|
The symptoms that you have described - thickening of toenails and discoloration of toenail - seem to be typical of a fungal infection that affects the toenails, known as onychomycosis. One caution however - you've mentioned this symptom as affecting your "toenails". Typically, onychomycosis affects one, or maybe two toe nails. If all your toe nails seem to be affected, it is quite likely that the cause is not onychomycosis, but some other problem. If this is the case, you should visit your doctor for a diagnosis. Some of the possibilities of thickening of toenail include other types of infections, allergic reactions, trauma, and genetic disorders such as psoriasis. Obviously, each of these conditions will require unique and specific treatments, and it is therefore very important that the thickened toenail and discolored toenail problem is correctly identified. Identification cannot always be made visually, and sometimes laboratory tests are needed for confirmation of the visual diagnosis.
Even if you do have a fungal infection of your toe nail (or toe nails), you may finally have no choice but to go for medical treatment, as this type of fungal infection is extremely persistent and often does not respond to home remedies and self treatment. However, you can first try to handle the problem on your own for a few weeks. Vinegar is supposed to be good for treating most fungal infections, and it sometimes works for onychomycosis as well. However, you should note that the fungal infection is not on the surface of the toe nail, but underneath it, on the nail bed. It is therefore essential that the vinegar reaches the nail bed, where the infection actually lies. The best way to do this is to file down the top of the infected nail a bit, so that the vinegar is better able to penetrate all the way to the nail bed. A good method of application is to simply soak your feet in a solution of vinegar and water for at least half an hour. This should be done daily for at least two weeks, along with daily application of tea tree oil on the affected nail.
You should also wash your feet regularly, change your socks daily, and if possible, alternate between two pairs of shoes. Whenever you wash your feet or soak them, make sure that you dry them thoroughly once you are done, as fungal infections thrive on moisture. You should also wear cotton socks as far as possible and light shoes as well, so as to minimize sweating.
|
