Nail Fungi: The Causes and Treatment

Toenail fungus is a common disease that disfigures and sometimes eliminates the toenail. The disease is believed to be caused by fungi that surrounds the nail and attack it. These fungi can survive and live in a persons shoes or socks. Mainly being attracted to the moistness of those areas. This will help the fungi to grow and spread to the persons toenail. As the fungi grows, it feeds on keratin which is what makes up the surface of your toenail. Surprisingly, the disease only affects about 10% of the population in the world. Although many people do have smaller outbreaks of fungi, which can be treated without any problem.

Your odds of getting the disease do increase as you get older. Many people over the age of 70 have a much higher chance of getting the disease because their toenails have become brittle.

Nearly everyone who wears tight fitting socks and shoes is likely to develop the fungi that cause the disease. Many athletes have this problem because they wear tight athletic shoes and socks. They are also sweating constantly, which allows for the disease to fester in the sweat. This allows for the fungus to stay and swim around the toenail waiting for its chance to infect the area. The fungi is also very contagious and you can actually get the disease just by putting your foot in an area that is infected. Some of these places are locker rooms, showers, and floors.

The toenail with the highest chance of getting infected by the disease is the big toe. It is believed that this is caused from the big toe rubbing against the side of the shoe causing friction. The friction aggravates the toe allowing it to get infected with the fungus.

What are the symptoms? Usually the toenail turns a yellowish brown and color and the toenail becomes brittle. Sometimes if the infection is extremely bad the fungi will become very foul smelling and eventually the nail will fall off completely. Also, in some rare cases the toenail turns white, but this does not happen very often. The duration of the disease can be very long. It’s a chronic disease that can last forever unless the disease is neutralized and stopped completely with medication.