Tests for Nail Fungus

The only way to know for sure whether you’re suffering from nail fungus infection (onychomycosis) is to order tests for nail fungus. Only a medical doctor can do this, so the first step is to visit your doctor if you have not done so already. Your doctor may take a sample while you are in the office and send it to the lab for testing, or he or she may ask you to collect the specimen yourself and deliver it to the lab.

The best specimen for nail fungus diagnosis is nail filings or clippings collected from the part of the nail that is most severely affected. Typically, onychomycosis results in crumbly brittle nails, so it is not difficult to obtain a sample. While collecting the sample, take care not to scatter bits of the nail around as these may be infectious to you and others. In the laboratory, the filings will be used to set up cultures and other tests for nail fungus.

Many laboratories provide a specimen kit for collecting a sample for nail fungus diagnosis. Typically this kit will consist of a piece of black or dark construction paper that is folded into a compact packet, and an envelope. It’s important to use the dark paper because tiny pieces of nail show up better against a dark background: laboratory personnel will be better able to find all the pieces of nail you submit for tests for nail fungus. Place your sample in the center of the paper and fold it up securely so that nail clippings cannot fall out. Ensure that the envelope has your name and your doctor’s name, and any other pertinent information on it.

Nail fungus tends to grow very slowly, even in the laboratory, so results from tests for nail fungus can take a long time to arrive in your doctors office—it’s not unusual for a final report to take at least four weeks. Preliminary results can arrive more quickly however – if a microscopic examination of the nail sample reveals fungal elements, or something significant grows quickly in the culture, the laboratory will likely tell your doctor this to help with rapid nail fungus diagnosis.

Waiting for tests for nail fungus may seem like an inconvenient, lengthy, and costly procedure, but remember that a number of other nail conditions can mimic onychomycosis. Before you start treatment, it’s wise to be sure that the nail fungus diagnosis is correct.