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Getting rid of toenail fungus
How do I get rid of fungus toenails?
(17 Nov 2008)
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Fungal infections are the most common infections to affect toenails; they can affect any nails, including the fingernails, but they most often affect toenails, particularly the big toe. The infection usually has no major ill effects, but is rather uncomfortable and unpleasant to look at. A fungal infection typically affects only one nail and causes the affected nail to become thick and rather yellow or cloudy instead of being somewhat translucent. If the infection continues for a long time, the affected nail also starts to crumble, or might wholly detach from the nail bed. In more severe cases, lesions may develop, but these are thought to be an allergic reaction to the fungus, rather than a direct symptom of the infection itself.
The reason for providing a description of the symptoms of a fungal infection of the toenails (medically known as onychomycosis) is that other conditions are sometimes mistakenly identified as fungal infections. You have not described your symptoms, so it is not possible for us to confirm your diagnosis. If the symptoms do match, you can try some of the treatments described below, but if they do not, or if the treatments are unsuccessful (sometimes onychomycosis does not respond to home remedies and self treatment), you should visit your doctor.
One of the most important factors in getting rid of toenail fungus is keeping your feet clean and dry at all times. Make sure that you wash your feet regularly, and dry them immediately afterwards. In particular, never put on your socks and shoes while your feet are still wet. Fungi thrive on moisture, and therefore damp feet (this includes sweaty feet) will help the fungus to grow and thus worsen the infection. As far as treatment to get rid of toenail fungus goes, you can try applying either vinegar or tea tree oil to the affected nail several times a day. If you like, you can alternate between the two. A good way to do this is to carefully file the top of the nail a bit, and then apply the vinegar or tea tree oil. This is because the infection is under the nail and therefore filing the nail helps the vinegar or oil to penetrate all the way to the nail bed. Onychomycosis takes a long time to respond to treatment, so you should continue these remedies for at least a month; however, if in this time the infection shows no signs of improvement you should visit a doctor for the removal and treatment of toenail fungus.
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answered by G B on 18 Nov 2008, 12:34:40
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