The Ins and Outs of Toenail Infections Including Laser Treatments

Toenail infections are unpleasant and unsightly to look at, so naturally, people will want to treat them as soon as they can. Different methods of treatment are available, including toenail fungus laser treatments, so there is good news when it comes to dealing with the problem. This article explains just what types of toenail infection we could be faced with, if we are not already, will look at treatments for them, and consider just what we can do to try and prevent them from occurring in the future. Although, help is at hand when they occur. Podiatrists are health professionals who specialize in feet and so know all about treating them and bringing foot comfort back to the lives of their patients.

Types of Toenail Infections

Three types of fungus will result in toenails becoming infected: mold, yeast, and dermatophyte. They can be identified because the mold infection shows up as a dull brown, the yeast infection is generally white, and the dermatophyte infection is normally yellow. So they are quite distinctive in how they look. It is one thing identifying them, though, and quite another treating any kind of fungal infection on a nail. We shall explore this in the next section.

Treatments for Fungus Nail Infections

There are two types of drugs that are normally used for the treatment of toenail fungus. They are: itraconazole (Sporanox) and terbinafine (Lamisil). The drugs take a while to work, between six and twelve weeks, as they slowly replace infected parts to result in a nail that is free from infection. 

Alternatively, laser treatments are now available to those lucky enough to have a podiatrist who offers them and is trained in this area. Two treatments that are tried and tested in this area of expertise include “Laser and Lunula Laser” and “Cutera GenesisPlan”, which have both been trademarked. Laser treatment has now been performed on thousands of patients, so it is tried and tested and works.

Lasers work because the laser wavelength will penetrate the nail to treat the fungus, healing the nail and its bed. The heat that is generated by the laser will destroy the ability of the fungus to reproduce. Then, as the nail grows out, so will the fungus with it. The treatment is effective and is being used on more and more patients suffering from nail infections of a fungus nature.

How to Prevent Fungus Nail Infections

To prevent these fungus nail infections from happening, you should wash your feet and hands regularly, only trim nails straight across, think about choosing breathable shoes, wear sweat-absorbing socks, and discard your old shoes unless you are going to look to treat them by using antifungal powders or with disinfectant.

So, a few facts about fungus nail infections in terms of identifying the different types and how they can now be treated by laser technology, rather than sufferers having to regularly apply over-the-counter medicines to their nails for several weeks. Also, some tips on how we might prevent nail infections from occurring in the first place. As fungus nail infections are a common complaint, preventing this nail condition may not be possible, but should they occur, or exist at the moment perhaps, a podiatrist can help you. Perhaps with the revolutionary laser treatment described, that is becoming available in more places.

For details on other foot conditions, there are various internet articles that you might find of interest. Identifying the conditions is important so that they can better be treated and bring comfort back that was once enjoyed. Whether that be for yourself or the person that you had in mind while reading this article.

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