Causes of Tonails Fungal Infection

By Patricia | February 24, 2010

The condition that you are suffering from is called onychomycosis. This is a fungal infection of the nail plate and the nail that is caused by a fungus, and manifests itself with a depleted nail perimeter, yellowing of the nail, and sometimes even detachment of the nail itself. Treating the condition is rather problematic because of the area of infection being between the nail and the skin. Treatment can be so problematic that it can even take a patient over a year to rectify the problem. There are some promising treatments using lasers that can reduce this time to a matter of weeks, but these are expensive and may not be covered by health insurance.

Onychomycosis Of Toenails

Onychomycosis is usually caught because of exposure to the toenail fungus or exposure to the candida fungus as well. Fungal infections in general are usually just a matter of time and compromised immunity. Fungi exist on our skin regularly but do not become a problem because of good hygiene and the fact that it takes a level of immune system inactivity to take hold. This usually can happen if there is an underlying disease like diabetes that causes the immune system to be weakened thereby allowing an infection to take hold. Some of the standard medical treatments for the condition include antifungal topical medication like greisofulvin and itraconazole. This is usually combined along with the use of creams that soften the nail, allowing it to be removed. This can take a few days or weeks and the nail actually has to be chipped away to expose the nail bed. Once the nail bed is exposed then it is a matter of simply using the medication over the exposed nail plate and ridding the body of the fungus. As stated before, this procedure could take almost a year of treatment.

Treatment - Tea Tree Oil

Naturally, you could try to speed up the process by using tea tree oil. This is a powerful essential oil that works against most bacteria and fungi and has also shown some benefit against herpes infections. Stimulating the immune system into action is probably the best way to take care of an infection like this and therefore dipping your feet in a hot water for an hour everyday and then toweling off thoroughly is very useful. Remember to cover the affected digit completely in tea tree oil. The infection could sometimes spread so keeping the affected digit away from the rest of your body is a good idea.

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