![]() ![]() Doctors told her it was possible they might also have to amputate the whole thumb, but were able to save the digit. Jasko had to return for surgery to remove the whole nail matrix. The portion of her thumb nail with the line was removed during the biopsy, which confirmed it was melanoma. My mom was like, ‘I can’t believe that I never even thought that it could be in your nail.’” “It was overwhelming because everything happened so quick,” Jasko said. Jasko was immediately referred to a dermatologist who told her she needed to undergo a biopsy that same day at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. An unrelated infection led her to see a doctor, who urged her to see a dermatologist. Karolina Jasko didn't notice or worry about the dark vertical streak on her nail, which you can see peeking out underneath the polish on the bottom right portion of her thumb nail near the cuticle. The infection didn’t alarm him, but the mysterious streak on her nail did. But about a week later, her nail became infected, swollen and red, which led her to see her doctor. It looked like a perfectly straight thin vertical line drawn with a pencil from the top to the bottom of her nail, with “a purplish tint” to it, Jasko recalled. When the acrylics were removed during one particular visit, the technician pointed out what seemed to be a bruise on her right thumb nail. She’d been getting her nails done once or twice a month for a couple of years, complete with acrylics - artificial nails applied on top of her natural nails - plus a gel polish that was cured with UV light. Jasko, now 25, first became aware of the unusual spot in 2016 when she was a senior in high school. A straight vertical line with a "purplish" tint But the study and previous research "strongly suggest that radiation emitted by UV-nail polish dryers may cause cancers of the hand and that UV-nail polish dryers, similar to tanning beds, may increase the risk of early-onset skin cancer," the authors wrote. The study authors noted that the results don't prove a connection between gel manicures and cancer since the study used cell line models, which don't exactly re-create what happens in real life. I found this to be very alarming, and decided to stop using it." "Once I saw the effect of radiation emitted by the gel polish drying device on cell death and that it actually mutates cells even after just one 20-minute session, I was surprised. "I started using gel manicures periodically for several years," she said in a statement. Maria Zhivagui, Ph.D., who co-authored the study, said the findings were so strong that she was going to stop getting gel manicures. These results were observed in cells that had two 20-minute sessions in the UV nail polish dryer in one day, as well as those that had one 20-minute session a day for three days. Chris Adigun, a dermatologist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who specializes in nail disorders and contributed expert advice on the safety of gel manicures for the American Academy of Dermatology.Īdigun told TODAY that part of the risk of gel manicures is that the UV exposure may add up over time, as some people, like Jasko, get it done multiple times a month.Ī recent study found that the UV light emitted when curing gel nails at the salon can actually mutate DNA and cause cell damage and death. "We’re seeing a lot of patients having not only melanomas, but all types of skin cancers around the finger tips and the cuticles," he said.Įven just short periods of a few minutes exposed to UV light can “theoretically" increase skin cancer risk "because we know that UVA ray exposure increases your risk of skin cancer, and you have to have UVA exposure to cure a gel manicure," said Dr. He was not involved in Jasko’s case, but commented in general. “It’s like tanning beds for your hands,” Patel, who is also the director of the cutaneous oncology program at the GW Cancer Center, told TODAY. Vishal Patel, assistant professor of dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., worry such cases may be on the rise with the popularity of gel manicures that require the polish to be hardened under ultraviolet light. A dermatologist or nail specialist will remove some or all of the nails for examination.Experts like Dr. Once your doctor performs the initial assessment and determines you might have subungual melanoma, they’ll commonly suggest a nail biopsy.Ī nail biopsy is the primary diagnostic tool for making a definitive diagnosis. washing your hands and feet regularly and keeping them dryĭiagnosing and treating subungual melanoma is much more involved. ![]() taking medication, such as itraconazole (Sporanox) or terbinafine (Lamisil).If you have nail fungus, treatment is relatively straightforward. Read on to learn how doctors treat nail fungus vs. ![]() Subungual melanoma and nail fungus treatment
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