This is my mom’s nail. She’s late seventies and isn’t seeing the dermatologist for many many months. Age related? PsA?
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My nails get like that when I am having a flair. Psoriasis under the nail beds my thumb nail gets really bumpy and nasty looking.
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It’s related to PsA rather than psoriasis as it’s a indication the patient has PsA rather than psoriasis. But of course it’s treated by psoraisis topicals. And doesn’t get fixed that fast either. You need to get the topical under the nail end for it do any good. xx
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Is this the type of thing that she’s likely to lose the nail, or maybe not because it’s only a strip of the nail?
Yeah, she has a dermatologist appt in 8 months. As usual though, she has more pressing issues. She fell on Saturday and broke her kneecap in a few spots. She’s seeing the orthopedist today to discuss management and whether it needs to be surgically repaired.
Thanks for the feedback. Now that I’m looking at it again I feel like there’s inflammation at the base of the nail as well. She actually has very limited psoriasis, which made the diagnosis more challenging.
Is her nail area painful? Just coming off of a 3 week flare and for the first time, I am experiencing significant pain from the base of my thumbnail to the tip. Very slightly deformed but a noticeable dark/bruised look right at the base. Feels like I hit it with a hammer. Maybe PsA manifests itself in 2 ways in our nails…ridges and lines like your mom’s and inflammation under the nail. I would suspect inflammation issues will always cause nail tenderness and pain. It’s likely that ridges take time to form as a result of PsA issues at the bed of the nail. Would ridges like that show up quickly?
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My nails have been like that for 30 years. I was diagnosed with psa 3 years ago. No one picked up that it might be related to psa. I don’t do anything for it. It comes and goes over a period of a year. Might be good for 6 months, bad for 6 months. I hate it but learned to live with it, least of my worries. Nail polish for your mom? I’m a 72 year old male, not a good look on me!
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I hurt looking at that photo 
I recommend a warm soak and Cohesive Bandage until the pain goes away and this will also help her from banging her nail on anything. If she is going to keep it on a while I recommend an antifungal liquid first to help ensure moisture does not cause infection.
Best of luck.
I’ve lost all of my nails over the past 15 years (hands and feet).
don’t knock it till you tried it! Kidding, welcome back!
Wow, sorry but that sounds terrible! Does it affect the use of your hands and how do you keep infection in check?
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That sounds just awful. My mom occasionally loses nails, but it’s not too frequent.
Personally i specialize in the crazy poor quality nails. My nails always grew so fast and rarely broke. Now I have to keep them short, and even then they will chip and flake. I’ve just started occasionally wearing nail polish. I felt a bit silly putting it on my extra short nails, but it’s what I’ve got, so why not?
For the folks who don’t want colored nails, there’s clear nail polish that can be used to protect the nails somewhat.
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I paint as a hobby (paint on my hands here) and can still hold a brush 
The major thing that it affects is my confidence outside of my social circle especially if I am in a store that is handing me change. I try to only use my debit and pin numbers to avoid holding a pen in front of someone. All I can say is thank god for my awesome personality and my fantastic friendships 
I file/buff down my nails so they are extremely thin or they catch on everything (clothes, hair, petting my dog).
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Well, good for you and your perseverance and great attitude! I would hope that biologics would be more helpful at preventing things from advancing so much. Do you know if the condition is reversible through any means?
I don’t think it’s reversible. Biologics helped, a lot, even stopped it. But I haven’t been on biologicals for many years now.
Who says I haven’t? Lol 
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Those look familiar!! Just thought it was me.
It’s interesting how different the nail involvement can look