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What Causes Indentations On Both Toe Nails Of A 3 Year Old?
Question: My grandaughter is 3years old she has hyper mobility wore braces on ankles to help her walk at 2 and now she is running and much better but, I noticed her big toenails are indented in the center could this just mean shoes were too short or could it mean a health problem we should look into?
Brief Answer:
Likely not clinically important
Detailed Answer:
Good evening. My name is Dr. Saghafi and I would like to give an opinion on your question.
I would not be overly concerned at this point about the indentations on both of the great toenails in center. What makes me worry less about them in terms of "another health problem" as you mention is the fact that she has the problem in JUST the great toenails and only the center seems to be indented. To me this would be highly unlikely to be caused by anything such as nutritional deficiency which should affect all nails equally and not just part of a nail as seems to be the case here. Furthermore, by having the same part of the nail affected on both sides the thought I have is that shoes played a role in producing this since both shoes who be more likely to affect her in a symmetric pattern. Disease do not generally operate in this fashion when they affect things such as nails, digits, webbings between fingers/toes, etc.
Therefore, I would recommend watchful waiting and possible resizing or even changing the style or type of shoe she wears and see what changes occur in the nails. You may also wish to consider taking your granddaughter to a dermatologist for review just to be sure.
If you have photos that you can upload to this system I'd be happy to look at them and give you an opinion.
I hope this information is of use to you and answered your question. If so, could you do me the great favor of some written feedback regarding my answer and its value to you in a STAR RATING as well. Also, I'd be extremely grateful if you would close the query on your end if I've answered your question satisfactorily as this will allow the system to process and archive this query and response for future use by colleagues as necessary.
If you'd like to write any other medical questions for me to answer or comment upon please use the following address:
bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi
This query required 10 min. of physician review, research, and final response compilation for patient envoy.
Likely not clinically important
Detailed Answer:
Good evening. My name is Dr. Saghafi and I would like to give an opinion on your question.
I would not be overly concerned at this point about the indentations on both of the great toenails in center. What makes me worry less about them in terms of "another health problem" as you mention is the fact that she has the problem in JUST the great toenails and only the center seems to be indented. To me this would be highly unlikely to be caused by anything such as nutritional deficiency which should affect all nails equally and not just part of a nail as seems to be the case here. Furthermore, by having the same part of the nail affected on both sides the thought I have is that shoes played a role in producing this since both shoes who be more likely to affect her in a symmetric pattern. Disease do not generally operate in this fashion when they affect things such as nails, digits, webbings between fingers/toes, etc.
Therefore, I would recommend watchful waiting and possible resizing or even changing the style or type of shoe she wears and see what changes occur in the nails. You may also wish to consider taking your granddaughter to a dermatologist for review just to be sure.
If you have photos that you can upload to this system I'd be happy to look at them and give you an opinion.
I hope this information is of use to you and answered your question. If so, could you do me the great favor of some written feedback regarding my answer and its value to you in a STAR RATING as well. Also, I'd be extremely grateful if you would close the query on your end if I've answered your question satisfactorily as this will allow the system to process and archive this query and response for future use by colleagues as necessary.
If you'd like to write any other medical questions for me to answer or comment upon please use the following address:
bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi
This query required 10 min. of physician review, research, and final response compilation for patient envoy.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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