Nail fungus causes brittle nails. Strong and healthy nails represent good overall health. If your nails are brittle and ridged, it may be a sign of poor wellbeing or an underlying disease. About 10% of adults develop ridges on their nails. Some of the risk factors are vitamin deficiencies, aging, nail trauma, excessive use of nail polish, kidney disease, genetics, autoimmune disorders, medication side effects, psoriasis, diabetes, or fungal infections.

Nails are brittle usually when they are dry. A nail is healthy when its water content is about 18%.

To prevent water loss from the nails, you can follow these tips:

  • Avoid Excessive Hand Washing or Foot Bathing – Constantly washing and making nails wet, then drying them, again and again, can lead to dehydrated, brittle nails. 
  • Limit the Use of Nail Polis – The chemicals in nail polishes are dehydrating. Give your nails time to rest and breathe from time to time. When you decide to change your nail polish, take a break first for a few days before reapplying new nail polish
  • Modulate Temperature when washing – Switching between very hot and very cold environments can have an impact on the nails. 

Fungal Toenail Infections are caused by the overgrowth of fungi or yeast. It causes the toenail to become brittle or fall off. The fungus can accumulate under the nail. As the nail grows with a fungal infection, they grow unevenly, thus developing ridges.

Beau’s lines, or indented horizontal ridges, are associated with nail fungus. Fungi can enter the ridges and develop a nail infection. People with this condition should avoid areas such as public pools and communal showers where fungal infections are common.

Laser Treatment for Nail Fungus

As you can see, tips for healthy feet without nail fungus can be easy to find. If you have caught nail fungus, it can be easily treated using the FDA-approved PinPointe laser, which typically only takes on treatment. Other treatments like topical solutions and oral medication are not as effective. Topical solutions have a very low cure rate. This is because the solution does not penetrate all the way through the nail bed.  This is because it can lead to liver toxicity. You would need to have consistent blood tests throughout the course of taking the medication. 

Our nail doctor in Guntersville, AL recommends this treatment for toenail fungus. The PinPointe Laser treatment has the highest cure rate in the market. It has no side effects and no recovery period. As a result, you can go about your daily activities right after the treatment. Also, there’s no pain.

If you have any signs of nail fungus, call us at (256) 562-4540 our Guntersville, AL location, or visit our website for more information on our doctors at one of our over 150 locations.