Posts Tagged ‘fungus infection’

The Places Toenail Fungus Like To Hide

Permanently ridding yourself of a nail fungus infection once it has taken hold can be a very difficult job. The fungus grows slowly but strongly and by the time you see the initial symptoms, a great deal of damage has already occurred. The fungus likes to work its way underneath the nail so that it uses the nail as a shield to keep it warm and moist, its favorite growing environment. It also makes it easier for the infection to reoccur after what seems like successful treatment because the fungus can lie dormant underneath the nail, then start growing again once the treatment ceases.

How Does a Nail Fungus Grow?

A fungus is a parasitic growth that prefers darkness to sunlight, as it has no chlorophyll. It does have roots and spreads via spores. Much like its cousin the mushroom, the body of the fungus looks like an umbrella. The spores spread and grow in dark, damp places. The most common cause of toenail fungus is wearing shoes as they hold in the moisture of sweat and keep the toenails in the dark. Also, most people wear the same pair of moisture absorbing shoes over and over again without allowing them to dry and air properly. Your body gives off both moisture and heat, providing the fungus with the perfect living environment.

Besides Shoes, Where Else Do Fungus Hide?

Exercise mats, such as yoga mats are ideal breeding grounds for the spores that cause nail fungus. Although the mat is made of rubber, which you would think is impenetrable, it soaks up the heat and moisture while you exercise. Then after your workout, you roll it up and stick it away until next time, providing the perfect growing environment for the fungus to attack your feet.

Flip-Flops that people wear into public showers are another good breeding ground for fungus, especially because most people don’t allow them to dry thoroughly before using them again. Ironically, the very item you use to protect your feet becomes the transmitter for the fungus you are trying to avoid.

Remedies To Treat Nail Fungus

There are many ointments and nail fungus solutions available over the counter or on the Internet to clear up nail fungus infections.

Most people try these, or home remedies before resorting to taking an oral antifungal medication to clear up the fungal nail infection as there are risky side effects associated with these treatments.

Mixing Tea Tree Oil and mineral oil as a toe soak is a home remedy solution. The mineral oil works to soften both the nail and surrounding skin, the Tea Tree Oil is a natural antifungal and antiseptic. Combined, these can be a powerful treatment for your nail fungus problem. This, and all nail fungus treatments, will take a while to show results and to cure the problem permanently, so you have to be patient and practice these remedies regularly so the full healing process can take place.

A Quick Overview of

Toenail Fungus Treatment Options

Toenail fungus is one of the most common and contractible diseases, as well as one of the most difficult to cure. The first thing you have to do is determine the cause of the infection. Is it fungal, bacterial, something else? And which kind of nail fungus is it? Is it Dermatophyte or yeast? Once your doctor has identified the source of the infection you can determine the course of treatment. Many people choose the home remedy path and find it very effective. Please note, if your nail fungus infection has reached the point where there is pain and/or drainage (oozing pus) you are well past the point where home remedies of any kind will work. If this is the case, you will need to find a standard medical solution to your problem.

Home remedies really are effective, especially in treating toenail fungus. Many people consider alternative medicine to be “hippy dippy” or “out there” but something to consider is that only a couple hundred years ago, “alternative medicine” was the only medicine available. Many of the home remedies currently recommended are sometimes more effective than their standard medicine counterparts.

Some of these methods might sound a bit off-the-wall, but the science behind them is quite sound. Many of the natural fungicides recommended and available on the market are faster acting than some oral prescriptions. Soaking your feet in vinegar may sound gross, not to mention smelly, but vinegar has been used for centuries as a powerful disinfectant. Again, these are remedies to be tried in the early stages of nail fungus infection. Once the toenail fungus has caused the nail to separate from the nail bed, immersing your feet in vinegar or Listerine will be very painful, very quickly.

