Symptoms
Fungal infections of the toenails also known as onychomycosis don’t go away on their own, and if left untreated, the fungus will spread and can eventually destroy the nail.
Causes
They’ll probably recommend:
- antifungal tablets tablets taken once or twice a day for several months
- antifungal nail paints special paints applied directly to the nail over several months
- nail softening kits where a paste is used to soften infected parts of the nail, before they’re removed with a scraping device
Prevention
What Happens When You Ignore Toenail Fungus?
- Pain and Discomfort. When a toenail gets infected by a fungus, it starts by changing its color, turning white or yellow in most cases.
- Loss of the Toenail (s) Fungal infections proliferate in moist environments, often residing in space between the nail plate and the nail bed.
- Spreading of the Infection. ...
- Generalized Infection. ...
- Fungal Paronychia. ...
Complications
The Dangers of Toenail Fungus
- Torn or detached nails. Fungus growth can sometimes cause your toenail to detach from its nail bed. ...
- Foot pain. A fungus-infected toenail can thicken and grow malformed over time, causing serious pain and discomfort.
- Fungal spread in the body. Toenail fungus is highly contagious. ...
- Widespread infection. ...
Does toenail fungus go away by itself?
How to know if toenail fungus is dying?
What happens if toenail fungus goes untreated?
How dangerous is toenail fungus?
What happens if nail fungus is left untreated?
A severe case of nail fungus can be painful and may cause permanent damage to your nails. And it may lead to other serious infections that spread beyond your feet if you have a suppressed immune system due to medication, diabetes or other conditions.
Can nail fungus get into your bloodstream?
Widespread infection. In severe cases of cellulitis, the infection can enter the bloodstream and be deadly. “And it can all start from a simple fungal infection,” Joseph says.
Are fungal nail infections serious?
Fungal nail infections are common. They're not serious but they can take a long time to treat.
Can nail fungus spread to other parts of the body?
The greatest danger of not treating the foot or toenail fungus is that it can spread to other parts of the body, such as the hands and groin. If for some reason you can't treat your toenails or your feet right away, at least use an antifungal topical cream on the surrounding skin, Dr.
Can toenail fungus spread to your brain?
Fungal meningitis can develop after a fungal infection spreads from somewhere else in the body to the brain or spinal cord.
Can toenail fungus affect your whole body?
But it can spread to other parts of the body. Goad says. In some people, the fungus can also spread to the surrounding skin, causing athlete's foot. Sometimes the fungus can be passed to the genitals (jock itch) when underwear is pulled on over infected toenails.
When should I go to the doctor for toenail fungus?
Fungal nail infections can get worse over time. See your doctor if you notice your nail has turned brown or black, if it suddenly hurts, or if it pulls away from the nail bed.
What kills toenail fungus fast?
MedicationsOral antifungal drugs. These drugs are often the first choice because they clear the infection more quickly than do topical drugs. ... Medicated nail polish. Your doctor may prescribe an antifungal nail polish called ciclopirox (Penlac). ... Medicated nail cream.
Is toenail fungus curable?
Treatment. Fungal nail infections can be difficult to cure, and they typically don't go away without antifungal treatment. The best treatment for a fungal nail infection is usually prescription antifungal pills taken by mouth. In severe cases, a doctor might remove the nail completely.
Is toenail fungus permanent?
But nail fungus doesn't go away by itself. And if you don't treat it, there's a chance it could get worse. It could spread to other nails or through your body. It could cause pain when you walk.
Can you cut out toenail fungus?
Treatment usually begins with your dermatologist trimming your infected nail(s), cutting back each infected nail to the place where it attaches to your finger or toe. Your dermatologist may also scrape away debris under the nail. This helps get rid of some fungus.
Should I wear socks to bed with toenail fungus?
This can help whether you're the one with the infection or not. Wear clean, breathable socks to bed. If you share a bed with another person, the fungus may transfer to them via shared linens. Wearing clean socks to bed and washing sheets regularly minimizes transmission risk.
Can toe fungus affect your liver?
They can cause rare but dangerous side effects, including heart and liver failure. You may need testing every 4 to 6 weeks to check for liver, kidney, or heart damage, depending on the antifungal pills you use. Sometimes the infection can return after treatment.
What causes fungus in the blood?
Invasive candidiasis occurs when Candida yeast gets into your bloodstream and spreads to internal organs. This usually happens when a medical device is being inserted into your skin or gastrointestinal tract. Examples include a catheter draining fluid from your body or an IV that delivers nutrition or medication.
