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Nail Fungi - Save Your Nails From Fungus
If you complain of your nails being brittle, thick, faint, dry, painful, ugly and smelly either on your foot or your hand, you are probably suffering from onychomycosis (on-i-ko-mi-KO-sis) or tinea unguium. Read: NAIL FUNGI - the stingy monsters that migrated into your nails.
Nail Fungi Facts:
Nail fungi are the tiny, irritating organisms that breed under the nails while eating up the keratin substance. These fungi, which belong to the dermatophyte family, producer of athlete's foot, ringworm, psoriasis and jock itch, utilize our nails as protective shield, making the infection hardly treatable. Some of the sources of these fungi are yeasts and molds. They thrive in damp areas and can penetrate the nails through the small gap between the nails and your skin.
About 50 percent of all nail abnormalities fall under onychomycosis. Its effect has FIVE classifications:
1. Total dystrophic onychomycosis - the nail plate is completely ruined
2. White superficial onychomycosis - the fungus forms bright tints called "white islands" on the outer layers of the nail bed
3. Distal subungual onychomycosis - the fungus directly affects the nailbed
4. Proximal subungual onychomycosis - the fungus seeps through the proximal nail fold
5. Candidal onychomycosis - is caused by the bacterium named candida when the nails are overexposed in water)
Nail fungi usually infects the toenails more than the fingernails as they are frequently enclosed inside your shoes. Moreover, diabetic people are more susceptible to nail fungal infection. It can even get worse for them, including persons with leukemia if not given medical attention accordingly due to weakened immune system and imbalance in blood sugar level.
Nail Fungi Infects Men More Than Women?
Some researches state that resistance to fungi may be genetic and that nail fungus infects men more than women. However, without proper precautions, anybody can be infected. Nail fungi starts with slight swelling on the toes with mild irritation. Under the nails, a white or yellowish spot can be found. An unsightly discoloration, described as yellowish-brown or white as pus follows. The nails become thick and brittle and the cuticles begin to pop. Pain in the affected areas accompanies the infection.
Things can get worse and unpleasant as the infection develops. It may harm your skin precisely, so to avoid further damage, seek medical assistance immediately. Specialists recommend some over-the-counter topical treatments like Vicks VapoRub, Lamisil, Tinactin, Penlac, and Dermisil among others.
Nail Fungi Home Remedies and Prevention:
Home remedies can be helpful too. Try vinegar therapy. This requires you to soak the infected part in vinegar two times daily for a about 20 minutes until the contaminated area heals. According to experts, vinegar's acidic property kills the bacteria.
Still, it is advisable to consult a doctor during the early stages of infection. To prevent nail fungi, proper hygiene is always the best defense. Drive away these microscopic critters by frequently washing your hands and feet, dry it well and use foot powder as needed to keep from wetness. As nail fungi is contagious, beware of the instruments you use on your nails. If you are the one infected, take responsibility and extra care not to pass it on.
About the Author
Wong Darren is an online medical researcher and webmaster of
Toenail Fungus Treatment
. Related articles:
The Statistics on Nail Fungus Infection
and
9 Tips to Prevent Nail Fungus
.
If you have ever had nail fungus, then you will know just how desperate a victim can become. This often leads to trying out any proposed remedy. Sometimes this has very serious side effects that leave the patient even worse than when he or she started.
Before you attempt to use a cream, you need to first of all know what really is nail fungus. This is a fungal infection that is caused mainly by candidas or dermatophyte type of fungi. Like all other fungi, they thrive in moist environments because the hyphae or roots are only able to stick to the substrate when in the presence if some moistures.
You nails are likely to be infected by fungus if you make the hard part of the nail, also called nail plate soft. This is can happen due to use of strong detergents or nail polish remover. The use of glue to stick cosmetics on your nail will also result in weakening of the nail plate. Besides the nail plate, the nail base where it attaches to the finger may also be loose and therefore allow the fungi to find their way into the nail.
Nail fungus creams are made from various sources. These include natural products and the synthetic products. An example is the popular brand Fungisil. This is made of active ingredient known as Manuka oil. This is a plant extract that has antifungal and antibacterial activity. Other plant products that are active against the fungal growth are those extracted from the
Other creams made from synthetic products such as petroleum based products that have the ability to prevent the growth of the fungi. These are however a little more hazardous because they may not be completely biodegradable.
The creams that are based on natural products are safer and cheaper to use. The safety is due to the fact they are more than 95% biodegradable. Some of these have also been used for more than 3,000 years by ancient civilization such as Egypt and China. They therefore have a record of being safe and can be trusted.
Creams can either be topically applied across the entire fingers or toes. Alternatively, you can apply the cream at the point of infection. It is however recommended that you apply the cream across the entire feet toenails or finger nails because this will prevent infection of the next toenails.
To apply the cream, the feet and hands must be thoroughly cleaned and dried. His is to ensure that the fungal spores are completely eliminated. The cream must be applied as per instructions to realize results quickly.
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