Nail Changes Should Be Biopsied: MD Podiatrist

According to Dan Michaels, DPM, “Nail changes develop, over time, for a host of reasons. It is inaccurate to assume these changes are always fungal. Don’t waste your time applying some OTC fungal nail medicine to your discolored toe for the next year if you don’t know what it is. Besides, these are ineffective even when it is a fungus. And don’t waste time not getting a timely diagnosis for your nail changes! 
 
“The gold standard for determining the reason a nail has changed is biopsy. Without, it’s just conjecture and guesswork. Getting the right material for analysis, performing the removal of an appropriate section of nail painlessly and without disfiguring the nail, all are important and require some expertise. But the concept is nearly universal in dermatologic medicine: if you want an accurate diagnosis, get a piece, and send it to a pathology lab specializing in this kind of specimen,” says Dr. Michaels.