Can foot fungus spread to legs?
Untreated, fungal athlete's foot can potentially spread to other body parts or other people, including family members. The fungus may spread locally to the legs, toenails, hands, fingernails, and essentially any body area. This type of fungus generally likes to live in the skin, hair, and nails.
How to treat nail fungus?
The following habits can help prevent nail fungus or reinfections and athlete's foot, which can lead to nail fungus: 1 Wash your hands and feet regularly. Wash your hands after touching an infected nail. Moisturize your nails after washing. 2 Trim nails straight across, smooth the edges with a file and file down thickened areas. Disinfect your nail clippers after each use. 3 Wear sweat-absorbing socks or change your socks throughout the day. 4 Choose shoes made of materials that breathe. 5 Discard old shoes or treat them with disinfectants or antifungal powders. 6 Wear footwear in pool areas and locker rooms. 7 Choose a nail salon that uses sterilized manicure tools for each customer. 8 Give up nail polish and artificial nails.
How to get rid of a nail infection?
Wash your hands and feet regularly. Wash your hands after touching an infected nail. Moisturize your nails after washing.
Why is my fingernail yellow?
Nail fungus. Nail fungus. Nail fungus can cause the nail to become thick or ragged and appear yellow, green, brown or black. An infected nail may separate from the nail bed. Nail fungus is a common condition that begins as a white or yellow spot under the tip of your fingernail or toenail. As the fungal infection goes deeper, nail fungus may cause ...
Why do my nails get brittle?
Fungal nail infection can develop in people at any age, but it's more common in older adults. As the nail ages, it can become brittle and dry. The resulting cracks in the nails allow fungi to enter.
What is it called when you get fungus on your toes?
When fungus infects the areas between your toes and the skin of your feet, it's called athlete's foot (tinea pedis).
What are the factors that increase the risk of developing nail fungus?
Factors that can increase your risk of developing nail fungus include: Being older, owing to reduced blood flow, more years of exposure to fungi and slower growing nails. Sweating heavily. Having a history of athlete's foot. Walking barefoot in damp communal areas, such as swimming pools, gyms and shower rooms.
Can nail fungus come back?
If your nail fungus is painful and has caused thickened nails, self-care steps and medications may help. But even if treatment is successful, nail fungus often comes back.
What are the risks of nail fungus?
Foot and nail pain, spread of fungal infection to surrounding nails and skin, risk for other body infections , and permanent nail loss are few things that one should be concerned of when a nail fungus becomes severe. Diabetics and HIV/AIDs patients are more at risk when complications of nail fungus happen.
What are the symptoms of fungus in the nail?
People often dismiss nail fungus because it generally does not give any discomfort and the first signs are often hard to detect. Brown or black spots and white streaks may signify an infection in your nail. It may later on progress to more evident changes wherein the nail thickens or have a rougher surface. Although not bothersome, leaving a fungal nail infection untreated can make it harder and more frustrating to cure in the end.
What causes toenail onychomycosis?
Diabetes. Studies have shown that 22% of patients with diabetes develop toenail onychomycosis. Diabetes can lead to neuropathy (nerve loss) and peripheral arterial disease, which increases a diabetic’s susceptibility for fungal nail infections.
What is the end stage of nail disease?
Total dystrophic onychomycosis, or severe nail fungal infections, is the end-stage of this nail disease. Fungus has started to infect larger portions of the nail causing it to become deformed, brittle, and weak. More often than not, it starts to become painful and even emit some type of foul odor.
Why do my nails break?
Loss of Nails. The growth of fungus causes the separation of the nail from its nail bed. In the late stages of a nail fungal infection, the nails become thick, hard, weak, and brittle. This makes it easier for the nail to crack, chip, and break.
What happens when your nail is cracked?
When the skin becomes cracked and open, bacteria can easily enter and create a widespread infection all over your body. A simple fungal nail infection can lead to cellulitis. This condition produces swollen, red, tender skin and demands immediate treatment with antibiotics.
What is a fungal infection?
Fungal infections are opportunistic infections and affect people with weak immune systems. HIV/AIDs is an example of a disease condition that suppresses one’s immunity, putting them at greater risk. For those with HIV/AIDs, treatment should be ensued as early as possible to prevent something serious and life-threatening, like fungal meningitis.
How long does it take for fungus to grow out of your toenail?
Your doctor will call this a topical treatment. Be patient. Your nails may not look "normal" after treatment. It can take as long as a year to 18 months for your nail to grow out a fungus. Toenail Fungus Prevention. There's a chance the infection can come back -- even if you get rid of it.
