What Do I Do For Nail Fungus

How Fungi Infect The Nail

Onchomycosis, or toenail fungal infection, is an invasion by a microscopic organism that thrives in warm, damp environments. Fungal spores are in the air, and they will grow if they land on a receptive surface like your toenail. They feed off the nail tissues, burrowing into the skin under the nail. Over time the nail thickens and may lift off the nail bed as fungal debris accumulates. Once your nail is raised off the nail bed, it won’t reattach, and a new nail won’t grow from that part of the nail bed. However, your nail will continue to grow from the root at the base.

What Side Effects And Drug

The possible side effects of itraconazole include headaches, dizziness, stomach and bowel problems, and rashes. Itraconazole can also interact with a number of other drugs. These include cholesterol-reducing and blood-sugar-lowering medications, as well as certain sleeping pills. It is therefore important to let your doctor know about any medication you take. Itraconazole is not an option for people with heart failure . It also isnt suitable for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Terbinafine can cause gastrointestinal problems and a temporary loss of taste and smell. It can also interact with certain antidepressants and heart medications. Overall, terbinafine has far fewer drug-drug interactions than itraconazole. Nevertheless, its still important to tell your doctor if you are taking any other medication. As a precaution, this medication should not be taken during pregnancy or if you are breastfeeding.

The studies only rarely reported on how often the different side effects occurred. But most people tolerate nail fungus medications well. Only a few people in the studies stopped treatment because of side effects.

But there is a very small risk of liver damage from taking itraconazole or terbinafine. For this reason, people with a liver disease are only given these medications if its absolutely necessary.

Tips To Prevent Fungal Nail Infections

Making a few simple lifestyle changes can help prevent a fungal infection of the nails. Taking good care of your nails by keeping them well trimmed and clean is a good way to prevent infections.

Also avoid injuring the skin around your nails. If youre going to have damp or wet hands for an extended amount of time, you may want to wear rubber gloves.

Other ways to prevent fungal infections of the nails include:

• washing your hands after touching infected nails
• drying your feet well after showering, especially between your toes
• getting manicures or pedicures from trustworthy salons
• avoiding being barefoot in public places
• reducing your use of artificial nails and nail polish

Products to help you avoid nail fungus

If youre prone to excessive moisture around your fingernails or toenails, consider buying:

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Treating Toenail Fungus Medically

How a toenail fungal infection is treated may depend on its severity.

In white superficial onychomycosis, for example, the white patches of fungus that form on the nails can sometimes simply be filed off and an over-the-counter antifungal topical medication can be applied to the nail to kill the fungus.

For infections affecting deeper layers of the nail, over-the-counter topical medications often don’t penetrate the nail deeply enough to kill all of the fungus and prevent the infection from recurring. Repeated applications of the medication or a prescription-strength drug may be necessary.

The symptoms of more severe infections include thickened, discolored toenails that may eventually become painful. In these situations, you should see a podiatrist who can devise a treatment plan that may include these actions:

Debridement The thickened portions of the nail can be debrided, or removed, to reduce pain and allow a topical treatment to penetrate more effectively.

Topical Medication Medications that are applied like nail polish or hand cream are sometimes used to treat nail infections. However, topical medication often fails because it doesn’t move deeply enough into the nail to reach the fungus or users forget to apply it daily for almost a year, as is required.

How To Get Rid Of Toenail Fungus

By Joan Clark

A lot of people take their feet for granted and tend to neglect them. Foot health is a part of overall health, however. Cracked, yellowing, or discolored toenails do more than just affect your ability to wear flip flops it may be the result of a nail fungus. Onychomycosis more commonly referred to as toenail fungus can cause nails to thicken, yellow, and crack, as well as cause pain, swelling, and inflammation of the toe.

And while fungal toenail infection may not be life-threatening, youll still realize the importance of your feet. You might feel self-conscious about the appearance of your toes, or you might have a symptom of a larger problem .

Whatever the case, youre better off avoiding a fungus infection. Or, if you already have one, here are a few ways for how to get rid of toenail fungus.

• Closed-toe shoes

While fingernail infections can occur, toenail fungus infections are much more widespread, because of the conditions of the hands versus the feet.

