Nail fungus types

Dystrophy - The nail gets thicker, splits up and changes its surface

Onycholysis - Nail gets loose from the nail bed.

Leuconychis - White spots (slightly unusual)

You may very well have a nail fungus infection for years without reflecting any more about it, typical signs are slightly discolored nails or a rougher surface. A tonail fungus infection is (in it's initial stage at least) mainly a cosmetical issue, although funghi nail can be a medical problem as well.

Conditions with symptoms similar to nail fungus:

• Psoriasis
• Age changes
• Candida Albicans
• Hereditary nail diseases
• Nail damages or other infections
• Total loss of hair (alopecia areata)
• Malign melanoma
  

Symptoms of toenail fungus (applies to fingernail fungus as well):

• Your toenails may start to crumble or split
• Debris present under your toe nail
• Nail can become thicker and with a rougher than normal surface
• Foul smell from (underneath) the nail
• Color change - yellow-ish or white-ish or even brown-ish. Severe cases can even get black discoloration.
• Disfiguration of the toe nail

Causes of toe nail fungus (fingernail fungus)

With many different types of funghi surrounding us in our daily life, it is amazing that we don't get attacked more often. It turns out that most funghi are pretty harmless. The dermatophytes though can affect hands and feet, especially sweaty feet. These funghi love warm and moist conditions so keeping your shoes on all day and not changing your socks very often is a bad idea.

Most people actually already have the funghi present on their feet. A nail fungus infection though will normally only take place if there is some injury to the nail, an inflammation due to a damage, bad clipping etc which could trigger funghi nail.

For people with a weakened immune system - diabetes patients, HIV positive etc - there is an increased risk of getting a nail fungus infection which need treatment.