Get rid of nail fungus

Funghi nail common

Toenail (or finger nail) fungus is quite common, it affects around up to 10% of the population at any give time.

The funghi (the dermatophytes) contains powerful keratolytic enzymes with the ability to use the keratin in your finger- and toe nails and eventually this can lead to nail dystrophy.

These funghi nail attacks occur if your immune system is down, your nail is damaged etc - and they spread through wet areas where people walk barefoot.

Sometimes, and under certain conditions, these funghi can create nail fungus (tinea unguium) - the most common type being fingernail fungus but toe nail fungus is also common. The funghi feed from keratin, a substance used to make your finger nails (and toenails of course).

Most people with a tonail fungus infection do not seek treatment, mainly because an infection can be present for years without causing much harm.

What are the symptoms of toe nail fungus?

A tonail fungal infection can in many cases be present for years without any symptoms at all except maybe some discoloration. If the nail fungus starts to spread, there can be more severe symptoms though.

Thick nails, discolored nails or flaky nails - these can all be symptoms of a nail fungus infection.

It starts very innocently; A toe nail whitens or turns yellow and you are not too bothered about it. These are the first symptoms and is to be considered a warning signal. In time, the small discoloration can develop into a thicker nail and it can also eventually fall off, grow inwards or get infected. This is called onychomycosis and it is brought on by nail fungus.

Usually, your big toe (hallux) is affected first. The infection will spread rapidly and soon affect the entire tonail which will get a yellow-ish and porous look and it will later rest on a foul smelling layer of keratin. When the whole toe nail is affected by fungus, it will start falling apart, it will become thicker and the whole thing gets very painful when you try to wear normal shoes.

An infection often starts in the free end of the nail and spreads inwards. After a while, the nail becomes loose from the nail bed, the keratin starts to form and the nail will slowly become deformed.

Fingernail fungus is very similar but will of course have other implications like difficulties with certain manual jobs or in your daily life where nails are necessary.

In many cases, there are no symptoms at all. With fingernail infections, the symptoms can be mainly cosmetical. In rare cases, there can be a deformation of the nail itself which can lead to pain. This will normally only affect the big toe nail. In fingernail infection cases, the main problem (except for the cosmetical effect) can be that the sensitivity in your fingers is affected.

The infection will often start in one toenail (finger nail) and spread to neighboring nails if not treated.