You are pretty sure that you didn’t paint your toenails with black nail polish in order to complete a head-to-toe emo look. But still your toenails are as black as night.

In some instances, black toenails cause nothing but embarrassment, particularly if it’s obvious that their blackness is not deliberately done. There are times, however, in which the strange coloration of the toenails is accompanied by pain or discomfort.

Most cases of black toenails tend to go away on their own or can be treated rather easily. Sadly, there are also cases wherein it is due to an underlying medical condition that needs to be identified and addressed, too.

The following article will tell you about some of the most common causes of black toenails, so don’t stop reading if your toenails are all black and you’re wondering why.

Feel free to share this article on your different social media accounts later on — some of your family and friends may secretly have black toenails that they don’t want to talk about.

Trauma

Are you fond of sporting trendy shoes that do not fit your feet perfectly? No matter if it’s a pair of 8-inch heels or the latest sneakers engineered by a hip-hop artist, that ill-fitting footwear can cause your toenails to wind up black.

If your black toenails are brought about by wearing the wrong shoes each time, worry not. After some time, your black toenails will grow out — just see to it that you start wearing shoes that fit properly.

Injury

Nothing can leave your toenails looking black more than an injury. This is most especially true if the impact is strong enough as to damage the blood vessels situated in the nail bed, thus causing blood to collect under your toenails.

Just like black toenails that are due to the use of improperly-fitting shoes, all you have to do is wait for a new set of toenails to grow. But there are cases in which the affected toenails may have to be removed by a doctor in order to keep complications from striking.

Pigment

In some instances, black toenails are not brought about by any trauma or injury — it’s just that skin under the toenails decided to switch to a darker color. A person’s skin tone can change over the course of time, and it can affect the way the toenails appear.

Black toenails due to natural pigmentation changes are uniform, which means that if the nails of your left foot are black, then it’s for certain that the nails of your right foot are also black. And by the way, your fingernails may also look darker than usual.

Cancer

It’s important to note that there are times in which the blame cannot be put on natural pigment changes, but abnormal pigment changes due to skin cancer. One form of skin cancer that’s notorious for causing black patches to appear is referred to melanoma — and it’s quite deadly, too.

Melanoma can cause black toenails if the skin beneath the nail bed is affected. If you suspect that your black toenails could be melanoma, make sure that you let your doctor see it ASAP.

Infection

Your toenails can serve as a playground for fungi as your feet tend to be warm and moist most of the time. A fungal infection of the toenails may come into being especially if you do not have good hygiene practices and you are fond of putting on dirty and wet socks and shoes.

Toenails that have fungal infections tend to have a yellowish or whitish discoloration. However, during the course of the infection dirt and debris may collect under the affected toenails, causing them to end up looking black.