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Help Fight Onychomycosis with Products from FootSmart
 
Wearing sandals or flip-flops, or just walking around barefoot, can be a major embarrassment if you have thick, crumbly or yellow nails. Though nail polish may help hide the problem, you can treat a nail fungus, known medically as onychomycosis, by applying such anti-microbial solutions as Mycocide NS. Read below for more information on how to determine if you have onychomycosis, and how to best treat symptoms like yellow nails.

 
Onychomycosis Can Easily Infiltrate Vulnerable Toenail Beds
 
Onychomycosis attacks warm, dark, moist environments like shoes, socks and stockings, and often infects your toenail beds when the protective nail surface becomes damaged or broken.

Your feet go through a lot of wear and tear, and activities such as running or playing tennis can easily cause a slight rupture in the nail plate. Moisture found in shoes and socks provides a breeding ground for onychomycosis, which then infects the nail bed through the break. Once onychomycosis takes hold, it’s kept in place by the nail plate, making onychomycosis very difficult to get rid of.

You can also become infected with onychomycosis through person-to-person contact in such places as shared health club or pool showers. Those who often go to professional nail salons can also “catch” onychomycosis via shared emery boards.

 
Symptoms: Do You Have Onychomycosis?
 
Onychomycosis can affect the appearance of toenails, making them unsightly. Typically, you will first notice the infection because of nail discoloration. You may develop green or yellow nails, or nails that turn an even darker color.

Other symptoms of a nail fungus may include:
  • Thick and flaky nails.
  • Collection of debris under the nail causing a foul odor.
  • Splitting of the nail.
  • Pit marks on the nail.
 
Prevent Onychomycosis from Affecting Your Toenails
 
Once onychomycosis makes itself at home in your nail bed, onychomycosis can be hard to eliminate, and needs to be treated with proper medications.

The best defense against onychomycosis and yellow nails starts with well-fitting shoes. There should be a space, about the width of a thumb, from the end of the shoe to the tip of the longest toe to prevent the toe from being damaged upon impact.

Once onychomycosis is present, however, treat it with any of the following methods:
  • Liquid and cream treatments applied topically help with oychomycosis.
  • Oral medications – although they can have side effects – can also help reduce symptoms of oychomycosis.
  • Good foot hygiene, including wearing clean socks, rotating shoes and thoroughly drying feet between the toes to prevent further spreading of infection, are good ways to avoid onychomycosis.

Nail gels, such as Mycocide NS and  nail polishes, such as Nailstat, both sold here on FootSmart.com, are also two products that can help effectively treat yellow nails and oychomycosis.

If onychomycosis persists after using topical treatments, however, see a podiatrist for additional treatment.

Information on foot, leg and lower body health conditions provided by The Podiatry Institute, dedicated to advancing the standard of care in podiatric medicine and its effects on muscoskeletal health.
 
 
 
Disclaimer for Health Content Pages
FootSmart lower body health condition content pages describe general principles of healthcare that should not in any event be construed as specific instructions for individual consumers. This material is not intended as a guide to self-medication or as a substitute for proper medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This healthcare content is for reference only and should not be used to determine treatment for specific medical conditions – only a healthcare provider can do that.

You should discuss the information provided with a podiatrist, physician or other licensed healthcare professional, and make sure to read any product information (including package inserts) regarding dosage, precautions, warnings, interactions and contraindications before administering or using any device, support, brace, compression hosiery, shoes intended for use by diabetics, skincare product, herb, vitamin or supplement discussed on this site.

Proper treatment of lower body health conditions depends upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, your medical history, diet, lifestyle and medications that may be taking. Your healthcare provider can best assess and address your individual healthcare needs.
 

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