It is a well-known fact that early diagnosis of diseases can be crucial in the treatment and the recovery of these people. Some people think spots on their bodies don’t mean anything serious, but sometimes, they certainly need to be checked by a doctor. A woman claiming to be an employee in a beauty salon has said she discovered that a client had cancer. Jean Skinner warned her customer about possible skin cancer after spotting a strange black line running through her nail. And it really changed her life as her diagnosis turned out to be a serious melanoma.
Jean immediately took it to social media to warn others about the dangerous mark.
On August 19, Jean shared a post on Facebook, including photos of her customer who decided to have her nails done. Jean’s story about the black line on the nail is not yet Jean’s Facebook post has been shared over 1000 times. She wrote:
“I had a walk-in nail client a couple weeks ago – she had been going to the “NAILS” type salons for years.
She had a straight dark vertical stripe down her nail.”
The customer wanted to cover the black line.
Jean’s post continued:
“The nail salons “diagnosed” her a few different ways. Some said it was a lack of calcium, some said it was hereditary. At least one had told her it was a blood blister.
This is melanoma!!! I did not want to frighten her but I told her she needed to see her doctor immediately! She called me today to tell me that yes it was a very aggressive melanoma that has already spread to her lymph nodes!! Her prognosis is not good!”
Jean’s post is warning other people to really pay attention to these kind of changes in their nail beds. She adds:
“Odd changes in your nails can very likely be nothing to worry about! But sometimes it is an indication of a very serious disease. And please keep an eye on the nail beds – toes and fingers – of your elderly loved ones and your loved ones that aren’t physically able to notice changes in the nail beds!
Early diagnosis can make all the difference in the world!”
The NHS says dark stripes running down the nails (linear melanonychia) are in fact common in black people over 20 years of age. In most of the cases, it is quite normal. However, they also say dark stripes shouldn’t be ignored, because sometimes they can be a form of skin cancer affecting the nail bed (subungual melanoma).
Subungual melanoma usually only affects one nail. It also causes the stripe to change its appearance (become wider or darker). The pigmentation may also affect the surrounding skin.
Therefore, it is of crucial importance to visit your doctor if you notice any changes like these.