnosed with aggressive melanoma, and that it has spread to her lymph nodes.

Dark stripes on the nail can be a sign of a type of skin cancer that occurs under the fingernails called subungual melanoma.



Jean posted: 'I had a walk-in nail client a couple weeks ago. She had a straight dark vertical stripe down her nail. She said "I need a colour dark enough to cover this stripe".

The woman had been told by others the mark could be a blood blister or due to a calcium deficiency.

'I did not want to frighten my client, but I told her she needed to see her doctor immediately,' she wrote.

'She called me today to tell me that, yes, the dark stripe indicated a very aggressive melanoma, and that it has already spread to her lymph nodes. Her prognosis is not good.'

More than 70,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year in the US, the American Cancer Society estimates.

In the UK that number is around 13,300 people a year, according to Cancer Research.

Pay attention to nail changes

Symptoms that most people think of when they think of skin cancer are change in appearance to moles and the emergence of lumps and ulcers.

Jean cautioned people to take note of changes in their nail beds too.

'Please pay attention to abnormalities in your nail beds! Odd changes in your nails can very likely be nothing to worry about! But sometimes it is an indication of a very serious disease,' she said.

'And please keep an eye on the nail beds – toes and fingers – of your elderly loved ones and your loved ones that aren't physically able to notice changes in the nail beds. Early diagnosis can make all the difference in the world!'

A Facebook user responded with a photo of a line down her nail, admitting that she was scared. She later provided an update that she had visited her GP and had an urgent referral to see a dermatologist marked urgent.



What can other nail abnormalities be?

Changes in the colour, texture and thickness of your fingernails and toenails may indicate a problem with your health.

NHS Choices provides a handy visual guide to help you determine when a nail problem could give cause for you to visit your GP.



Pitted nails

Pitting on the surface of the fingernails may be a sign of any of the following conditions:

Psoriasis – a long-term condition that tends to also cause red, flaky patches of skin

Eczema – a long-term skin condition

Reactive arthritis – where the immune system attacks the joints, muscles and other parts of the body after an infection

Alopecia areata – patches of hair loss or total hair loss on the scalp or body that can come and go

Discoloured nails

A nail with a fungal infection can look ugly, as the nail often thickens and can turn white, black, yellow or green.

The nail can sometimes become brittle, with pieces of nail breaking off or even coming away from the toe or finger completely.

The nail bed may also become inflamed and painful, but this tends to suggest a yeast infection rather than a fungal one.

Ram's-horn nails



Ram's horn nails (called onychogryphosis) is a nail disorder that's more common in older people. It's possible for nails to become so overgrown, that they're very difficult to cut with conventional nail clippers.

Soaking the nails in water before cutting or regular chiropody can help, but sometimes the nails need to be removed by a podiatrist or doctor.



Spoon-shaped nails

Fingernails that curve inwards like spoons (koilonychia) can be perfectly normal in children but may be a sign of an underlying medical condition in adults.

For example:

Iron-deficiency anaemia

Haemochromatosis

Raynaud's disease

Lupus erythematosus



Grooves on the nails

Illness, injury or cold temperatures can stop nail growth and cause deep lines or grooves to form across the base of the nails (Beau's lines).

These may only be noticed when the lines have grown up the nail.

It takes about six months for a fingernail to fully grow out and six to 12 months for a toenail.

Unusually curved fingertips

Clubbing of the fingertips can run in families and be entirely harmless.

However, if it suddenly develops, it may be a sign of one of many underlying medical conditions, including: