Fungal toenail infections are a common foot health problem. Many people don’t realize they have a nail fungus problem.
There are several risk factors for developing nail fungus: tight shoes; damaged nails; walking barefoot in moist areas like swimming pools, saunas, and public showers; poor blood circulation in your legs; a weakened immune system; and other skin conditions, such as psoriasis.
Often people seek advice from a pharmacist who would prescribe and dispense an antifungal nail cream – it can take up to 18 months to cure the infection and does not always work as the cream/medicament does not penetrate to source of the problem – the nail bed.
Foot health practitioners can help by removing much of the fungal nail to aid in the cream/medicament penetrating the nail bed. There is also a procedure call fenestration , where a few little holes are made in the infected nail , allowing the product to penetrate the nail bed better.
Fungal nail could take a very long time to resolve and it is important to be very persistent with the treatment.
New products appear on the market regularly , so if one product doesn’t work there is always something else to try.
The most important thing is not to leave it untreated , get it checked out by a professional who will help you manage it.