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Help is this toenail melanoma?
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Help is this toenail melanoma?

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Help is this toenail melanoma?

  • Post
    • March 13, 2019 at 10:03 am
    Perramas
    Participant

      Help I am a soon to be 49 year old white male, I have a black spot on my left big toenail and some yellowing of the nail. I don't know how long it has been this way I first noticed it about three weeks ago. There is no pain or drainage but it appears there is a red spot close to where the nail grows from the toe and it appears the skin might be getting discolored as well.

       

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        • March 13, 2019 at 12:14 pm
        Bubbles
        Participant

          There is no way that anyone on this board can diagnose melanoma (or any other skin condition really) from a description or picture, no matter how clear.  If you are concerned…and since you posted here, you must be….see your regular doc or go straight to a dermatologist if your medical coverage allows for that so that you can have a definitive diagnosis and appropriate care rendered.  I wish you my best.  Celeste

            • March 13, 2019 at 1:24 pm
            Perramas
            Participant

              I was hoping someone could look at it and tell me it was definitely not melanoma. I worked for a comapny that supplied parts to some of the factories that GM has closed and is planning to close. As a result of that I was laid off and was hoping to avoid the expense of a doctors visit. 

            • March 13, 2019 at 1:18 pm
            cancersnewnormal
            Participant

              As Celeste already noted… there is no way anyone can diagnose this via photo and your description. That said, go see your primary care doc or someone at an Urgent Care. I did a number on the big toe of my left foot just by trail running in a pair of shoes that weren't tied tight enough. It looks very similar to this… including the red spot at the cuticle. It happened in mid January, and STILL hasn't healed. I've seen my family care doc. I've had a routine follow up visit with my dermatologist. I know exactly how mine happened, so nobody is questioning whether or not it is a return of melanoma for me. It doesn't hurt. There is not drainage. Nail beds can take six months to heal… if they heal at all (deeper damage may stunt growth of new cells). Best bet… get it checked. Your doc can review your history, get a good hard look at it, and will be able to better determine what this is. If it's nothing more than a subungual hematoma, you'll be on your merry way waiting for nature to take its healing course…… oooor the doc could remove the toenail painlessly and speed the process a bit. In your situation, I wouldn't full on panic, but I also wouldn't try to wait it out to see if it heals or worsens….. because mine is sure taking its sweet time in going away! Had I not already been seen by two different docs, I'd certainly be concerned by this point. 

                • March 13, 2019 at 1:31 pm
                Perramas
                Participant

                  Thanks for the reply. I speed walk and do moderate weight lifting that might be the cause. I will just have to bite the bullet and take the expense of seeing the doctor.

                  • March 13, 2019 at 1:52 pm
                  cancersnewnormal
                  Participant

                    It could be the speed walking, but I'm no doc, so there's no way I could say for sure. I was surprised how little it took to do so much damage on mine. It was a tad sore while I was out for the run (which was only 3.5 miles)… but nothing that had me slowed or limping. To look at the toenail now, it looks like it was run over by a car. HA! Still no pain… but the going on 2 months and still looking horrifying… I'm just hoping I didn't damage the nail matrix. Damned "old people" feet (i just turned 50 in late Nov)! LOL! Bite the bullet… see a doc…. because IF… and that is indeed an IF… if it is more sinister than a bruise, an early catch is going to be WAY less expensive than treating any potential metastasis moving forward.

                  • March 13, 2019 at 6:04 pm
                  Edwin
                  Participant

                    Have your doctor or a dermatologist look at your toe.  The melanoma the killed my aunt began on her toe.  At the time there was no effective treatment for melanoma other than surgery.   Chemotherapy did not help her.  This was many years before immunotherapy.

                    • March 14, 2019 at 2:20 am
                    SOLE
                    Participant

                      There is no price for your life. You should spend whatever it takes to have the right diagnosis. Life is so precious. Go have it looked at. For the record, 6 months after my surgery, I kept banging my little toe on chairs everywhere because of my surgery. I was so panicked that I did not notice I was hitting it all the time. You may not remember where this is coming from. We all get that. But like Nikki, I had something similar to your toe too but on the 5th digit. Nobody will tell you what it is because melanoma needs to be confirmed by an expert dermatologist and eventually maybe a pathologist. Go get it checked and spend the money if you need to. This is by far less expensive than buying immunotherapy antibodies! 

                      • March 29, 2019 at 8:38 pm
                      Perramas
                      Participant

                        I am the OP and Im here to thank everyone. It was not melanoma. At some point there was trauma to my bigtoe and before it was able to heal a bacterial infection set in that prevented the trauma from healing. 

                        This is a great community full of awesome people, God Bless all of you.

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