# Strange Toenails?



## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Dd is 2. Her fingernails are well formed and seem strong enough. Her toenails are a complete mess. We do not go to the doctor (unless sick) and I do not want to go just because of this issue. So I thought I would ask here.....

Her toenails are very thin. They "peel" frequently, sometimes well below the quick. They are very "crackly" looking. She has one toenail that is very messed up. The nailbed seems to only be producing half of the nail (vertically) so the half that is not growing is missing nail and the half that is seems to be growing into intself so it never gets long enough to cut but gets thicker and thicker. She says that that one is "ouch" all the time. Does this warrant a visit to the doc?


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## faythe (Oct 2, 2003)

If she is in pain, yes. It sounds like it could be nail fungus.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

At one point, that is what I thought too. But the only one in pain is the malformed one. It has been that way since birth. I looked uo fungus online and have seen a million photos and this just does not look like that. The other nails appear healthy, just very very thin and crackly like a newborns. Her have been that way from day one. They just seem slow to mature or something. Wondering if anyone else has this....if it is on the spectrum of normal?


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## Mere (Oct 1, 2002)

I don't know if that's normal or not, but dd (now 3.5) has wierd toenails too. One of her big toe nails grows with two vertical cracks...the nail is also very thin, and if I don't keep it trimmed whatever is on top will just peel off (not usually below the bed though). Four of her smaller toe nails seem to grow inward too, so I have to be very careful about keeping them trimmed at all times.


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## jazzpurr88 (May 20, 2003)

My DH and DS have wierd toe nails. I've asked DS's doc about his nails and the funky way they grow and peel and he said to just keep them trimed and make sure his shoes fit him and don't rub the tops of his toes and let him go barefoot as much as possible. He explained that some baby's toe nails grow funny and peel and that when they get older and have a more formed foot they get normal. He stressed that we buy him shoes that fit and check the fit often making sure the tops of the toes and the nails have room to grow and are not rubbing. He also said to let him go barefoot or let him wear soft shoes so his toe nails have a lot of growing room and breathing room.


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## Vermillion (Mar 12, 2005)

Could it be an ingrown toenail?

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/ingrown


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## BlueStateMama (Apr 12, 2004)

I think DS has the same toenails...nothing wrong with them, they just kind of grow with two "corners" (sort of like
this: /-\ if you moved that center "bar" up)...they aren't a nice smooth even shape no matter how I cut them (and they peel sometimes too...) Maybe it's just a toddler thing?


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Thanks for the replies! It is a relief to know that thin, crackly toenails are not unheard of. I am very careful to make sure her shoes fit. And she goes barefoot whenever possible. The one that "hurts" is not red or swollen. Just malformed. I am not even sure it hurts. She knows we look at it a lot. We look at old bug bites a lot and she says those hurt too....even the ones that are just faded scars so I think her idea of "ouch" has a slightly different meaning than mine. Although I will not dismiss it. I do not think it is ingrown. It seems to just not have formed all the way. But I was most concerned with the crackliness than the malformed one. I was just worried it was a sign of some nutritional deficit or something. Even though she still bfs.....


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