Onychomycosis: Treatment, Causes, Diagnosis, Prevention & More

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January 14, 2022

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Onychomycosis

What is Onychomycosis? Onychomycosis, often referred to as tinea unguium, is a fungal infection that causes thickened, brittle, crumbled, or ragged nails. It usually affects the fingernails and toenails and generally develops over a period of time. Fungal infections occur due to overgrowth of fungi on or under the nail. The same fungi that cause athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch, etc can result in Onychomycosis too. Different types of Onychomycosis can arise due to the difference in fungal infections, these include:

Distal Subungual infection
White superficial infection
Proximal subungual infection
Candida infection

Onychomycosis Symptoms

Onychomycosis symptoms vary from individual to individual depending on the severity of the infection, the time elapsed, related health conditions, and age. It can affect one or all the fingernails and toenails in one's body. Some of the common symptoms across different ages has been listed below for your understanding:

Distorted and raised nail
Thick and brittle nail
Infected nail that creates a foul smell
Crumbled or ragged nails

Who is at Risk?

‍Onychomycosis risk factors differ according to the type of fungi infection. Each type of infection has a treatment of its own. The underlying causes of these fungal infections vary from individual lifestyle, hygiene, skin conditions, etc. Certain red flags for when an individual might be at risk are:

Weak immune system
Nail injury
Wearing artificial nails or cosmetics
Skin injury in or around the nail
Diseases that cause poor blood circulation
Lifestyle diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.
Wearing tight shoes, or boots
Exposure to infection in public places like swimming pools, public washrooms, etc
Age over 65 years

Onychomycosis Causes depend on how the infection has occurred and the type of fungi developed. Usually, our skin is always surrounded by fungi and bacteria, infection occurs when the fungi overgrow under moist and humid areas. Some of the causes of Onychomycosis include:

Poor hygiene
Communal infection through public restrooms, swimming pools, gyms, etc
Inadequate sanitization of equipment like nail cutter, clippers, filers, etc
Infection due to cosmetics
Diseases like athlete's foot, ringworm, etc.
Fungal overgrowth due to health conditions, skin infections, etc

How is Onychomycosis diagnosed?

‍Onychomycosis is a common condition that can start to show the symptoms in the form of ragged and brittle nails that are turning yellow in color. Although, the infection can be felt and seen by the person on their own, Onychomycosis diagnosis can be confirmed only after a visit to the doctor. The doctor conducts a series of tests to confirm the kind of infection.

Physical Examination: The dermatologist physically examines the fingernails or toenails to understand if it's a fungal infection or any other condition
Lab Tests Scrapping of the infected nail is taken as a sample to study the fungi and understand the infection and severity of it.
Skin Test Often a small sample of skin around the nail is also taken to study the fungal infection and identify it

Cure.fit is your healthcare partner. Assisting in lifestyle maintenance through exercises, and health monitoring, and providing an array of healthcare services like on-time doctor consultations, maintenance of digital records, etc. you can keep your health on check always. Booking appointment of Onychomycosis doctor for fungal infections can be done in a few clicks on the website or App. How is Onychomycosis treated? Onychomycosis treatment is based on the type of fungal infection and the severity in which it has affected. It can take months to cure the infection entirely. Doctors undergo a variety of treatment methods to find what suits a patient.

Over the counter medications Doctor prescribes Medicine for Onychomycosis to cure the infection from within. The medicines like Itraconazole (Sporanox) and terbinafine (Lamisil) are advised to help the nail grow infection-free and slowly replace the infected nail. These medications take time.
Medicated creams Doctors prescribe medicated creams and nail polish for Onychomycosis cure. These are to be applied topically over the infected area.
Surgery In worst cases, when the nails have crumbled to their last stage and turn to be extremely painful, doctors advise removal of nails through surgery so that infection can be cured and new nails can grow infection-free.

How can Onychomycosis be prevented? Prevention of Onychomycosis can be done through a series of simple and healthy practices. These include:

Taking good care of fingernails and toenails by keeping them trimmed and clean always
Saving from any injury in or around the nails
Maintaining hygiene around you
Sanitizing nail cutters, trimmers, etc timely
Sanitizing, and maintaining hygiene when in public places
Reducing the use of nail polish, artificial nails, etc.
Getting manicures and pedicures from trusted.

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