Nails
Katie46
Member Posts: 194 ✭
Hi all
My fingernails are in a terrible state despite my best efforts, they do not like the paclitaxel. My toenails, however, are totally unaffected. Same routine on both. My fingernails have turned varying shades of red through to purplish brown, and one is infected, and I've been prescribed antibiotics. All but 2 of them have lifted to some extent, I assume they will go back to normal when they grown through again? I know that time will sort them out eventually, but has anyone got any tips for managing them in the meantime. Once I finish chemo, and they settle down a bit I'll probable hide the damage with nail polish, but until then I want to keep an eye on them. They were pretty tender feeling, but that seems to have passed.
My fingernails are in a terrible state despite my best efforts, they do not like the paclitaxel. My toenails, however, are totally unaffected. Same routine on both. My fingernails have turned varying shades of red through to purplish brown, and one is infected, and I've been prescribed antibiotics. All but 2 of them have lifted to some extent, I assume they will go back to normal when they grown through again? I know that time will sort them out eventually, but has anyone got any tips for managing them in the meantime. Once I finish chemo, and they settle down a bit I'll probable hide the damage with nail polish, but until then I want to keep an eye on them. They were pretty tender feeling, but that seems to have passed.
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Comments
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I regret I don’t know anything that worked - my fingernails were fine, a very light discolouration that no-one else would notice. My toenails? Black, brown, chalk white, split and disastered. All except two - which remained normal and healthy throughout! Go figure! They do recover in time.1
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It's bizarre, with all the extra love and attention my toenails look great. I did exactly the same to my fingernails, and they do not look great. Apparently fingernails grow through in about 6 months, so hopefully they will completely reattach by then.0
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Hi @Katie46
my fingernails did the same thing as you’re experiencing. The infection is a bit annoying because they also give off an odour if that happens! I ended up getting antibiotics which held the fingernail infection at bay. At times I think I put a couple of Band-Aid’s on when I’d lost most of the nail, I also wore latex gloves when chopping up onions etc or baking.
It may not happen to you but my toenails went the same way once I had finished the DoceTaxel.
all the best - I’m 9 months out and they’ve grown back very strong, so happy days again.0 -
Thanks @Tri, the nail beds look ok, the nails have lifted from the tip to half way down. They reduced my paclitaxel dose by 30% about 3 weeks ago, and I also missed a week of chemo, so I'm hoping that's stopped them getting worse. They aren't sore anymore. I've only got 1 round to go now, hopefully my toenails will survive 🙂1
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ex nail technician here, I too was super worried about my ails doing just that, (what has happened to you) and I use to teach my students about the effects chemo had on the nails, I'm do sorry you have experienced this,
my go to product is cuticle oil, try if you can pending on how sore your fingers are, to drop a drop of cuticle oil on the cuticles of each nail if not just above the cuticle, and massage in very gently, this will help promote the growth in the matrix that lye's under the skin and just above the cuticle, this is where our nails grow from, try and keep nails short so they do not catch on anything, if your nails are discoloured and you can put polish on them to hide the discolouration then do so, if infected, then I would recommend not, as then you can keep an eye on how the infection is healing, nails will grow back in around 6 months time, try also adding a nail strengthen to add some protection to the nail plate for extra strength at this time.
good luck with getting through this chemo journey, I feel your pain.1 -
Thanks @Maree72, I've been keeping them as short as I can, I just cut them again this morning so at least I know they are still growing! My nails have always been healthy and strong so I'm hoping theyll come back ok. I've been using hand and nail cream and almond oil. I had to stop that for a while as I was getting rashes on my hands and they didn't like the hand and nail cream so I was just using sorbolene for a while as that was all they would tolerate. Now the rash is gone, and they seem happy enough again using the hand cream. They are also a lot less tender than they were, so I think the worst of the damage is over. The nail beds look ok and are not discoloured. I will invest in some cuticle oil and nail strengthener. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks, Katie1
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Hi @Katie46
glade to hear your nails are on the mend, I was also recommend a nail strengthener by my cancer care coordinator when I started my chemo, I thought that was odd, but I did it anyway, and I must say it did help, I just picked mine up at the supermarket, it was a Sally Hanson one. not a brand I had used before I must say as I had all the professional brands from when I had my salon and was teaching, but it seemed to do the trick,
Get a cuticle oil that wont set off any reactions, easier said than done I know, I got one years ago that had something in it, and my fingers fleered up a treat, so I stopped using it and that was like $30 down the drain for me. joys of dermatitis I guess, my personal favourite is the CND one called Solar oil nail & cuticle conditioner. This is the brand I taught my students with back in Perth WA when I lived there. Otherwise any cuticle oil will do the trick.
hope this helps, and all the best on restoring your nails back to their full glory
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