Why You Probably Don’t Have Toenail Fungus?

I’m a chiropodist or chiropodist (depending on where you live) and I feel the public needs to be educated away from some “health gurus”.

Some of these health people are just the general public and some are unqualified doctors. I have no problem with other health professionals talking about foot care, I don’t, honestly, but you really have to give the patient real advice, and not just “what he thinks”. Many books and many websites do not convey the true treatment, the cause, and actually whether the nail is a fungus or not. Scary but very true.

The role of toenail fungus has been widely exaggerated to the point that miracles are now happening. Anything from the weird “cure your fungus in a day” to some really dangerous “new remedy I perfected, the doctors don’t want you to hear about.”

The facts are these: toenails grow at an astonishingly slow rate, around 12-18 months from base to tip, so any cure that claims toenail fungus will be gone within 24 hours. It doesn’t tell 100% of the truth. Second, doctors (chiropodists/podiatrists, not GPs) will not keep this a secret. It is widely available information about a problem that can be eliminated.

What we really have to think about, though, is that not all thick nails are actually toenail fungus. A toenail fungus is actually characterized by a yellow discoloration, thickening, spongy when cut, and a “moth eaten” appearance. It is also caused by a dermatophyte, something that loves the skin and nails because they eat keratin, an important component of these systems. They usually work their way from the top of the nail to the base. If it is a Candida infection, it will go from the base to the tip of the toenail.

Oh, and by the way. When they say infection, all they really mean is that it is contagious to the skin and nails. So if you cut your other nails with nail clippers from an infected nail, that nail will get infected. Does not affect internal organs, etc.

But if you don’t have signs of toenail fungus, chances are you don’t have one.

one — If the toenails are clawed and have thickened nails, that is due to micro-trauma hitting the nail while walking. The nail does not want to be broken, so the body has a great remedy for this. Rebuilds the nail so it doesn’t get traumatized. So you get irreversible thickening of the toenails.

2 — If you only have thickening of the little fingers, that could easily be due to footwear. If you put your foot down and apply weight, it widens. So it gets wider. Little toes will hit tight shoes, and if you wear such shoes constantly for many years, the microtrauma comes back and thickens that nail. Therefore, women who tend to have thinner, ill-fitting shoes tend to suffer from this problem.

3 — Microtrauma can occur over time. Little little bumps over a long period of time. But the same thing can happen when you stub your toe or nail once with a big bang. This can damage the area where the nail grows and cause thickening.

However, once the nail gets damaged, there is a high chance that a fungus will get into the nail and then start the process. However, in that situation, no matter how many antifungal treatments you get, it won’t stop the thickening.

Testing the nail will prove that I have a fungus, right?

The test is one of the best methods that comes after experience to determine if a nail is a fungus or not. However (and this could easily be another article, if not a book) laboratory tests are flawed, and they are flawed due to collection methods, transportation methods, and cost. If your results are negative even though the toenail is really a fungus toenail, then don’t worry. It is one of those 3 troubled grounds.

So before you even jump in for a toenail fungus treatment, first decide if you have toenail fungus to begin with. In many cases probably not.