Very few people initiate to take additional precautions for the maintenance of nails. Even an individual who goes out few extra kilometers for a morning walk or a daily exercise often tends to neglect the health of his nails. It is only when we become too conscious about the unsightly appearance of our unkempt and infected nails, the insufferable pain and the intolerable smell of the fungus growth; we take steps for effective medication. Often the situation arises that the fungal growth becomes quite complex for treatment. In fact, the best way to keep your nails healthy is to avoid the possibility of getting infected with fungal growth by taking up preventive measures.

Nail fungal infections particularly toenail fungal infection is quite common as around half of the people visiting the dermatologists are infected with toenail fungus. As the feet stays mostly under damp and wet conditions inside covered shoes, the nails of the feet especially the toe gets affected by fungal infection.

The fungi that cause fungal infection in nails often tend to spread to the skin of the body. So, physicians during the time of diagnosis try to trace out the source of the fungus and treat it. Toenail fungal infection is quite difficult to treat as the fungus normally grows beneath the nail plate. The fungi live on the keratin of the nail and progress to other nails gradually. As a consequence the infected nail gets discolored. The color changes from yellow, green to sometimes even black. Sometimes the infected nail gives out foul smell along with intense pain that often makes walking difficult.

Nowadays, ways of nail fungal treatments are effective to a great extent due to advanced researches on fungal infection. Fungus is an anaerobic microbe that grows on conditions that have less percentage of oxygen. The fungi can be killed if the medication is focused on treating the nail under excess of oxygen. Other than application of topical medications there are several experimental treatments that are put into practice to combat with the fungal infection like photodynamic therapy (PDT) and nanoparticles.

To prevent nail infection we should clean our foot daily and keep it dry. We should always make sure that the nail is not subjected to daily wear and tear unnecessarily. Usage of well sterilized instruments for pedicure will certainly decrease the chance of getting affected by a fungal infection in salons.