What You Should Know About Fungal Toenails

Unhygienic conditions often result in several foot conditions, fungal toenails being one of the most common problems.  If the fungus is left untreated for long, this results in a serious toe infection. Mostly due to lack of maintenance and ignorance, the fungal infection spreads thus doing major harm to your feet.

What exactly causes fungal toenail infections? Reasons are many and so are its treatments. Most of the causes are preventable but certain factors enhance the possibility of developing such infections.

Symptoms:

Onychomycosis, also called as Tineaunguium, is a common fungal infection that usually affects nails. This kind of infection may harm a part of the nail or an entire portion of it. The list of symptoms for early detection are given as follows:

• Scale formation under the nail
• A yellow strip formation on the nail
• Curving of the corners or tip of the nail
• White flake like areas appearing on the surface of the nail
• Yellow spots under the nail
• The final stage is loss of the nail

Factors that cause fungal toenail infections:

A person is most likely to develop this infection if he is prone to the following factors:

Diabetes: This is the most common symptom. People with diabetes often suffer from sweaty feet as compared to others. Since the feet area remains covered most of the time and not well maintained, the infection attacks this portion more often. Care should be taken to keep the feet clean. A very easy home remedy is to immerse the foot in warm water with rock salt added in it.

Swimming in public pools: This is another common factor that can cause toenail infections. Mostly water at public pools remains unclean thus spreading infection. The fine gap between nails becomes primary target for bacteria to settle. Preventive measures like applying water based lotions and having a hot water bath after the swim can help prevent this condition.

Moist toes: Moist toe areas are the breeding places for fungi. People wearing closed shoes or boots most of the time remain susceptible to fungal infections. This is because bacteria in the feet receive additional boost, when toes remain moist. Changing socks regularly and cleaning shoes can be very good hygienic habits which help prevent foot infections.

Weak immunity: A weak immune system decreases the body's ability to fight diseases thus making it vulnerable to infections. Since the immune system fails to produce necessary antibodies to fight germs and bacteria, this lets the infection escalate.

How to treat fungal toenails:

Home remedies and professional treatments can be sought to cure such infections. An antifungal cream can be applied on the affected area. Another alternate is to apply Vaseline on dry toenails. Antifungal powder rubbed on the feet before wearing shoes or slippers, proves to be effective too. One can soak feet with vinegar and warm water solution.

The wisest approach is to get in touch with an expert podiatrist if your toenail starts showing signs of a fungal infection.