About one in three fungal skin infections are caused by onychomycosis, making it necessary for patients to understand the process of treating onychomycosis in the event that they have a skin infection. There are several ways to determine whether this fungus is the cause of nail discoloration or dystrophy, but antifungal medication makes it relatively easy and painless to eliminate this nasty fungus from your toenails.
Treating Onychomycosis
This fungus is a common form of a microbe called tinea unguium, which grows in dark, moist areas. It can be present in the toenails, the fingernails, or both at the same time. Once it gets beneath the nail beds or beneath the nail plates, it creates a pattern of growth that forces nails up, forcibly pulling them from the skin of the fingers or toes. The nails may crack, split, grow yellow, or become flakey and thick. In about one in ten cases, it will develop into a solid white sheet below the nails, at which point the nail will become soft and crumble under any pressure.
Diagnosis for Treating Onychomycosis
A doctor will need to confirm the presence of these microbes by running a series of tests in order to determine that it is a fungus and not another bacterial growth. A potassium hydroxide preparation culture will determine whether or not the specimen is onychomycosis, at which point the doctor will be able to either provide a treatment for the fungus to run other tests for a new diagnosis. A patient need only clip a small bit of their nails, as close to the cuticle skin as possible, in order for the doctor to have enough material to run a sample test.
How to Treat Toenail Fungus
Like many other fungal growths in and about the skin, onychomycosis is best combated with an antifungal medication such as nizoral, an oral drug that attacks the growth of organic material around the body. Since it is a fungal growth, the patient will have to take specific care of their toes (or fingers) in order to minimize the fungal spread. This means keeping them dry and clean, while exposing them to as much light as they are able to. All fungus requires moisture and darkness in order to grow, which often makes toenails a perfect place to lodge on account of the moisture from sweat and the darkness from shoes and socks. The antifungal should take effect and eliminate the onychomycosis within a month. Whenever you have a particularly bad case of toenail fungus, getting help from Clear Toes Clinic is the best decision a patient can make.
