How To Treat Fingernail Fungus Infection

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Guide On How To Effectively Treat Fingernail Fungus Infection

Even though fingernail fungus infection is not as common as fungus infection of the toenail, millions of people worldwide are suffering from this infection.

In this guide, I will explain how one can contract the infection, how to prevent contracting it and how to treat fingernail fungus if you have contracted it.

Symptoms Of Fingernail Fungus Infection

How to know if you have contracted the infection

The symptoms of fingernail fungus infection (also known as Onychomycosis) varies from one person to another and depends on many factors such as age, length of infection and immunity but it generally shares these similarities:

* thickening of the fingernail
* brittle, crumbly or ragged fingernails
* distorted in shape
* dull coloring, with no luster or shine
* darkening, caused by the build up of debris under the fingernail
* separation from the nail bed (also known as onycholysis)
* pain
* foul odor

The Cause Of Fingernail Fungus Infection

How do you contract the infection?

Dermatophytes are the main species of fungi that causes fingernail fungus infection. These microscopic organisms do not need sunlight to survive, and thrive on warm and moist environments. Yeast and molds are also known to cause similar infections.

Infections occur mainly in toenails rather than fingernails. This is because the toes are most of the time confined in a dark, warm and moist environment in your shoes, thus provide an ideal state for fungal growth.

However, the fingernails can contract the infection through lack of proper hygiene and especially by touching toenails that have been infected by Onychomycosis.

The fungi invade the body through tiny cuts on the hands or through a small separation between your nail and skin.

The People At Risk

Will you contract the infection?

Knowing if you are at risk helps in finding ways to treat fingernail fungus infection at its early stages. If you know that you are at risk, you can take steps to eliminate or reduce the ideal conditions that fungus lives in.

The following are groups of people at risk of such infections:

* Older adults are at the greatest risks of contracting onychomycosis for several reasons including diminished blood circulation, more years of exposure to fungi and also because fingernails grow slower and thicken with age.
* Men are affected more than women.
* People who perspire heavily
* People who work in humid or moist environments
* Constant wearing of gloves for long periods which hinder ventilation.
* Touching surfaces in public places such as swimming pools, public showers and locker rooms and not washing your hands after that.
* A minor skin or fingernail injury.
* People with diabetes, blood circulation problems or a weakened immune system

Problems If Fingernail Fungus Infection is Not Treated Effectively

What happens if you don't treat the infection?

Some of the effects of not finding a proper way to treat fingernail fungus include:
* Pain due to onycholysis, which can be extremely painful.
* Left untreated it may lead to permanent damage to the fingernails
* Later stages of onychomycosis may lead to more serious infections that can spread beyond your hands especially if your immune system is weakened due to illness or medication.
* Treating fingernail fungus quickly is even more crucial if you are suffering from diabetes, leukemia or have recently undergone a major operation or transplant.

Tips On Preventing Fingernail Fungus Infection

How not to get infected.

Here are some key tips on preventing the contraction of onychomycosis:

Keep your nails short, dry and clean. Trim nails straight across and file down thickened areas. Thoroughly dry your hands and feet, including between your fingers, after bathing.

If you have to wear gloves for long periods of time due to work or weather conditions, be sure that they are always dry. Do not allow your fingers to be soaked in damp gloves for an extended time. Also, remove your gloves from time to time to allow your fingers to breathe and dry.

Make sure your gloves aren't so tight that your poor hands have no breathing room.

Use an anti-fungal spray or powder. Spray or sprinkle your hands and the insides of your gloves.

Wear rubber gloves rather than woolen gloves. This protects your hands from overexposure to water. Between uses, turn the rubber gloves inside out to dry.

Don't trim or pick at the skin around your nails. This may give germs access to your skin and nails.

Don't touch surfaces of public places that are unsanitary. If you do touch the surface, wash your hands immediately.

