A nail fungus is a thickened, discolored and brittle nails, caused by a fungal infection that grows in the nail. A thickened friable nail is also known as a lime nail. In most cases, a fungal nail with zetaclear review spray caused by a fungal infection, but not always. A thickened nail may also be a growth disorder, which is not caused by fungus, but by something else, for example, by poor vessels, by age, by a skin disease such as psoriasis, or just like that.
Fungal nails are very common. It is estimated that in the Netherlands 5% of the population has one or more fungal nails. Most of the fungal nails (98%) are to be found on the feet, fungal infections of the fingernails are rare. The medical name for nail fungus is onychomycosis.
Fungal nails are thicker, have a yellowish, greenish or white color. The nail is fragile and friable. Cut is not just possible. Sometimes the nail partially or completely loose. Nail fungus can sit at one or a few nails, but also to all the nails. Sometimes, a fungal infection of the skin is simultaneously present (athlete's foot). That may look like cracks and flaking between the toes, or scaling along the bottom edge.
Presumably first touches the skin infected with a fungus, and from there later the nails. Fungi are everywhere in the area. They make fungal spores. These are very small and spread easily. The feet can become infected with a fungus by walking around barefoot in locker rooms, showers, sports clubs, swimming pools, saunas, and so on. The fungi can infect both the skin and the nails. Mold spores can also survive in shoes and from there again infect the skin.
It is noteworthy that onychomycosis mainly occur in the elderly. Older people have an approximately 30x greater opportunity to develop a fungal nail than children. Maybe it's because aging the nail grows less rapidly making molds easily get the opportunity to grow into it. People with impaired immune systems (for example, prednisone use or HIV infection) and patients with diabetes are more susceptible to contracting a fungal infection.
Everyone is continuous with fungi in touch, but not everyone gets infected. It also has to do with the personal resistance to fungi. However, the fungi that cause infection usually comes from a human (or animal) in your area. The fungus is in dander of people (or animals) with a yeast infection. The flaky skin can let go and thus spread.
The diagnosis can be made on the clinical picture, how it looks. However, it is better to know for sure if it is a fungal nail. Indeed, there are also other reasons for a thickened friable nail (a fungal nail), such as a growth disorder, poor vessels, or a skin disease such as psoriasis.
It is especially important to know if it really is a fungus, if you plan to treat it by swallowing drugs (anti-fungal tablets, antifungals). Those anti-fungal tablets should be swallowed namely months long, and they may have side effects. Therefore it is good to first confirm that it is a fungal nail, otherwise you swallow for months for nothing drugs. There are several methods to see if there is a mold is in a nail. Some scrapings of the nail can be removed. This scrapings can be softened with a liquid and to be viewed under the microscope.