nail discoloration after diving

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padudle

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Messages
97
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Location
USA
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello All

I have noticed over the years that I get white marks on my fingernails 2 to 3 weeks after a dive trip. They look like the little bruises you get on the nail if you whack the base of your fingernail against something. A little white bar forms and with growth of the nail, they are displaced upward and eventually disappear when trimmed

This is about the fifth time I've noticed this phenomenon and I see it right now on all 10 fingers from a 6 day dive trip that ended June 2nd. I think I get it on my toenails too but they grow slower so I don't know this time.

I've seen these marks called Mee's lines when they traverse the entire nail from side to side and can indicate poisoning with arsenic or thallium. My marks don't go quite all the way accross the nail.

Please, has anyone else noticed this on their nails? Can anyone explain it?

Pete
 
Sorry to read about your problem, padudle. Unfortunately, I have no answer for you other than to suggest asking a moderator to move this thread to a forum that may be more appropriate, Marine Science and Physiology, or one of its sub-forums, Diving Medicine.
 
Thanks for the link. It does not mention scuba diving but I sounds like any disruption of nail growth can cause the white spots. I always get them on all ten fingernails after a dive trip so I think it must be a mild type of Decompression Injury to the nail bed.

I can't think of anything else that correlates with my dive trips.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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