Bleaching your nails can lead to serious harm to the skin around the nail and the nail itself. The damage will usually show up as a chemical burn. When the skin is exposed to corrosive chemicals, chemical burns will often form. While online blogs sometimes suggest using bleach as an at-home treatment for toenail fungus, treatments of this nature are ill-advised. They typically won’t be effective at treating the fungus. Some at-home treatments can be extremely risky and may lead to long-lasting damage. Bleaching your toenail fungus is a “treatment” that no podiatrist would endorse. This is an off-label use of a product meant only for cleaning use.
Uses of products containing bleach
Bleaching your nails causes damage because of the fundamental properties of the bleaching chemical. Bleach is a strong and abrasive substance designed as a cleaning product. It needs this power to dissolve dirt and grime. These substances can tend to be difficult to remove completely. Bleach as a home cleaning product can usually have this power without a problem. Its main purpose is to dissolve substances off of durable surfaces.
Consequences of bleaching your nails
When bleach isn’t used as the label recommends, serious consequences can follow. The pH balance of the skin and body is one of the most important systems that can be disrupted. The human body’s natural pH is naturally close to neutral. While bleach is at the highest end of the pH scale. This makes it very basic, and when it comes into contact with the skin it will severely disrupt the skin’s pH balance. Delicate human skin can’t handle the harshness of bleach. Bleach application can lead to damage that may be severe.
Bleaching your nails will cause damage that varies in its intensity depending on a few factors. The most important of which may be the length of bleach application. Awareness and utilization of protective measures can be helpful in avoiding chemical burns. These measures specifically state to avoid contact with the skin. The length of time bleach stays on the skin surface the worse the chemical burn. Increasing concentrations of bleach will cause damage to the nail at increasingly rapid rates as well. If the bleach is undiluted, it will cause the most severe damage the fastest. If bleach of any concentration comes into contact with your skin, immediately rinse off the affected area for at least 5 minutes with running water.
After bleaching your nails
To determine the level of damage done from bleaching your nails, you should first examine how the skin looks. Your skin might only have a mild chemical burn if you are lucky and rinsed off the bleach quickly. However, chemical burns almost always require immediate medical attention. If you only notice mild redness without any pain, you can wait a day or so to see if the condition improves. You can apply temporary remedies like cool compresses and ointments to the burn which may help alleviate the more uncomfortable symptoms.
If your chemical burn presents as anything more than mild redness, you also need to be seen by a doctor immediately as this could lead to severe complications and side effects down the line if untreated.
Find the best treatment for toenail fungus
You may avoid damage caused by bleach on nails and skin by simply doing more research. Our doctors in Austin, Tx recommend first try topical medications to treat the infection. If topicals don’t work then you may try other treatment options. While a majority of treatments available for toenail fungus lack effectiveness or pose risks of danger, there are some options available that are effective and still safe. If you have a toenail fungus, you should be able to receive effective and safe treatment to kill nail fungus without putting your body at risk. The toenail fungus laser that our doctors use is an FDA-approved treatment for the fungus. It also only requires one session to eliminate the fungus. To learn more about the PinPointe laser technology call us today to schedule a free consultation to see one of our most experienced nail doctors.