Onychomycosis aka toe nail fungus
Onychomycosis is a condition where the nail becomes infested with fungi. Often referred to simply as nail fungus, this ailment is one of the most widespread diseases that affects the nails and is responsible for roughly 50 percent of all nail abnormalities. Nail fungus can affect both toenails and fingernails, but getting nail fungus on your feet is much more common than having it on your hands.
Infested nails usually becomes yellow or cloudy and grow thicker than they did vefore the infestation. Sometimes the nail becomes rough and crumbly, and separation form the nail bed can occur. In mild to moderate cases, the ailment is not associated with any pain or discomfort.
It is hard to cure to to being embedded in the nail and treating toe nail fungus usually requires long term nail fungus treatment. It is common for the treatment to require one year or more, especially if your big toe is infected since larger nails take longer to regenerate.
A majority of all toenail fungus treatment products are either systemic or topical, but during recent years some doctors have begun to use a combination of both. Examples of commonly utilized antifungal medications are itraconazole, terbinafine, ciclopirox and amorolfine. Laser can also be used to treat nail fungus and type of laser employed by surgeons to remove cataracts in the eye has shown especially promising results.
Nail fungus can be caused by a number of different culprits including dermatophytes, non-dermatophytic moulds and candida. Dermatophytes is the most common culprit in colder climates while non-dermatophytic moulds and candida are more common in warmer and tropical climates.
Deramtophytes obtain nutrients from keratinized materials and are therefore fond of colonizing our hair, skin and nails. They often stay in the nonliving cornified layer of the skin since the immune system makes it hard for them to penetrate viable tissue. A problem with the immune system, e.g. due to some medications or health issues, can allow fungus to attack living cells as well. Dermatophytes are transmitted in a multitude of ways, either by direct contact with an infected host or by direct or indirect contact with infected skin, hair or nail particles. They can for instance spread through locker room floors, towels, bed linens, clothing, combs and brushes, and furniture. Renting shoes, e.g. for bowling, is an infection risk if the shoes hasn’t been sterlized after the last person used them.
Tags: foot health, fungus, Health, nail fungus, toe fungus, toe nail, toe nail fungus, toenails