Crumbling toenails can be concerning. When toenail fungus is allowed to progress past its initial phases, some of the symptoms it can cause may feel like a big reason for concern. When fungus gets to this point, it is common to feel worried about the health and prognosis of your nails. This is a completely natural response to the aesthetic changes that nail fungus can cause on the surface of the nail and nail bed. One of the symptoms of toenail fungus that often causes the most concern is when it causes a crumbling toenail.
Symptoms of Toenail Fungus
The visual of a crumbling toenail may be unsettling if you don’t know what it is caused by. When your nail starts flaking and falling off in patches or crumbling away, this is a major sign that a fungus has infected your nail. Toenail fungus causes aesthetic changes to the nail as the fungus grows under the nail bed.
While this damage to the nail can be very worrying, it is important to know that toenail fungus usually will not cause any irreversible harm. These visual signs of toenail fungus are simply an indication that the fungus has been growing. A crumbling toenail specifically is a sign that the fungus has weakened the nail enough for it to start falling apart.
Some treatment options are topical solutions or oral medication. Topical solutions are not very effective as they have a cure rate of 5 to 10 percent. This is because the solution does not penetrate all the way through to kill fungus under the nail bed. All the fungus has to die to be cured of the fungus. Oral medication has a better cure rate, but it can lead to liver toxicity.
When should you expect disintegrating toenails?
Disintegrating toenails occur because fungal growth under the nail feeds on the structures that maintain the nail’s integrity. When the fungus continues to grow, the nail itself can lose its form. This commonly changes the texture of the nail, making it brittle or cracked. When the fungus is extreme, the nail can start to look like it is being “eaten away” by the fungus, which lends it the appearance of disintegrating into thin air. While this can often be an alarming aesthetic change, it is important to understand that this change in the nail’s appearance is reversible. Once the fungal infection has been cured, a new healthy nail should start to grow in. This nail shouldn’t look like it is disintegrating.
Laser Treatment for Toenail Fungus
If you have crumbling toenails because of a toenail fungus, you can recover! The best thing to do is seek treatment for the fungus as soon as you notice signs of it. Once your nail has started crumbling or disintegrating, this is a sign that your fungus has already progressed to a more severe stage. The best thing to do is seek an FDA-approved treatment like the PinPointe laser.
Our nail doctor in Los Angeles, CA, recommends laser treatment. This laser only requires one treatment to cure the fungus. It has no side effects and no recovery period. As a result, you can go about your daily activities right after the treatment. Also, it is not painful. To schedule a consultation with a licensed podiatrist for the PinPointe laser treatment, give us a call at 1-(800) 672-0625 or visit our website for more information.
