How to Treat Toenail Fungus Infection

Is your toenail thick and yellow? Does it separate from the skin and split easily? If so, you may have a toenail fungus infection, and it may be in your best interest to learn simple ways to treat toenail fungus.

Cause of Toenail Fungus

What exactly causes a toenail fungus infection? Toenail fungus live in moist conditions, so if you have socks that don’t absorb the sweat from your feet very well or if you wear shoes that cause your feet to sweat, those would be ideal conditions. Also, since toenail fungus is highly contagious, if you walk around a public pool area, locker room, or shower facility with bare feet, you will also be susceptible to toenail fungus.

The fungus enters your system by finding tiny lacerations in your skin, small cuts that you may not even be aware of, and once it enters, it begins to infect. People with ingrown toenails are targets, as are people who already have other infections, such as athlete’s foot.

How to Treat Toenail Fungus

There are a variety of ways to treat toenail fungus. You can purchase over-the-counter creams, but most people find that those are not very effective. A doctor can prescribe an oral medication for you to take, however you would have to take this medication for several months and some of these medications have severe side effects, such as liver damage.

The doctor can also prescribe a special nail varnish to treat toenail fungus which would protect the nail. The drawback for this is that it is also a lengthy and tedious process. If everything the doctor gives you does not work, he may recommend surgery to remove part or all of the damaged toenail. To some, this may seem extreme.

Before going so far as to remove the nail, some people like to try home remedies first to treat toenail fungus. Other methods that’s been said to be effective are tea tree oil and hydrogen peroxide. Tea tree oil works great for killing fungal bacteria, so the idea would be to soak your toe in tea tree oil for 10 to 15 minutes a day until the infection goes away. The same goes for the hydrogen peroxide. Mix with equal parts water and soak your toe for 10 to 15 minutes daily until the infection is gone.

As you can see there are a number of ways to treat toenail fungus. There is sure to be one that will work for you.

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