Grooming difficult fungal nails can actually be a very burdensome task. People who don’t have a fungal infection may not understand. Toenail fungus causes damage to the nails making trimming and grooming the toenails very difficult compared to healthy toenails. Damage from toenail fungus is usually only visual, causing issues like discoloration and cracking of the nail.
Most people who are dealing with a toenail fungus will only encounter visual changes. There are definitely some people who experience functional issues that can arise from a fungal infection. The most common of these functional issues regards trimming the nails; toenail fungus can make the nails become excessively thickened and hard. This can impair the ability to trim and groom the nails regularly, which can result in an overgrowth of the nail. Any overgrowth will make the nail look even worse than it does simply from the toenail fungus symptoms, as the nail grows excessively long. When the nail has damages like discoloration, brittleness, or cracking, it will look even worse when it is also very long.
Difference between healthy nails and fungal nails
Difficult fungal nails cause obstacles to grooming that result from the symptoms of the fungus itself. Fully healthy toenails are easily trimmed with regular nail clippers and no additional steps. Normal, healthy nails also differ from fungal nails in other ways. Discoloration from a toenail fungus can hide the skin underneath the nail, which is the opposite of how a normal nail will look. Healthy nails aren’t thick, particularly rough or uneven, or detached from the nail bed. Nails that have debris buildup of gunk under the nail are also unhealthy. Damages to the nail’s composition are other indications that they are unhealthy, and can include cracking or crumbling. The growth rate of the nails can also be telling; normal nails should grow at a slow but steady pace. If your nails aren’t growing at all, this is a sign that the nail has been damaged by something. The nail should be strong and sturdy enough to not break easily, but still easy to cut.
Symptoms of Nail Fungus
Difficult fungal nails to trim are one of the many ways fungus can affect the toenail. While hardening and thickening of the nails can be aesthetically negative, what is often more frustrating is the way they affect your nail maintenance routine. These symptoms are especially annoying because they affect your ability to keep up with maintaining a proper routine. If grooming of your nails has been interfered with by the symptoms of toenail fungus, you still need to regularly groom your nails but you may need to implement a few additional steps to do it properly.
Difficult fungal nails will still need to be regularly trimmed in accordance with proper hygiene practices. If you let your nails grow excessively long, this will pose health risks that need to be avoided. One health risk that extremely long toenails pose is trapping bacteria and other microorganisms underneath them. When these organisms are under your nails, they can cause other infections. Extremely long nails also pose a risk of ingrown toenails forming. Overgrown toenails break more, forming jagged, rough edges that will pierce into the skin of the toe easily.
Ways to soften your toenails
Softening difficult fungal nails is definitely a helpful step to trim them and groom them. Toenail fungus impacts the difficulty of trimming nails. You will need to take certain steps to counteract these symptoms! When nails become too hard or thick because of a fungus, the blades of traditional home nail clippers may not even fit around them at all. Hardened and thickened nails have more nail material which makes it more difficult to actually slice through the nails. Softening the nails makes the nails more soft, pliable, and easy to cut, and can be done at home simply by regularly soaking your feet in warm water! All you have to do is fill a tub with water and let the nails soak.
Soaking the feet is helpful at trimming difficult fungal nails but it will not get rid of the fungus. The most effective treatment is nail fungus laser treatment. The doctor will thin down the nails and then use a laser to kill the fungus. Our laser typically requires one session to completely cure the fungus. To learn more about this treatment or schedule a free consultation with a licensed podiatrist, give us a call at 1-(800) 672-0625 or visit our website for more information.
