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What is the most effective method of getting rid of fungus under toenail? How to get rid of fungus under toenails is easy with various treatments. The unsightly black, yellow or green fungus under nails does not have to bother you any longer.
You know you have toenail fungus when you see any discoloration. However, this is not the only sign as there are various symptoms of nail fungus. You have to be on the look out so that you start on treatment as soon as possible to avoid spreading to other digits or the entire nail. There are different types of toenail fungus and discolorations as well.
It is very uncomfortable to display your nails in public when they have green, black or yellow spots because they appear abnormal. It makes you want to hide them under layers of nail polish. However, this is not the right thing to do.
You are actually doing more harm than good to your discolored nails by adding nail polish. The nail polish makes them not to breathe. Wearing closed shoes does not help the situation either. So how do you get rid of fungus under toenails? Discover all the ways to rid of the black, yellow, green or white fungus under toenail.
Black Fungus under Toenail
There are various reasons as to why you have black fungus under toenail, these include things you do or do not do. Here are black toenail fungus causes. For starters, your lifestyle may contribute greatly to fungus. For example if you are a runner or exercise a lot by running or walking, you wear trainers and your feet sweat in the process. The sweat in the trainers creates a breeding ground for fungus.
Similarly, you may get black fungus under toenail because of the following reasons:
- Wearing tight fitting shoes at the toes
- Age factor, the more you get older the more likelihood you have to contract toenail fungus
- If you have circulatory problems
- You are diabetic
- You wear synthetic socks that do not wick sweat off your feet
- You go for pedicures in unhygienic salons
- Wearing too many coats of nail polish and for long periods
- Applying acrylic nails for a long time
- If you have melanoma, a skin cancer that also affects the nail
In case of a melanoma, only a podiatrist can rule it out. This is why it is important to see one before you embark on any treatment. You need to rule out that you do not have it for sure, as it is a life threatening cancer.
How to Get Rid of Fungus under Toenails
It is always a good starting point to make use of home remedies to get rid of fungus under your toenails. However, do make sure that is in fact toenail fungus and not cancer. A test at a podiatrist clinic should help with this. Home remedies are cheaper because they are most often from products that you already have in the kitchen or bathroom cabinets. They are also harmless because they may not contain harmful ingredients.
Various home remedies for nail fungus can do wonders on how to get rid of fungus under toenails. However, you must use them with a lot of patience and faithfulness. They may take weeks and probably months to cure the fungus, but they eventually do.
Applying two to three times in a day is more effective than using them once in a week or a month. You have to remember to apply just as you remember to swallow drugs to cure a certain infection. Furthermore, you must apply them in hygienic conditions. It is better to use a cotton wool ball instead of bear of hands. However, if you have to use your bear hands, ensure that you disinfect them soon after application to avoid transferring the infection to your fingernails. Fingernail fungus infection occurs this way and can be painful especially if you have cracks on your fingers.
How to get rid of fungus under toenails using home remedies requires that you washing in some of these products or applying them directly:
- Essential oils – a blend of several oils or single oil will work just fine. The best oils are rosemary and lavender
- Hydrogen peroxide on the affected toe
Orange oil can be used for treatment. - Iodine
- Coconut oil
- Jojoba oil
- Orange oil
- Soaking in vinegar, white or apple cider vinegar
- Tea tree oil
- Vicks vapor rub
- Snakeroot leaf extract
- Grapefruit seed extract
- Thyme oil
- Over the counter topical antifungal creams
All these should be applied on unpolished nails since polish can hinder them from getting to the fungus. If how to get rid of fungus under toenails at home fails, then you can seek treatment in a podiatrist’s office.
Effective Fungus under Toenail Treatment
How to cure fungus under toenail requires the use of prescription medications. You can be put on various oral antifungal tablets for fungus under toenail treatment. Although, these happen to be most effective, they can cause havoc on your liver, kidneys, skin and bone marrow.
Therefore, you ought to use them while under the supervision of podiatrist or doctor who will be able to conduct various tests on your organs to ensure that no damage is caused by drugs such as terbinafine, itraconazole, fluconazole, ketoconazole and griseofluvin. You could also be prescribed for topical nail lacquer also known as Penlac, econazole, ketoconazole and oxiconazole among others to go alongside the oral tablets.
Another fungus under toenail treatment that could cure you completely is the surgical removal of the infected nail. The infected nail is removed under local anesthesia and a new one grows to replace it after sometime.
You can also cure fungus under toenail using the laser treatments of Pinpointe, Fox and Noveon among others. The results of lasers are not immediate until several months after treatment and the success rates are at 80%-90%. The downside of this treatment is that it is expensive and you may require more than one sessions in order to cure the fungus.
Green Fungus under Toenail
Sometimes a fungus infection could be accompanied by a bacterial infection. This is exactly what a green fungus under toenail means. Therefore, when you notice you have a green spot on your toes it is important that you see podiatrist to determine what whether it is truly a fungal infection or a bacterial kind. A bacterial unlike the fungal infection takes a couple of weeks to heal.
Furthermore, green discoloration on toenails could be a sign of melanoma. This requires treatment as soon as possible before it can spread to other parts of the body. You can acquire green fungus on your toenails from gardening while barefoot, cleaning without proper shoes and getting pedicures from unhygienic nail salons.
Yellow Fungus under Toenail and Nail Polish
If you are one of those people who cannot do without nail polish on toenails and more so layers without a base coat, then you are at risk of getting yellow fungus under toenail. Polish your nails for only special events and do not let it stay on your nails for a long time.
Furthermore, ensure that you use a base coat before adding the nail polish to it. You may want to stick to light instead of dark colors for your nail polish as well.
White Fungus under Toenail
The first sign of toenail fungus is white streaks or yellow. Therefore, as soon as you notice white fungus under toenail, begin using the home remedies to curb it. It could save you from the expensive prescription medications and not to mention the possible side effects associated with them.
If you do not trust home remedies, you could try over the counter creams and ointments such as Zeta Clear, Funginix and Pur Nail among others. Whatever OTC antifungal topical products you choose, ensure they have Tea tree oil, Undercyclenic acid or Tolnaftate, these are proven FDA treatments for fungus.
Fungus under Toenail Pictures – How Bad is Your Infection?
Of course, the best way to determine how badly you are doing with your fungal toenail infection is to look at pictures of the same. Fungus under toenail pictures can give you a clear indication of how far your infection has gone.
There are three different stages of fungal toenail infections. The first is the early stage, which is marked with minor symptoms such as a colored spot. On the second, stage moderate symptoms are apparent as part of the nail begins to crumble. The final stage is where the infection has advanced and the nail seems to be detaching itself from the nail bed.