A particular fungus known as dermatophyte yeast causes fungal infections. The fungi typically live and thrive in warm, moist environments such as pools and showers because shoes recreate these conditions, toenails are at a much higher risk for developing fungus.

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What Other Conditions Can Be Mistaken For Fungal Nails

Here are some other conditions you may have instead of fungal nails:

Trichophyton

What Causes Nail Fungus

The most common fungi involved in fungal nail infections are Trichophyton rubrum and Tricyphyton mentagraphyte. These fungi like warm, moist environments, such as shoes. Public areas like gym locker rooms, shower rooms and swimming pools are common areas of exposure to fungi. The feet have less blood circulation, making it harder for your immune system to fight off the fungi your feet are exposed to. Learn more about the causes, preventative measures and how to get rid of toenail fungus by visiting our FAQ page.

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Side Effects Of Toenail Fungus Medication

One of the many benefits of using a homeopathic remedy is that there are little to no adverse side effects. Topical treatments often prescribed to treat toenail fungus can potentially burn or blister the skin. Oral medications for treating onychomycosis can cause liver or gastrointestinal damage. Be sure to read your medications list of potential side effects. Consult your pharmacist, physician, or specialist if you are concerned about side effects of prescription drugs.

Causes Of Toenail Fungus

• Onychomycosis stems from a number of fungal pathogens, primarily a certain group of fungi known as dermatophytes. Other relatively less common carriers of this infection are yeast and mold.
• Your susceptibility to this type of infection increases with age as older people tend to have increasingly brittle and dry nails that may allow the fungus to slip in through the cracks.
• Direct skin-to-skin contact with people grappling with fungal infections like athletes foot or ringworm on their hands can transmit the fungus onto you, paving the way for a toenail infection.
• A warm, moist environment such as a pool deck or a locker room provide the ideal breeding grounds for these infection-causing fungi. Therefore, people who walk barefoot in such areas tend to pick up this infection quite easily.
• Another common way of catching a fungal nail infection is by sharing an infected nail clipper or towel.
• Moreover, people who are prone to having moisture-ridden nails or often wear sweaty socks and shoes are increasingly predisposed to getting a fungal nail infection all by themselves.

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Remedies To Fight Toenail Fungus At Home

Toenail fungus, also known as onychomycosis, is perhaps one of the most common nail disorders. It is a fungal infection that penetrates through chinks in your toenail, cuts in the surrounding skin, or the separation between the nail and the toe, and affects the material below the toenail.

The fungus tends to thrive in certain conditions, such as abnormal body pH, a weakened immune system, continuous exposure to a moist environment including sweaty shoes and socks, poor hygiene, and diabetes.

As embarrassing as this condition may be, simply camouflaging your unsightly toenail, such as painting your nails, without tending to it properly would do you more harm than good. If the infection goes untreated long enough, it could spread to the adjoining skin, to the other toenails, and even perhaps to your fingernails.

• 10. Orange Oil

A Pharmacist Can Help With Fungal Nail Infections

Speak to a pharmacist if the look of your nail bothers you or it’s painful.

They may suggest:

• antifungal nail cream it can take up to 12 months to cure the infection and does not always work
• nail-softening cream it’s used for 2 weeks to soften the nail so the infected part can be scraped off

The infection is cured when you see healthy nail growing back at the base.

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Toenail Fungus Home Care

Sometimes itâs possible to treat your toenail fungus at home. You can try:

• Over the counter antifungal creams or ointments. File or cut off any white markings on your nails. Soak your nails in water and dry off before you put on the medicated cream.
• Special nail care. If you keep your nails trimmed, it can reduce the pressure and pain you feel. You can also thin your nail bed by filing it down. This can help antifungal creams get to the problem easier.

How Does A Nail Fungus Start

Nail fungus infection is a common dermatological disorder that begins either under the nail or in the nail itself. It is mostly caused by a dermatophyte fungus, though there are cases that it is caused by Candida yeast as well. Also called onychomycosis, the condition affects both fingernails and toenails, though it is more prevalent in toenails. Fungi thrive in warm and moist environments, which perhaps describe a lot of footwear. Nail fungus infection can also start with the same dermatophyte fungus that causes athletes foot, the Trichophyton. So when a person has athletes foot, its also likely that the fungal infection would spread to the nails.

