PixabayA woman claiming to be an employee in a beauty salon has said she alerted a client to a devastating cancer diagnosis.
Jean Skinner warned her customer about possible skin cancer after spotting a tell-tale black line running through her nail.
Jean took to social media to warn others about the dangerous mark after the lady had reportedly visited the salon to have her nails done.
PixabayDespite the story not being verified, Jean’s claim about the black line running through the nail is in line with NHS guidelines about subungual melanoma – a form of skin cancer that affects the nail bed.
In Jean’s Facebook post – which has since been shared over a 1,000 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.
She said as soon as she sat down I need a colour dark enough to cover this stripe.
FacebookJean’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!
Facebook / Jean SkinnerJean is warning others to ‘pay attention to abnormalities in your nail beds’, adding:
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!
NHSThe NHS says dark stripes running down the nails (linear melanonychia) are fairly common in black people over 20 years of age – in most cases it’s perfectly normal.
However they say dark stripes shouldn’t be ignored. In most cases they are perfectly normal, but sometimes they can be a form of skin cancer affecting the nail bed – called subungual 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.
PixabayIf you do have a dark stripe, it’s important that your doctor checks it to rule out melanoma.
