How to get rid of black toenails, you might wonder? Is it even possible? Why do toenails change color? There’s a simple answer to all of these questions.
Black toenails are known among runner athletes, but there are other causes that cause them. Although many times they can be resolved at home, it is indicated to consult with a professional. Let’s see in this article how they originate and how they are treated.
Black toenails are not rare. In some groups of people they are more frequent than in others and the situation is even familiar. This also leads to applying homemade solutions that are not always the ones indicated.
A group of people who know first hand the black toenails are the runners. In the practice of running sports it is very common to appear dark coloration on the nails.
Among the runners the most affected are marathoners and mountain trail athletes. The first for the long distances they must travel and the second for the uneven terrain in which they carry out their activity.
As we will see later, there is a risk factor among brokers. Both the repetition of impacts and irregularities of the terrain that alter the tread are causing subungual hematoma.
Subungual hematoma is the technical name that black toenails receive in medicine. Precisely, it is a collection of blood that is located in the nail bed.
It is not a clinical condition of severity almost never. It does not even represent an urgent vital risk when the cause is a melanoma. However, if accompanied by severe pain, it may be incapacitating to step on.
Causes of black toenails
Black toenails have their main origin in small repetitive trauma. But this is not the only cause. Let’s see below the most frequent situations that originate them.
Continuous trauma
This is the main cause. If our toes are repeatedly traumatized, with constant rhythm for a long time, then subungual hematoma may appear. This is the reason for its prevalence among runners. The pounding of the toe against the inside of the shoe is the explanation.
A mild, small, painless bruise, or a large bruise with disabling pain can be generated. In severe cases, blood overflows the nail bed and goes outside under the nail.
It does not always happen, but it can be accompanied by infection in the skin surrounding the nail. The signs are inflammation and red coloration that the nail surroundings take.
A curious and striking fact, which is the cause of subungual trauma hematoma, is the overlapping fingers. In people who have birth-bound fingers, friction is capable of leading to the production of the black nail.
Black nails may appear due to trauma. However, they can also be the sign of a fungal infection.
Accident
Unlike continuous trauma, the accident is a unique and timely fact. For example, the fall of a blunt object on the foot. If the fall hits a nail it can break the blood vessels from producing the bruise.
Fungal infection
The most common fungal infection in the feet is the well-known athlete’s foot. Although its presentation area is classically between the fingers, it can extend to the nails. In addition to changing the color of the nail towards green and yellow hues, fungi sometimes give black color. This may be due to the manufacture of a hematoma or a mere change in pigmentation.
Cancer
The most serious and dangerous form of black toenails is subungual melanoma. It is a variety of skin cancer that grows in the nail bed.
Of the total melanoma suffered by humans, the subungual variety is approximately 5%. More than half of those that appear in the hand are located on the thumb, and almost nine out of ten of those that appear on the foot are on the first finger as well.
How to get rid of black toenails?
The treatment of black toenails ranges between simple shapes and more complex variants. As we already anticipated, among the runners it is usual that they resort to homemade boarding methods to drain the blood under the nail.
And when subungual hematoma clearly comes from trauma, the indication is drainage. If the blood protrudes outside the limits of the nail, what is done is a puncture to escape the blood.
For fungal infections, antifungals are chosen. Creams for athlete’s foot do not penetrate the nail, so lacquer presentations are preferred. If that first line fails, the next option is the oral medication.
Finally, before a subungual melanoma the treatment is surgery. The entire nail should be removed and the tumor removed with the free margins to ensure healing. Of course, it is a practice that can only be performed by a surgeon and by no means practiced at home.
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