What to do if you have fungus on your toenails?
Your foot doctor will likely trim your nail and file away its dead layers. They may also take a piece of your nail and send it to the lab to make sure it’s really a fungus and to find out what type it is. The doctor might suggest an antifungal drug that you paint on your nails.
What Are Treatments for Toenail Fungus?
Do you need to treat your nail fungus? Maybe it doesn't hurt, and the yellow, thick nails don't bother you.
How to get rid of a swollen toe?
There's a chance the infection can come back -- even if you get rid of it. So take these simple steps to help prevent that: 1 Keep your feet clean and dry. 2 Wear shower shoes in public pools, bathrooms, and locker rooms -- and even in your own bathroom. 3 Change your shoes and socks every day. 4 Wear ones that breathe and don't fit too tight. 5 Trim your nails short and straight across. 6 See your doctor if you think your fungus has come back. 7 Wash your hands and feet regularly. 8 Wear shoes that let your feet breathe. 9 Throw away old shoes or treat them with disinfectants and antifungal powders. 10 Be sure your nail salon sanitizes nail tools. 11 Don’t use nail polish or artificial nails.
How long does it take for a nail to grow back after a fungus infection?
If the infection is deep and you’ve had it for a while, your doctor may want to remove all or part of your nail. A new nail usually grows back, but it might take a year or so.
What to do if you have a nail infection?
Some people also swear by home remedies like menthol rub, tea tree oil, mouthwash, or snakeroot extract -- but studies show mixed results. Prescription polish and creams. Your foot doctor will likely trim your nail and file away its dead layers.
What to do if fungus comes back?
See your doctor if you think your fungus has come back.
What is the term for a fungal infection that grows on a receptive surface?
Onchomycosis, or toenail fungal infection, is an invasion by a microscopic organism that thrives in warm, damp environments. Fungal spores are in the air, and they will grow if they land on a receptive surface like your toenail. They feed off the nail tissues, burrowing into the skin under the nail.
How do fungal spores grow?
Fungal spores are in the air, and they will grow if they land on a receptive surface like your toenail. They feed off the nail tissues, burrowing into the skin under the nail. Over time the nail thickens and may lift off the nail bed as fungal debris accumulates.
Why is my toenail yellow?
A number of conditions can masquerade as fungal infections. Age alone thickens and yellows the nail. Psoriasis can cause the nail and the surrounding skin to flake. Injuries can create bruising under the nail. Even the chemicals in nail polish can discolor the nail. "But you don't want to wait until your toenail is gnarly and raised off ...
Can nail fungus cause nail distortion?
Only a lab test on a scraping from your toenail can show for certain that fungus is responsible for your nail distortion. Misdiagnosing toenail fungus can cost you time and money trying over-the-counter products that won't have an effect.
Can fungal infections be cured?
And fungal infections are notoriously difficult to get rid of. "You may want to consider fungal toenail a condition to be managed rather than cured," says Dr. James P. Ioli, chief of the podiatry service at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Can antifungal polish be used on nails?
They don't promise a cure but instead suggest that they can improve the appearance of fungal nails. There is no evidence that any one is particularly effective.
Can you use antifungal to treat fungal infections?
There are a myriad of treatments for fungal infections, which vary widely in cost and effectiveness. To be fully effective, the antifungal drug has to penetrate the nail and often the nail bed as well. Over-the-counter products.
How to get rid of fungus on nails?
Medicated nail cream. Your doctor may prescribe an antifungal cream, which you rub into your infected nails after soaking. These creams may work better if you first thin the nails. This helps the medication get through the hard nail surface to the underlying fungus.
How to reduce pain from nail fungus?
Trim and thin the nails. This helps reduce pain by reducing pressure on the nails. Also, if you do this before applying an antifungal, the drug can reach deeper layers of the nail. Before trimming or using a nail file to thin thick nails, soften them with urea-containing creams.
How to get rid of white spots on nails?
Try over-the-counter antifungal nail creams and ointments. Several products are available. If you notice white markings on the surfaces of the nails, file them off, soak your nails in water, dry them, and apply the medicated cream or lotion.
How long do you need to use nail polish?
After seven days, you wipe the piled-on layers clean with alcohol and begin fresh applications. You may need to use this type of nail polish daily for almost a year. Medicated nail cream. Your doctor may prescribe an antifungal cream, which you rub into your infected nails after soaking.
