Cure Nail Fungus Fast

Fungal nail infections (onychomycosis) are unsightly and, especially when it’s a fingernail that’s infected, we understandably want to cure nail fungus fast. Unfortunately, most treatments take a long time to work, and even when they do, the speed at which the nail returns to normal is limited by the speed at which it grows. Nails grow slowly: a fingernail usually grows out completely in about six months while a toenail typically takes twice as long. Thus, it’s unavoidable that the fastest cure for a nail fungus infection is going to take months, even if the whole nail is not affected.

A relatively quick cure for nail fungus depends on catching the infection early and starting treatment as soon as possible. A typical case of onychomycosis begins near the fingertip, under the edge of the nail where fungal elements get caught and have a chance to grow in warm damp conditions. A yellow or brown discoloration of the nail in this area is a warning sign that something is happening: to cure nail fungus fast, don’t wait until the infection has spread to involve a larger area of the nail.

When you treat onychomycosis early, you have a wider choice of options for treatment. At this stage, you can use the only topical prescription drug for nail fungus, a polish-like lacquer that has few risks of side effects, making it a reasonable option to cure nail fungus fast if the cost is not too prohibitive. Among the alternative treatments, those containing tea tree oil may be the best choices: tea tree oil has been shown to have antifungal and antibacterial properties, so besides being a quick cure for nail fungus, it may well help clear up an infection caused by bacteria.

When onychomycosis is advanced and the nail is starting to flake and crumble, it will not be possible to cure nail fungus fast. These well established infections take many months to heal and often recur. To speed healing, remove as much of the affected nail as you can: cut or file it away, leaving only the material that will not readily come off. Then choose a form of treatment that you’ll be able to stick with over the long term—again, tea tree oil preparations have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and don’t require long periods of soaking in solutions or exposure to potentially harmful chemicals or drugs. Although not the elusive quick cure for nail fungus, a topical substance applied daily is a treatment most people can live with.

All possible cases of onychomycosis should be examined and diagnosed by a competent medical professional to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment.

Fungus That Infects Nails

A species of fungus that infects nails is called a dermatophyte—literally meaning a “skin plant.” The reference to skin results from the fact that the same types of fungi can also invade skin, deriving their nutrients from the same protein that is abundant in nails: keratin. Keratin is a hard substance that is found in hair, the outer layers of skin, toe- and fingernails, animal horns, hoofs and claws. Dermatophytes can grow in all of these tissues and they are amongst the very few fungi that can.

Known dermatophyte facts tell us that even though these fungi often become established on nonliving materials such as nails and dead skin cells, they usually cannot spread further because the immune system of a live animal keeps them at bay. (The vast majority of fungi live on dead organic material such as leaves, decomposing bodies of animals, animal excrement etc. and help to break it down). Nails and hair, and even the outermost layers of our skin lack a blood supply and other body fluids that carry immune cells and molecules, but wherever such protective mechanisms are active, the fungus that affects nails can’t go. In certain rare instances, a dermatophyte may set up an infection in living tissue.

A dermatophyte fungus that infects nails usually belongs to one of three groups or genera of fungi: trichophyton (the most common in most places), microsporum, and epidermophyton. Each of these groups contains a number of species, some of which cause infections in humans while some do not. Thus, scientific knowledge about these fungi is complicated and the medical professional seeing patients with possible fungal infections must know their dermatophyte facts.

To aid in the identification of fungus that infects nails, medical laboratories have special media used to grow the fungus and specific tests to help determine which genus and species it belongs to. Individuals who suspect they have a fungal nail infection should consult their doctor or dermatologist and have nail shavings submitted to the laboratory for culture and identification. Even people who think they know their dermatophyte facts can be mislead by look-alike infections and fungus species that resemble dermatophytes but are actually harmless environmental species.

Fungus that infects nails is very common especially in older people. Any nail abnormality, however, should be assessed by a competent medical professional to determine whether fungus is the cause. Other conditions, some of them serious, can look very similar.