Toenail Pain [Toenail Fungus, Ingrown Toenails, Discolored Toenails]
What Are Horizontal Lines on Toenails? [Dark, White, Red or Black Lines]
Do you have horizontal lines on your toenails? We go over the treatment & meaning of black horizontal lines, white horizontal lines and more!
Table of Contents
Horizontal lines on toenails causes:
- If you notice a horizontal lines across your toenail? Don’t worry this is not a reason to panic.
- This is something called a Beau’s line. Beau’s lines are horizontal grooves in your toenails.
- These are depressions in your toenail that look like a big dent from side to side.
- This should not be confused with the vertical line as this could mean different things.
- Beau’s lines can occur on both your toenails and her fingernails.
- A person could have several Beau’s lines or horizontal lines along their toenails.
- The are almost always caused by an injury or repeated damage to the toenails or fingernails.
- This interrupts the growth of the toenail or fingernail for a short period of time.
Common causes of horizontal lines on the toenails include:
- Dropping something heavy on to the toenail.
- Jamming the toenail against the front of your shoe or bumping it against something.
- A period of heavy walking or standing.
- A period of heavy running and damage to the toenails.
- You could also get these horizontal lines from cold damage to your toes, which would stop the toenails from groin for a short period of time.
Rare but serious causes of horizontal lines include:
- There are more serious causes of Beau’s line or horizontal lines on the toenails and fingernails.
- Studies do show that nail diseases can frequently be associated with poor nutrition and systemic diseases.
- These more serious causes would indicate an issue with your body being able to grow tissues were toenail.
The more serious causes include:
- Malnutrition.
- Vitamin deficiency.
- Mineral deficiency.
- Zinc deficiency.
- Diabetes with an uncontrolled blood sugar period.
- Peripheral arterial disease secondary to smoking.
- Chemotherapy secondary to cancer.
- A serious illness like pneumonia.
- Chemotherapy or radiation.
What else can horizontal lines on the toenails mean?
- The American Academy of dermatology states “nails often reflect her general state of health.
- Changes in the nail such as discoloration or thickening can signal health problems or changes.”
What seasons are horizontal lines on the toenails most common?
- Study showed that the toenails actually grow slower in the winter than they do the summer.
- This could very easily because horizontal line or a bows line to develop.
The frequently asked questions:
What causes white horizontal lines on the toenails?
- The most common cause of white horizontal lines of the toenails is something called Beau’s lines.
- This is most commonly caused by trauma or damage to the toenail.
- We usually see bumping, rubbing or jamming that temporarily stops the toenail from growing.
- This can cause an indentation or pitting in the toenail.
What causes black horizontal lines on the toenails?
- Even though there is a chance that a black horizontal line could be a dangerous cancer called a melanoma, this is extremely unlikely.
- These lines tend to look like black vertical lines.
- The most common line associated with toenail cancer or melanoma is called Hutchinson sign.
- This is a vertical line that is over 3 mm in thickness.
If this is toenail cancer, the line could extend past the toenail into the skin. - If this was cancer, then the damage is actually underneath the toenail, not on the toenail.
- The most common cause of a horizontal black line on the toenail is due to trauma associated with bleeding.
- The dry blood becomes a black ridge or black line and takes many months to grow out.
What does horizontal lines on the toenails mean?
- The most common cause of horizontal lines on the toenails means that there has been some type of trauma or damage this can cause white line.
- This is also known as a Beau’s line and is associated with fingernail and toenail trauma.
What causes horizontal lines on the big toenail?
- Since the big toenail is usually the biggest and the longus toe for most people, most of the horizontal lines will usually appear on the big toe.
- In some people who have a second toe longer than the big toe, this horizontal white line is more likely to appear on the second toe.
- We usually find that nail damage happens most commonly on the big toe or the second toe, as these are usually the longus toes.
- It is also common to develop a white horizontal line on the fifth toe if the person has a foot that twists out or undergoes overpronation.
What can cause a red horizontal line on the toenail?
- The most common cause of her red horizontal line on the toenail is trauma or damage to the toenail.
- This is a little bit more significant than a white toenail horizontal line, as there is a small amount of blood involved underneath this.
- If blood develops underneath the toenail, it usually means that when the toenail jammed it broke or cracked.
- Usually this is not anything dangerous or problems to worry about.
- If you are concerned go see a podiatrist for it diagnosis.
What happens if the horizontal black line is on the toenail cuticle?
- If you have a horizontal black line on the toenail cuticle, this is usually an impacted toenail.
- We usually see this on the longest toenail when it is impacted back into the nail root.
- This can cause bleeding underneath the root of the toenail.
- If you have an impacted toenail and it is loosened, it may need to be removed.
- Especially if there is a blister or blood that has developed underneath this toenail.
What if I have a horizontal brown line on the toenail?
- Horizontal brown line could be either dried blood from a trauma or a minor impact, or it could be toenail fungus developing underneath that impacted site.
- Both are very common and both are unlikely to be toenail cancer.
- If the toenail is truly brown than this is more likely to be a yeast or a toenail fungus underneath the toenail.
- Click on her length for toenail fungus treatment to gait your brown toenail line better.
What if the horizontal lines are on the toenails only?
- Usually these lines are not due to something systemic.
The feet are more likely to undergo trauma than the fingernails, especially if you are on your feet walking or running. - This is most common in people take shoes are too much pressure on her toes that can develop problems to their toenails.
What can cause a horizontal purple line on the toenail?
- Horizontal purple line on the toenail could usually discoloration of bright red blood flow that is starting to turn black.
- This could be combined with the lucency of the nail.
- It is unlikely that a fungus or a bacteria is truly going to look purple.
- A purple line is also rare for it to be toenail cancer.
- But if there is a concerning purple line that does not seem normal, always check with your podiatrist.
- A purple line could also mean a venous problem or poor blood flow to the nail bed such as a condition called cyanosis.
- If you do see purple underneath the toenail, check with your podiatrist as there may be a blood flow problem or venous stasis problem.
- This could be a condition known as a telangiectasia. This means that there is varicose veins in the region.
How long does a horizontal line on the toenail take to grow out video:
- This video goes over how long it takes for a fingernail or a toenail to grow back after trauma or damage.
- The most common cause of a horizontal line (black, red, dark or white) is trauma to the toenail and will be corrected when a new nail replaces the damage.
Grow back your damaged toenail video summary:
🦶How long does it take for a toe nail to grow back after falling off?🦶
- It can take a long TIME, but we show you what makes your nail grow back faster!
- A toenail can can grow 1mm or less or not at all if not treated properly.
- There are 5 things that you can do to make your toenail grow back faster if you fall the tips we go over!
- If your toe nail fell off: We go over supplements, how to treat your toenail that fell off. If you want to grow long nails faster!
- Check our top 5 tips for making your nail grow fast!
White Toenail Picture Gallery:
Look:
- These photos are of dehydrated superficial nail keratin granulations vs. other toenail conditions.
- Keratin granulations are white chalky appearing dehydration.
- It is possible that some toenail fungus could be mixed in with the keratin granulations.
- It is also possible to have superficial white onychomycosis.
So click on the photos for gallery mode & description!
Click on pictures for full size & descriptions:
Click on pictures for full size & descriptions: