Fingernail fungas

If you think you have a fingernail fungas infection, you should not wait too long before doing something about it. This is not because the infection is dangerous; in fact, fungal infections of the fingernails and toenails can remain for a very long time without causing any discomfort or spreading through the body (they can spread to nearby skin, however). The reason you should act quickly is that these infections tend to be very ugly, and the longer you leave it, the uglier it will be, and the harder it will be to get rid of.

The first step is to visit your doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Not all nail abnormalities are caused by nail fungas and you need to be sure you are treating the right thing. Your doctor may give you a visual diagnosis, but the best course is usually to take a sample of the nail and send it to the medical laboratory for fungal testing. A sample can be obtained by gently filing away fragments of the nail (abnormal looking portions should be chosen). If the fingernail fungas is already advanced, pieces may be flaking off, and larger portions can be sampled without causing undue discomfort.

Mycology labs culture fingernail fungas - they put the pieces of your nail on a plate of something that fungi like to grow on, and wait to see if anything grows. Remember that your nail fungas is a slow grower. It will grow slowly in the lab as well, so it may be more than a month before you get the results of the tests. While you wait, follow your doctor's advice with respect to caring for your infection.

There are various treatment options for fingernail fungas. You can get a prescription drug from your doctor. Most of these are oral medications, however, Penlac nail lacquer is painted on like polish. Bear in mind, however, that these drugs are very expensive, and may have harmful side effects. There are also over the counter topical remedies and a number of proprietary natural remedies that you can purchase, as well as a collection of home remedies passed down by word of mouth. All of these treatments are backed up by personal accounts of success, but none works 100 percent of the time. At present, the topical non-prescription nail fungas remedies that seem to have the best record, backed up by some scientific study, are those that contain Tea tree oil, the distilled oil of the Australian Melaleuca alternifolia tree.

Discuss your treatment choices with your doctor, your local pharmacist, even an alternative healer if you are interested in trying a natural remedy, but don't put it off - the sooner you launch a counterattack on fingernail fungus, the better.