This has been bugging me for a while so I thought I'd run it by you all.....does anyone else get these??
Not sure if they are caused by the EM or poss Behcet's or whatever, but I have them all the time in multiple nails, and it's only in my fingernails not toenails. Just makes me wonder because they are caused by vascular issues & my EM is def worse in my hands than feet.
I know ..I know I seem to have everything but I too have had those in the past in my finger and toenails.
They look like dark brown splinters running up the length of your nails? If it was just one it could be caused by an injury but I am sure your case is like mine in that it happens in multiple nails. My doctors couldn't make heads or tails of it. I also get the deep horizontal lines in my nails. My doctors couldn't tell me anything on those either other than they are usually seen in patients with severe health problems and usually in those in the ICU.
That is not meant to scare you as mine have come and gone on several occasions and I am not any worse off because of them. At times I wish one doctor would spend a few days just looking at all of my strange health problems all together and tried putting it together like a puzzle. Not just addressing the one or two issues at hand that day but the whole big picture from the biggest to the smallest seemingly irrelevant symptoms through the past few years.
Please keep me informed if your doctors come up with any cause for them. I too have been labeled a medical mystery. They think I should go on the show Mystery diagnosis but funny thing that is only about those people that have finally gotten a diagnosis not about those still needing one!
Take care,
Alina
I have mentioned them to my dr's, shown them in person & even taken pictures when I had one in a pinky nail that seemed to keep growing & almost blow up. Yes they look like brown/dark splinters running up the nails. I've been told that if they start or are at tip of nail, it's probably due to an injury or using nails/fingers a lot. But mine can start all the way down near cuticle & will grow out with my nail. Right now they are in about half of my fingernails & there are multiple ones in each nail. I too have deep lines in my nails but they run the same as the splinters--cuticle to tip.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003283.htm
I have never added a link before so I am not sure if this works. It is interesting to see these could be caused by tiny clots in the nail bed. Now that I look back because it has been a while since I have had them and I can't remember too well but I may not have had any since I started back up on Coumadin. Then again it could also be caused by damage to the blood vessels from swelling of the blood vessels and that we know for sure is happening. I am curious if more people respond saying they get them too being as we all get swollen blood vessels. Very interesting.
Yeah I would love to hear if anyone else gets these. It's kind of scary to know that they can be a sign of something kind of serious. It's def a vascular thing & with having EM & Behcet's, which is vascular, who knows. Then the article mentions poss cardiac component & I have a congenital heart defect & arrythmias daily so that's scary as well......it's def a vascular issue within the fingertips/nails.....
Oh yes Hotmama ! I do remember it stating a possible cardiac component but I glossed right over that one because so far my heart is just fine. You did mention earlier you had a congenital heart defect but I Just spaced on it. I am sorry. I am glad you read the article so you didn't miss that important info I failed to mention.
I can be a little worrisome knowing it can be a sign of something possibly serious. I used to worry more when things first started happening. Now it has been a few years and other than my 2 DVTs I haven't been in any real danger( I don't think)
I am on Coumadin now to stop the clotting so I feel comfortable my life isn't in any real danger. I feel like if this was going to do something terrible to me it would have by now. I could be wrong and keel off tomorrow but I don't think so.
I miss spoke earlier when I said it hasn't done anything terrible yet. it has! very much so ! this whole thing is terrible but you know what I mean.
I hope you are well enough today Hotmama.
Take care,
Alina
I am very interested in this. I have hot hands, hot feet, raynauds, chilblains, and rocasea. So I have a lot of issues with my Capillaries. Recently, I brought it to my primary doctor’s attention that my cuticles will sometimes swell up. She said I had cuticular telangiectases. I started doing a ton of research on it. Basically, cuticular telangiectases means that you have abnormal nailfold capillaries and this causes swelling. This is a big marker for autoimmune diseases, especially scleroderma. I actually began studying my own capillaries and have pictures of it. I began noticing all sorts of things with my hands- like I was finding drops of blood in my cuticles.
I also started to notice that I have splinter hemorrhages. They come in waves where I will discover them in almost every finger. This is also consistent with autoimmune diseases.
The thing is, my cuticle issues and splinter hemorrhages seem to be effected heat more than my raynauds, but maybe that is my imagination. I would encourage anyone with similar issues to do some research into abnormal nailfold capillaries and splinter hemorrhages.
Hi I also get them in my thumbs. I also have a blood clotting disorder, Factor Five Leiden.
dkel9307 said:
Hi Hotmama
I have one in my thumb…