Serious Symptoms Of Subungual Melanoma

Nails That Separate From The Nail Bed

Nails that separate from the nail bed or onycholysis can indicate an individual has subungual melanoma. Onycholysis refers to when the skin underneath the nail becomes detached from the bottom surface of the nail plate, which causes the nail to appear to the eye as a different color because it is no longer in direct contact with the pink flesh underneath it. A nail may appear white, yellow, purple, green, or gray when it has become separated from the nail bed. Nail separation from the nail bed usually does not take place until the subungual melanoma has started to push the nail plate away from the underlying skin. The accumulation of cancerous cells underneath the nail is typically concentrated in one area or side of the nail. As cancer grows, it can cause the rest of the surrounding nail to lift from the nail bed and become detached from the underlying skin. Onycholysis typically occurs in patients with subungual melanoma that has not caused the nail plate to become weak enough to crack but lift with the cancerous growth instead.

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Dark Skin Next To The Nail

An individual who notices they have dark skin next to their nail may be affected by subungual melanoma. This symptom is less common than other symptoms and typically does not manifest until the melanoma has grown past the visible area of the nail. A healthy human nail extends past the visible nail plate underneath the cuticle. When the individual's subungual melanoma spreads down into this portion of the nail that sits underneath the skin closest to the surface of the nail plate, it can make the skin appear a different color. This discoloration may be as mild as a slightly darker shade of the normal skin tone, or it may take on a black, dark brown, blue, dark gray, or purple tone. The skin discoloration around the nail plate in a subungual melanoma is usually a lighter tone, as the skin is less translucent than the nail plate. Individuals often mistake this discoloration as a bruise of some sort, but it never actually heals the way a bruise would.

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