Woman discovers cancer after manicurist warned of nail stains

Nail polish and decorated nails are passions cultivated by some women. Those who are part of this group love to keep their nails colorful and are always looking for different decorations to try.

To meet this demand, in the same way as clothes and accessories, there are also Instagram profiles, Facebook pages and a whole universe dedicated to keeping up with the news that arise for nails.

However, more than an item related to aesthetics or the fashion world, our nails are a part of our body like any other, and that’s why they can present some changes when something doesn’t go well.

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 spots can be a symptom of a much more serious disease, such as cancer.

A melanoma on the manicure table

Lisa Williams is a manicurist from the state of Indiana, in the United States. Recently, she attended to a client who asked to apply dark nail polish on her hands, as she wanted to hide a grayish-black vertical stripe that had appeared on her fingernails.

The client, whose name was not revealed, said that she had already been through several beauty salons and received different “diagnoses” for that stripe: it could be a lack of calcium, clotted blood or even a hereditary sign.

To Lisa Williams, however, it was clear that that 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,” the manicurist reported on her Facebook profile.

A few weeks later, the client called Lisa to tell her that she had seen her and that sign was a very aggressive melanoma, which had already spread to her lymph nodes. Unfortunately, her prognosis was not very positive.

With the client’s permission, Lisa posted the account on Facebook, warning people to pay attention to their nails, as an early diagnosis greatly increases the chances of curing cancer. The post has almost 160,000 shares at the time of publishing this article.

Is every dark stripe on the nail a melanoma?

If you’ve noticed a dark stripe on your nails or on the nails of someone in your family, there’s no need to panic. While this sign can actually indicate the presence of a cancerous lesion, in most cases it is benign.

One of the explanations for dark spots on nails is trauma: just as the rest of the skin turns purple after a hit, nails can also have internal bloodshed and form a bruise.

Another possibility is that the stripe is a birthmark, like a mole, more common in people of Eastern or African origin. However, like other moles, you need to be aware of changes in size, shape and color, which can be signs of malignancy.

In any case, when faced with a dark stripe on the nails, the best thing to do is always look for a doctor to clear the doubt. When a diagnosis of melanoma is made at an early stage, treatment is simpler and the chances of a cure are very high.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. They do not replace the advice and follow-up of doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, physical education professionals and other specialists.