Hi Rosie. Welcome to the forum.

First off, let me start by saying that apart from the nurses, we're not medically qualified, and I am definitely not a doctor.

There have been a number of questions about subungual melanoma (melanoma of the nail bed) here recently, so I did a little research of my own.  The very first thing you should know is that such melanomas are really quite rare, and the second is that it can be difficult even for specialists to distringuish a melanoma from other far more common nail problems. Also, toe nails take a long time to grow, and hence so do marks within the nail. 

Your doctor is doing exactly the right thing in not trying to identify the mark, but instead referring you to a specialist. The specialist might be able to identify it at once, but if not then will probably require a biopsy, possibly a punch biopsy where a hole is made through the nail and a section of the underlying tissue is taken, or maybe the whole nail will need to be lifted off. It sounds gruesome but you will have a local anaesthetic so you shouldn't feel a thing. 

Of course, none of this will stop you worrying, but I suggest you stop Googling your symptoms. The general consensus here is that you end up scaring yourself, and you rarely if ever find anything useful. 

Please let us know how you get on at your appointment. 

[@telemando]‍ 

really glad you posted this I’ve been researching a lot purely because I had to google it and I wish I hadn’t. I’m going to speak to my Gp on Monday, I have the faded brown line down my thumb and hate the fact I googled it. I’m going to get it checked just in case. From what I’ve read it’s quite rare, I hope your appointment went ok Rosie x 

Hi Paddy.

You're wise going to see your GP. I don't think I can add anything to the post I put above, so I'll just send you my best wishes. I hope it goes well for you and your worries are eased. 

Hey Rosie,

Can you share how did you get on ? Hope you're well. I have a similar situation to yours would love to hear how your story resolved