The modern medical community has created its own solutions to the problem of toenail fungus by producing various pharmaceutical products to treat the infection. If you have caught the infection early on, it is most likely that your doctor will prescribe a clear coat medicated nail polish. If the infection isn’t cleared up by this product, the next stage is to try an oral antifungal medication. This is a step that should only be taken while under the care of a medical professional as some of these products carry the risk of serious side effects and internal organ damage. You will have to check in with your doctor regularly if you choose this option, which does make it very expensive. You will also need to let your doctor know all medications, supplements and herbal remedies you are taking as this will reduce the possibility of a negative drug reaction during the course of your treatment.

The best cure for toenail fungus infection is prevention and/or early detection. Most people don’t notice a toenail fungus infection until it has progressed fairly far along as this is not something that causes significant discomfort and as it is not a regularly exposed area, people aren’t that concerned about it. The sooner you act to kill the invading toenail fungus, the easier it will be to make their extermination permanent.

Children and Nail Fungus Infections

Although it is far less likely than not that a child will contract a nail fungus infection, it does happen. Onychomycosis, or nail fungus, is more commonly an adult disease, but as children spend a great deal of time getting into things they shouldn’t and playing in the dirt, they have as much potential as anyone else to attract the fungus that causes the infection.

For kids, the infection is more of a social affliction than anything. Other children may see the infected nail and want to avoid the person with the nail fungus because they think they’ll get sick. This can be really rough on a child’s self esteem.

And as the nail fungus infection develops, the nail can become painful and even possibly fall off. So treating the infection, or better yet avoiding the infection entirely is the best solution.

The infection tends to show up as whitish or yellowish spots on the nail, then gradually grows to cover the nail surface entirely so that the nail is opaque. The nail will then become thicker and more brittle, possibly flaking or crumbling at the edges. Depending on the type of infection, the nail can disengage from the nail bed and fall off, which can be very painful.

How Can I Prevent My Child From Becoming Infected?

Start by teaching your children good hygiene. Make them wash their hands when they come inside after playing. This will quickly remove any spores they may have picked up outside. Get a soft nail-brush and show them how to scrub underneath their nails as well, as that can be a very common area that nail fungus attack.

Keep your children’s nails trimmed close to the tips of their fingers and toes, as the less exposed nail there is, the less surface is available to the spores to invade.

Put antifungal powder in their shoes overnight so they don’t risk infection from wearing shoes all the time. Wash their socks in bleach to kill off anything that might be lurking in the fibers.

If you do end up with a child contracting a fungal nail infection, simple methods of controlling the disease are:

•           Rubbing Tea Tree Oil on the infected nail and surrounding skin

•           Soaking the infected nail in a solution of vinegar and water twice a day

•           Clean underneath the nails to remove the dirt and then wipe with rubbing alcohol to kill the fungus.

If these solutions don’t have an effect, you can speak with your child’s doctor about other available treatments. Some of these, particularly the oral antifungal medications, do carry the risk of liver damage, so be careful which option you choose, and make sure your child’s health is up to the treatment.

Easily Applied Home Nail Fungus Remedies

Having unattractive toenails is embarrassing and even humiliating. There are many ways to solve this incredibly common problem.

How Does My Nail Become Infected?

Toenails come into contact with microorganisms that get onto the skin, the nail sheath and underneath the nail to the nail bed. Any and all of these places can easily become a hotbed (literally) for infection. Once you have contracted a fungal infection, it can be very difficult to cure.

As these microorganisms are fungal spores, they thrive in places that have no light and high humidity. This makes the feet very susceptible to infection because we are all accustomed to wearing shoes. Especially because many people wear the same pair of shoes day in and day out, not allowing time for them to dry and air between wearings.

Trimming your toenails too close to the skin can cause accidental cuts, providing another entry point for these fungal spores.

Shoes that fit to tightly can also be a cause of toenail fungus infection as they leave no room for your feet to breath and they can cause the breakdown of the nail where they rub, leaving an opening for the fungus to invade.

