Nail polish and decorated nails are passions cultivated by some women. Those in this group love to keep their nails colored and are always looking for different decorations to test.
To meet this demand, as with clothing and accessories, there are also Instagram profiles, Facebook pages and a whole universe dedicated to keeping up with the latest news for nails.
But more than just an aesthetic or fashion related item, our nails are just as much a part of our body, so they may change when something goes wrong.
In general, the signs that appear on the nails usually indicate that our body is deficient in some vitamin or mineral. However, some types of blemishes may be a symptom of a much more serious illness, such as cancer.
A melanoma on the manicure table
Lisa Williams is a manicure from the state of Indiana in the United States. She recently attended a client who asked to apply a dark nail polish on her hands as she wanted to hide a grayish-black vertical stripe that had appeared on her nail.
Read also: 14 Common Breast Cancer Questions Resolved by Experts
The client, who did not have her name revealed, said she had already gone through several beauty salons and received different? Diagnoses? for that stripe: it could be lack of calcium, clotted blood or even a hereditary sign.
For Lisa Williams, however, it was clear that this dark stripe indicated a much more serious illness: cancer. "I didn't mean to scare her, but I said she should see a doctor right away," reported the manicure on her Facebook profile.
A few weeks later, the client called Lisa to tell her that she had consulted and that sign was a very aggressive melanoma, which had already spread to her lymph nodes. Unfortunately, his prognosis was not very positive.
With the client's permission, Lisa published the report on Facebook, warning people to pay attention to her nails, as early diagnosis greatly increases the chances of a cancer cure. The post is almost 160,000 shares at the time of publication of this article.
Is every dark stripe on the nail a melanoma?
If you have noticed a dark stripe on your nails or the nails of someone in your family, you need not panic. Although this sign may actually indicate the presence of a cancerous lesion, in most cases it is benign.
Also read: 7 habits that can decrease the chance of getting cancer by 40%
One explanation for dark nail stains is trauma: just as the rest of the skin turns purple after a knock, nails can also shed blood and form a bruise.
Another possibility is that the stripe is a birthmark, like a spot, more common in people of Eastern or African origin. However, as with other spots, one must be aware of changes in size, shape and color, which may be indicative of malignancy.
In any case, when you come across a dark nail list, it is best to always seek medical advice to answer the question. When a diagnosis of melanoma is made at an early stage, treatment is simpler and the chances of cure are very high.
UV and LED Lamps. Are They Safe For Gel Nails? (April 2024)
- Prevention and Treatment
- 1,230