Choose a reputable manicure and pedicure salon. Make sure the salon sterilizes its instruments. Better yet, bring your own.

Don't share your pedicure tools with others.

Give up nail polish and artificial nails. Although it may be tempting to hide nail fungal infections under a coat of pretty pink polish, this can trap unwanted moisture and worsen the infection.

Wash your hands after touching an infected nail. Nail fungus can spread from nail to nail.

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Some Home Remedies You Could Try

If you would like to try a home remedy to treat your fingernail infection first before resorting to medication, here are some remedies you could try. However, unlike conventional medication, these remedies are not guaranteed to work and are generally based on the experiences of people who swear to their effectiveness.

Vinegar. While there's no direct evidence that a vinegar soak can treat fingernail fungus, some studies have shown that it can inhibit the growth of certain bacteria. Some suggest soaking your fingers for 15 to 20 minutes in a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts warm water. Be sure to rinse well and pat your hands dry when you're done.

Vicks VapoRub. As with vinegar, there have been no controlled clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of Vicks VapoRub on fingernail fungus, but there have been numerous anecdotal reports that it works. However, there's no consensus on how often to apply this product, so check with your doctor before using this product in a way it wasn't designed to be used.

Tea tree oil serves as a good home remedy for treating fingernail fungus, as it is a natural antiseptic that helps a great deal in fighting with fungus. Take some undiluted tea tree oil and mix a few drops of olive oil in it. Apply this mixed oil on the affected fingernails.

For healthy fingernails, soak your fingers in Listerine mouthwash.

In warm water, add some apple cider vinegar and mix well. Soak your fingernails in the water for about 15-20 minutes. Thereafter, dry your fingers completely.

Apply the mixture of tea tree oil and lavender oil on the fingernails using cotton balls. Do it 3-4 times in a day. This remedy is said to be effective in curing fingernail fungus.

Dr Mercola on Preventing Nail Fungus Infection

What Do You Do to Treat Toenail Fungus?
by mercola | video info

206 ratings | 277,910 views
curated content from YouTube

I'd love To Hear From You.

If you need further clarification or have something to ask, please feel free to post here.

  • David Cole Dec 15, 2011 @ 2:02 am | delete
    Some people are probably more susceptible to this type of infection. You are at risk if you don't have good blood circulation (which may be the case if you have diabetes), weak immune system, or by having the skin condition psoriasis. There are many factors that can cause fingernail fungus, like being in a humid and moist environment a lot, or even poor hygiene. As anyone knows with any type of infection, prevention is the key. If you have one or more of these symptoms, then you may have the fungal infection. Discoloration or thickening of the nail surface; brittle or crumbly nails, or disfigured.
    nail fungus infection
  • yeast infection in women Nov 25, 2011 @ 5:18 am | delete
    If you have fingernail fungus there are a lot of popular remedies you can use. Some treatments have been passed on by phrase of mouth for generations. These treatments appears like your trying to perform voodoo magic. One such remedy includes soaking your nails in vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, after which soaking your hand in bleach. yeast infection in women
  • cutebj May 23, 2011 @ 9:19 pm | delete
    Thanks for the information TimKessler. Is it ok to use vinegar as a toenail treatments?
  • TimKessler Oct 10, 2010 @ 6:46 pm | delete
    Hi Claire,

    Thanks for dropping by. As far as home remedies go, I would never recommend using clorox especially on a sore or open wound. It might be true that the acidity levels of clorox would kill off fungal infections but it will also damage your own tissue and the nail bed.

    I would suggest you try either the Tea Tree Oil remedy or the Vicks remedy.
  • claire sockell Oct 9, 2010 @ 4:26 pm | delete
    My nails now on two fingers shows partial separation of nail from bed with some redness below it. I have heard soaking finger is clorox & water is supposed to help, is this so?
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TimKessler

Health enthusiast, home remedies nut, natural living believer, husband, father and overall pretty nice guy.

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