What causes a nail to get infected?
He or she may also take some nail clippings or scrape debris from under your nail and send the sample to a lab to identify the type of fungus causing the infection. Other conditions, such as psoriasis, can mimic a fungal infection of the nail. Microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria also can infect nails. Knowing the cause of your infection helps ...
How long does it take for a fungus to go away?
It may take four months or longer to eliminate an infection. Treatment success rates with these drugs appear to be lower in adults over age 65. Oral antifungal drugs may cause side effects ranging from skin rash to liver damage. You may need occasional blood tests to check on how you're doing with these types of drugs.
Can you take antifungal medication on your nails?
Your doctor may prescribe antifungal drugs that you take orally or apply to the nail. In some situations, it helps to combine oral and topical antifungal therapies.
What happens if you lose your toenail?
Loss of nails. The American Osteopathic College of Dermatology explains that toenails infected with fungus can separate from the nail bed, a condition known as onycholysis. If this happens, the loose portion of the nail will need to be removed.
What to do if you have a toenail infection?
Your doctor may take a small sample from your toenail and have it analyzed to confirm the presence of a fungus. If the test comes back positive, an oral or topical antifungal medication may be prescribed to help treat the fungus.
Why is my toenail yellow?
With all the serious health dangers out there, like cancer and diabetes, having a yellowed nail from toenail fungus can seem pretty insignificant. Since toenail fungus (onychomycosis) usually isn’t painful, many people put off seeking treatment, says Peter Joseph, DPM, a podiatrist with Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh.
Can fungus cause pain in the toenail?
It can even make it difficult to walk when wearing shoes, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association. Spread of the fungus. Sometimes untreated toenail fungus can spread to the surrounding skin on the foot.
How many different types of fungi are there in the heels?
Researchers with the National Institutes of Health have found 80 different types of fungi that colonize our heels alone. Here's a look at these microscopic...
Can toenail fungus cause cellulitis?
This complication of toenail fungal infection is of particular concern for people with diabetes and other chronic conditions that weaken the immune system. If a toenail fungus spreads to the skin and causes it to crack, bacteria can get in. This may cause cellulitis, a condition that produces swollen, red, tender skin and must be treated with antibiotics, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. In severe cases of cellulitis, the infection can enter the bloodstream and be deadly. “And it can all start from a simple fungal infection,” Joseph says.
Can a toenail be infected with fungus?
While many people are otherwise healthy and may just think of it as a cosmetic problem, ignoring a toenail infected with fungus could have health consequences beyond appearances. Potential complications of a toenail fungal infection: Foot pain. Over time, a nail infected with fungus can become thick and misshapen, causing pain, Dr. Joseph says.
Why do toes have fungus?
The older you are, the more likely you are to get toenail fungus. That’s because as you age, your immune system changes.
Why do my toenails have yellow spots?
Toenail fungus is a common condition that begins as a white or yellow spot under the tip of your toenail. As the infection goes deeper, nail fungus may cause your nail to discolor, thicken and crumble at the edge. Fungal infections are more likely to happen in your toenails than in your fingernails because toenails often are confined in a dark, warm, moist environment — inside your shoes — where fungi can thrive. Toes also have less blood flow than fingers, making it harder for your body’s immune system to detect and stop the infection.
Can fungus grow on top of toenails?
It may also sit on top of the nail or grow underneath it. In some cases, fungus can get into the cells that make the nail, called the nail matrix. That can make the fungus very difficult to eliminate because the cells manufacturing the rest of the toenail are infected.
Is toenail fungus contagious?
ANSWER: Toenail fungus is an infection that’s usually caused by a microscopic organism called dermatophyte fungus. These infections can be contagious, and they are often difficult to eliminate completely. Fortunately, for most healthy adults toenail fungus doesn’t pose any serious health risks.
Does insurance cover toenail fungus?
You may see ads publicizing laser treatments for toenail fungus. I usually don’t recommend them. They tend to be quite expensive, and at this time most medical insurance does not cover that type of treatment. In some specific cases, I do suggest a more aggressive treatment plan for toenail fungus.
Can toenail fungus be treated?
With that in mind, I generally encourage healthy adult patients with mild toenail fungus to not treat it or to treat it just using topical measures. For example, you can buff the nail down with a file to keep it thin, so the fungus has less of a home to live in. You should also keep the nail trimmed. If you let your toenails grow long, it creates more places for the fungus to grow.
Overview
Symptoms
Causes
Risk Factors
Complications
Prevention