Welcome to EmpowHER. Thank you for reaching out to our community with your concern about brown lines on you fingernails and toenails.
Are all of your nails affected? Have you been seen by your physician?
The cause must be identified before treatment can be offered.
Dark stripes running down the nails (linear melanonychia) are fairly common in black people over 20 years of age, and in most cases it's perfectly normal.
However, dark stripes shouldn't be ignored because it can sometimes be a form of skin cancer that affects the nail bed, called subungual melanoma. It's important that your doctor checks it to rule out melanoma.
Subungual melanoma usually only affects one nail. It will also cause the stripe to change in appearance – for example, it may become wider or darker over time and the pigmentation may also affect the surrounding skin (the nail fold).
If you have little red or brown streaks underneath your nails, it's likely they're splinter hemorrhages – lines of blood caused by tiny damaged blood vessels.
A few splinters under one nail are nothing to worry about, and are most likely caused by an injury of the nail. However, if many nails are affected, the splinters may be a sign of lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, an infection of the heart valves (endocarditis) or another underlying condition.
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Hello Anonymous,
Welcome to EmpowHER. Thank you for reaching out to our community with your concern about brown lines on you fingernails and toenails.
Are all of your nails affected? Have you been seen by your physician?
The cause must be identified before treatment can be offered.
Dark stripes running down the nails (linear melanonychia) are fairly common in black people over 20 years of age, and in most cases it's perfectly normal.
However, dark stripes shouldn't be ignored because it can sometimes be a form of skin cancer that affects the nail bed, called subungual melanoma. It's important that your doctor checks it to rule out melanoma.
Subungual melanoma usually only affects one nail. It will also cause the stripe to change in appearance – for example, it may become wider or darker over time and the pigmentation may also affect the surrounding skin (the nail fold).
If you have little red or brown streaks underneath your nails, it's likely they're splinter hemorrhages – lines of blood caused by tiny damaged blood vessels.
A few splinters under one nail are nothing to worry about, and are most likely caused by an injury of the nail. However, if many nails are affected, the splinters may be a sign of lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, an infection of the heart valves (endocarditis) or another underlying condition.
Regards,
May 30, 2017 - 8:50amMaryann
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