Fungal infection gives nails an abnormal appearance. The first sign of it may be a discolored dot on the nail or the skin under the nail. There may be white or yellow streaks on the nail, a crumbling corner or tip of the nail, flaking on the nails surface, yellow spots at the bottom of the nail, and scaling under the nail. The infected nail may also be thickened or brittle, and it may detach from the nail bed. In some cases, there may also be odor coming from the infected nail.

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Coconut Oil For Nail Fungus Does It Do Anything

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Whod have thought toenail fungus would be a trending search topic?! Its probably because its estimated that one out of every ten people has it. And 1 out of every 2 people over the age of seventy deals with it!

There are prescription treatments proven to be effective at treating fungus. But not everyone can afford the cost of long-term prescription medication. Even those who can afford it often question spending the money or risking the side effects of prescription medication on a condition that can seem more cosmetic than life-threatening.

So its no wonder people are turning to the Internet to find alternative home remedies coconut oil for nail fungus is one of the many.

In this article, we are going to take a closer look at nail fungus, why coconut oil has become a home remedy treatment, and most importantly if it actually works.

Contents

Who Gets Toenail Fungus

Men are more likely to get it than women. The older you are, the better your chances are, too. People who have diabetes, athlete’s foot, or a weak immune system, who smoke, or whose family members have it are also at a higher risk. If you spend a lot of time in the water or you’ve injured your toenail, your odds for getting toenail fungus go up.

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What About The Cost Of Oral Medications For Fungal Nails

A further consideration is cost. Because newer oral antifungal agents are very expensive, some insurance companies balk at paying for what they consider a “cosmetic issue,” unless nail fungus causes pain or other functional symptoms. Terbinafine and fluconazole are now available as generic drugs and are quite inexpensive.

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How To Treat Severe Nail Fungal Infection

Some people opt not to do anything about their nail fungal infection because they are not bothered by it at all, or at least they have adapted to live with the condition. However, it is recommended that the infection is treated immediately because it might get worse.

For severe nail fungal infection cases, treatment is necessary. In such cases, the infection may even spread to other parts of the body and will compromise the overall health of the patient.

Doctors are likely to prescribe oral fungicidal medicines to treat severe nail fungal infections depending on the patients condition, medical history, other ailments, and restrictions. While oral treatments are generally considered effective, but they are slow in delivering results and they come with side effects. Therefore, doctors take into consideration their patients individual health records in prescribing oral fungicidal medications.

Its not the most common solution, but surgery is also sometimes recommended for extreme cases of onychomycosis. A part of the nail or the entire nail can be removed in the surgery, which can be done in a clinic or in the doctors office. By removing the nail, the fungi infection is also removed, allowing a new and healthy nail to grow back. It takes time for the new one to grow fully, though, and the fungi may even return during the recuperation period.

You Can Get Nail Fungus From Visits To The Salon What It Is What To Do And Where To Complain

October 22, 2013 by The Ashley Law Firm

BEWARE OF PERMANENT NAIL INJURY FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD NAIL PARLORIts can be unsightly. It can be painful. It can cause a serious infection and permanent damage. It can become a serious health risk. It can persist indefinitely and be difficult to treat. It can recur. It effects more men than women, but it can still be a serious health problem for a woman. And, one of the ways you can get it might shock you.

Its called: Onychomycosis . But most people know it by its street name: NAIL FUNGUS an infection of one or more of the nails that if left untreated can spread beyond the feet, especially in people with a weak immune system, diabetes or other medical conditions.

There are many ways in which a person can contract a fungal infection. But the least expected culprit, according to health experts, are the clipping, buffing and cutting tools used by your friendly, neighborhood manicurist in your friendly, neighborhood beauty salon or nail parlor. Contact with unclean equipment is how most patrons of nail salons get painful fungal infections on their fingers and toes infections that sometimes require antibiotics and even surgery to correct.

• Thickened

• Having a minor skin or nail injury, a damaged nail, or another infection
• Having diabetes, circulation problems or a weakened immune system.

Be sure to check out some of our most recent post on signs you need a lawyer for medical malpractice, personal injuries and more.

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