Standard Symptoms of Nail Fungus Infection

Here are some very simple ways to recognize a toenail fungus infection:

• A discoloration of the toenail, white to yellow
• The nail becomes thick and disfigured
• A stinging pain from under and around the nail
• Brown or black spots developing on the nail
• Parts of the nail crumble or flake off
• A foul odor coming from the nail
• Oozing pus from around the nail
• Toenail falling off entirely

Recommended Home Remedies for Fungal Nail Infection

The faster you catch a fungal nail infection, the easier it is to get rid of it. The early stages can be treated with any of the remedies listed below:

• ClearFungus  – This is the leading natural remedy for curing toenail fungus. This is considered more of a natural product anti-fungal treatment than a home remedy as it is specially formulated to kill toenail fungus and promote new nail growth.
• Vicks VapoRub – Although no one quite understands why, Vicks VapoRub seems to prove very effective at stopping the growth of fungal infection. It does not kill the fungus but does inhibit growth, which can encourage healthy nail growth until the infection has been trimmed entirely away. No studies have been done on this but many people swear by it.
• Hydrogen Peroxide, Listerine and Rubbing Alcohol – Combined or separately, all of these chemicals have been shown to have some effect on nail fungus as they all posses antiseptic properties. Soak your toenails in your choice of these solutions (again, combined or separately) for twenty minutes, two times a day.
• Tea Tree Oil – This is a powerful essential oil that contains antiseptic and antifungal components. Wash and thoroughly dry the foot, then rub the affected nail(s) and surrounding skin with Tea Tree Oil twice a day.
• Vinegar – Soaking your toes in a solution of equal parts vinegar and water in a large tub or bowl for 20-30 minutes, then washing and thoroughly drying your feet until the infection has cleared.

These remedies are good for stopping the infection early on. If you follow these instructions closely and stick to the regular process, you should be able to clear up your infection by yourself. If your symptoms are bad to begin with, or if they worsen, seeking the help of a medical professional will become necessary.

Curing Toenail Fungus with Tea Tree Oil

It is very uncommon for a doctor to recommend an alternative remedy over a prescription medicine. However in the case of Tea Tree Oil, this happens more often than not. Tea Tree Oil is a naturally occurring medicine and has been shown to be effective at eliminating the fungus that causes toenail infections. The Mayo Clinic has even run studies to confirm this. So why is this oil so effective? Because of its own natural physical properties.

This plant is native to Australia and has been used for centuries by the aboriginal people for curing and preventing infections. The plant acts as an antimicrobial and while the medical community sees much potential in the Tea Tree, the majority of studies have centered around Tea Tree Oil being used as an antifungal. The treatment of a fungal infection takes a long time and it is not uncommon for someone participating in a study to give up and drop out part way through. Even one person doing this can throw off the results of a study, leaving it with the result of “null and void” or “unclear”.

Tea Tree Oil Popularity

No matter that the Mayo Clinic has run studies on this product, the general public has taken to Tea Tree Oil like a duck to water. If you run a search on Tea Tree Oil, you will find not only a wide variety of products and distributors, but also people singing its praises, telling how it helped them treat their toenail fungus infections. This information can be found both as testimonials on distributor websites but also as entries and responses on forums. This is real data submitted by real people, saying how happy they are that they were able to find a natural remedy to cure their nail fungus infection completely and inexpensively. As with all medications, both prescription and alternative, the results will vary from person to person and how long it takes or if it is effective will depend on the severity of the infection.

It is recommended that the strength of the Tea Tree Oil is 100% and that it is applied to the surface of the infected nail and surrounding tissue to ensure that all hiding places for the fungus are covered. If you plan on a Tea Tree Oil regimen, it is recommended to purchase some soap or shampoo that contains Tea Tree Oil and use it to wash your feet several times a day. Once your feet are clean, dry them thoroughly and then apply the Tea Tree Oil directly to the affected areas. Mind the amount you use as too much can cause irritation.

Please note: Tea Tree Oil is a topical treatment only and should never be ingested as it can cause a severe toxic reaction! As with any medication, if you experience an allergic reaction, discontinue use immediately, wash the affected areas with soap that doesn’t contain tea tree oil and contact your doctor. This may be an herbal remedy, but your doctor should still be informed that you are using it and how you are progressing because it is still a medication, even if it is a natural one. This is even more important if you have any sort of skin condition, such as eczema. Remember that fungus like dark, damp environments and the more you can do to discourage a place for them to develop, the less likely it will be that you will contract an infection.