What does melanoma look like in toenails?

When checking your nails for melanoma, dermatologists recommend looking for the following changes: A dark streak. This may look like a brown or black band in the nail — often on the thumb or big toe of your dominant hand or foot. However, this dark streak can show up on any nail.

Can you get a mole under your toenail?

A black spot under the nail can indicate a type of melanoma called acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM). These melanomas can appear anywhere on the body, including underneath fingernails and toenails. The sub-type of ALM that affects the nail is called subungual melanoma.

Can there be moles on nails?

Probably the most common cause of a colored line in the nail is a mole, known as a nevus, in the nail matrix. Most pigmentation authorities today believe that these types of moles require a biopsy — particularly in Caucasians — to rule out the possibility of a malignant lesion or melanoma.

How do I know if I have toe melanoma?

Diagnosing subungual melanoma brown or black bands of color that increase in size over time. change in skin pigment (darkening around the affected nail) splitting nail or bleeding nail. drainage (pus) and pain.

What is melanoma on nails?

Toenail melanoma is another name for subungual melanoma. It’s an uncommon form of skin cancer that develops underneath the fingernail or toenail. Subungual means “under the nail.” Toenail fungus is a more common condition that occurs from the overgrowth of fungi in, under, or on the nail.

Does toenail melanoma grow out?

Mistaken for a bruise Many people first mistake subungual melanoma as a bruise. However, unlike a bruise, the streaks from subungual melanoma do not heal or grow out with the nail over time.

Does melanoma on toenail hurt?

In 75% to 90% of reported cases, subungual melanomas have been found in the thumb and the big toe. But they can be seen in other toes and fingers. And they can be quite painful. Inflammation, a normal bodily process that fights infection or injury, can also be present.