Complete Guide On Causes And Remedies Of Toenail Fungus

By Author: Foot Clinic London
Total Articles: 36
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Under toenails, debris may get accumulated beneath your nail plate thereby making marks on nail plate leading to chances of infection being spread to the skin, fingernails or other toenails.
The resulting nails are difficult to be trimmed and make it difficult to walk while wearing shoes. Therefore, it’s imperial to get rid of this problem by visiting a doctor and taking an appropriate treatment.
Causes
As it is not possible avoiding contact with micro organisms such as fungi, toenails are extremely vulnerable to infections if you walk barefoot in areas like locker rooms, showers or swimming pools. An injury to nail can increase possibility of other type of infections, including fungal infection.
People suffering from chronic diseases like circulatory problems, immune deficiency conditions, or diabetes are extremely prone to fungal infection to nails. Other important factors can be excessive perspiration and history of an athlete's foot.
Problem Syndromes
This disease is generally ignored as the infection is present for years without any ...
... hurt or pain to the person. This problem consists of progressive alteration in colour and quality of toenail, which is usually embarrassing and ugly.
Home Based Treatment
Regularly cleaning you infected nail for months can temporarily lighten the mild infections. Moreover, white markings on nail's surface can be removed, which is followed by applying a liquid antifungal agent. Nonetheless, even the best antifungal agents cannot prevent fungal infection from relapsing.
When to See a Doctor
If the antifungal agents and self care strategies are no longer helpful, and your nails are still thick, and discoloured, you shall immediately visit a podiatrist. The earlier you visit a podiatrist for toenail fungus treatment, greater the chances you have of getting nails clear.
Treatment and Diagnosis
Treatment may differ as per the severity and nature of infection. Your doctor may detect the infection early, determine the reason, culture the nail, and form a customized treatment procedure which may consists of prescribing oral or topical medication, and debridement i.e. removal of debris from damaged nail.
• Antifungal Drugs

Your podiatrist may prescribe you some oral antifungal drugs. These drugs are approved by Drug regulatory body and consist of the most effective treatment. The treatment consists of regular consumption of medicines for about three months and provides improved effectiveness.

The results of treatment however are visible after nail grows completely. It may take around four months or so for complete removal of infection.

Success rate of this treatment is lower in adults over 65 years of age and the treatment improves when your combine topical and oral antifungal therapies.

These drugs however have some aftermaths ranging from liver damage to skin rash. Moreover, you may need to take several blood tests for checking whether these drugs are suitable to you or not. Podiatrist generally does not recommend these drugs to people suffering from congestive heart failure or liver diseases.

• Medicated Nail Polish

Your podiatrist may prescribe you an antifungal nail paint called as ciclopirox. You need to paint that on your infected nail and surrounding skin once in a day. After a week, you remove the layers of paint with alcohol and start fresh applications. This type of nail treatment may take one year or so.

• Medicated Nail Cream

Your doctor may recommend an antifungal cream that you rub on your affected nail after soaking. These creams are more effective if you apply it on trimmed nails as it assists the medication to get through hard nail surface to underlying fungus.

For thinning your nail, you can apply an over the counter lotion, which contains urea or you can ask your doctor to thin the surface of your nail with some other tool.

• Nail Removal

If infection in your nail is extremely painful or severe, your doctor may recommend you to remove the nail. A new nail will slowly grow in place of the old one. However, it may take several years for the nail to grow completely. At times, surgery is used with ciclopirox for treating infected nail.