How did I get toenail fungus? This is the question that I first asked my doctor when he diagnosed me with the infection. When someone becomes infected with nail fungus, lots of questions come up. One of the more prominent ones is “how did I get it?” There are lots of different ways to become infected with toenail fungus. It can often be difficult to find out exactly how you became infected. But doing a little research could help you figure out how nail fungus might have infected you.
Where is fungus?
Fungus is everywhere and lives on almost all surfaces. However, there is a small percentage that can infect and become problematic. This small percentage is not difficult to obtain. In fact, there are a number of very easy ways you could retract a nail fungus. Public places are the most common places you can obtain a nail fungus. When I say public places I am using the term generically for places that are used by many strangers. Such places can be public swimming pools, showers, locker rooms, gyms, nail salons. These surfaces carry the most bacteria and fungus-causing agents.
Understanding what fungus likes
Fungus thrives in moisture and warmth, it is likely to attach to anything that touches these surfaces. When your warm foot comes in contact with these surfaces, you are likely to have fungi attach to your skin and eventually travel to the nails. When it comes to nail salons, it is a similar process that occurs, however, there are other ways to get the nail fungus at a nail salon. Many salons, busy or not, will often fail to disinfect their instruments after each use. This in turn leads to the rapid spread of nail fungus to clients.
Where and how did I get toenail fungus?
A common way for people to get toenail fungus is by keeping their toes cramped up in shoes all day long. Toenail fungus thrives in moist and dark places such as shoes so wearing the same shoes and socks day after day will not help you keep toenail fungus out. On the subject of shoes, if you live with someone who has toenail fungus, make sure they wear shoes around the house so the fungal spores don’t spread from their feet to yours.
Another way that a lot of people become infected with toenail fungus, especially females, is by going to nail salons. Nail salons don’t always sanitize their equipment. When they don’t sanitize them properly, fungal spores from one person can end up spreading to another person. Make sure you talk to your nail salon to find out if they sanitize their equipment properly. If they do, ask them to use antifungal nail polish to help decrease your risk of becoming infected in the future.
There are countless other ways to become infected as well. A foot doctor such as a podiatrist can tell you all about them and might even be able to figure out how you became infected in the first place. Podiatrists can also help you find the best possible toenail fungus treatment option available. The sooner you get rid of your toenail fungus the sooner you’ll be able to start worrying about how you became infected.
What can I do to treat nail fungus?
Foot doctors are experts at recognizing toenail fungus, so if you have any concerns about the condition forming they are the best professionals to consult. The best treatment for toenail fungus is a laser treatment, our laser is FDA approved to cure toenail fungus and typically requires only one treatment to be effective. This laser also has no side effects or downtime. Patients may resume regular activity right after the treatment is performed. To schedule a consultation with our nail doctor for the laser treatment in our San Antonio, Tx clinic, give us a call at 1-(800) 672-0625.
