Softening thickened fungal nails is an essential part of toenail maintenance when your nails have this infection. Toenail fungus infections can show symptoms in a variety of ways, which can be both functional and aesthetic. It is important to understand the way these signs and symptoms can manifest. For one, being able to identify toenail fungus early on in its development can help aid in the sometimes frustrating treatment process.
Fungus grows quickly, so the earlier in its development that you receive treatment, the better. Additionally, by knowing more about the cause of your concerns, you can better maintain the condition of your nails while you are waiting to receive medical treatment or see results.
The struggle of thick toenails and why it’s important to soften thick toenails
When you set out to cut your fungus-infected toenails, you probably struggle, considering how thick and hard they are. Thickened nails are a symptom of nail fungus, and patients often find themselves at their wits’ end. Even with a medical-grade nail clipper, cutting your nails can be difficult and painful. In this case, you can use the following simple tips to soften your nails before cutting them.
Softening fungal nails can be very helpful in trimming and grooming them. This needs to be done regularly when they have become damaged from the infection. Grooming the nails regularly is important for many reasons, especially when they have a toenail fungus infection. Keeping the nails trimmed makes them appear to be well-maintained and clean. Keeping your nails at an average length will make the dirty look that toenail fungus damage can sometimes lend appear less apparent.
The alarming appearance that toenail fungus damage can cause will appear worse if the nails are also overgrown. Trimming your nails regularly will lessen the unclean look and reduce the degree to which the fungal condition is noticeable to everyone. Trimming the nails is part of regular hygiene as well, and is important for everyone to do, regardless of whether they have fungus or not. Ingrown toenails are also more common when nails are left to become overgrown, so trimming the nails regularly will protect you from that as well.
Causes of Thick Toenails
Read this blog to learn about the most common causes of thick toenails.
Toenails come in all shapes and sizes. Extremely thick nails, however, are less ordinary and usually are an indication of something. Below are just a few reasons why you may suffer from a thickening toenail:
- Trauma – Trauma is one of the more common causes of a thickening nail. Dropping heavy objects on the toes, hitting the toes against hard or rough surfaces, or improper shoe-wear are all forms of trauma. Damage to the nail bed, nail plate, or cuticle of the nail may result in nail thickening. This thickening can be temporary or permanent, depending on the severity of the trauma.
- Metabolism – Changes in metabolism can cause a lack of blood flow to the toes, which thereby causes them to thicken.
- Fungus – Nail thickening is one symptom of fungal nail infection, which is also very common when discussing thick nails.
- Systemic Disease – diseases that occur in the body, such as eczema, psoriasis, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. These are just a few of the diseases that could cause thickening, among others.
Although there may seem to be no end to your thick nails, there are solutions. The most obvious ones are filing down the nails. If a regular nail file does not do the job, you may want to consider a debridement of the nail, which can be done at a podiatrist’s office or a nail salon. If the issue does continue, visit a podiatrist promptly to identify the cause and solution.
Symptoms of Toenail Fungus
Thick fungal nails are just one of many symptoms of toenail fungus that can be assessed. However, some of the most frustrating changes include the thickening and hardening of the nail. These symptoms pose unique concerns as they affect the ability to groom the nails properly and regularly. If the grooming of your nails is affected in this way, it will be necessary to use other techniques to trim the nails regularly.
The main trick is to soak your feet to soften the nails. In a tub or bucket, take enough warm water to reach a depth that would cover your feet. You can opt to add Epsom salts to the water. Then, proceed to soak your feet for about half an hour, or more if your nails are very hard. Since you will likely need to do this every time you trim your nails, you may choose to invest in a foot bath for comfort and relaxation.
Soften Toenails
Softening thickened fungal nails is one of the most integral parts of fungal nail maintenance. Frequently, the changes a fungal infection causes in the nail will include aesthetic differences in appearance, which can be frustrating and unpleasant.
However, the structure and functionality of the nail itself can often be impeded as well. Toenail fungus is well known for making the surface of the nail hard and thick. When the nails are in this condition, they can become more difficult to maintain. Specifically, the nails become difficult to trim and clip as you normally would.
The main trick is to soak your feet to soften the nails. In a tub or bucket, take enough warm water to reach a depth that would cover your feet. You can opt to add Epsom salts to the water. Then, proceed to soak your feet for about half an hour, or more if your nails are very hard. Since you will likely need to do this every time you trim your nails, you may choose to invest in a foot bath for comfort and relaxation.
After soaking your feet, make sure to thoroughly pat them dry, since lingering moisture promotes the growth of nail fungus. Once your feet are dry, apply a nail softening cream of your choice directly to the nails, and leave them overnight. You can then trim the nails the next day.
If you would like to try even further tricks to soften your nails, you can apply VapoRub to them or tea tree oil. Then trim your nails once they feel softer. Alternatively, you can also soak cotton balls with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, and dab your nails until they feel softer. Then, you proceed to trim your nails right away.
Other Options
Nail softening sometimes isn’t enough to be able to trim your nails. If your toenails are especially thick, you may need to see a podiatrist to have debridement performed. This treatment thins down the nail and is usually done so that treatment for the fungus itself can be more effective.
A few treatments may include:
- Washing area with soap and water
- Applying urea cream overnight
- OTC topical fungus treatment
- Vicks VapoRub to disinfect
- Tea tree oil twice a day until the nail softens
- Oral mediation
- Laser treatment
- Removal of nail
Many treatments involve persistence and patience, so be prepared to incorporate them into your daily routine. After your fungus goes away, preventative measures must be followed so you do not reinfect yourself.
To ensure you don’t develop thick toenails again, you should:
- Keep your feet clean by washing them daily, followed by drying them with a clean towel
- Changing your socks and shoes consistently to keep your feet dry
- Wear correct shoes that are not too tight, and let your feet breathe
- Good hygiene habits, such as wearing sandals in public showers and pools
- Keeping your toenails groomed and not beyond the edge of your toes
- Using clean tools when grooming nails
- Throwing away old shoes you wore when you had your fungus
If you have Toenail Fungus, Laser Treatment might be the best option for you. Click here to schedule an appointment with one of our doctors.
Concerns for the treatment of fungal nails
When patients have an excess thickness of their nails because of toenail fungus, they may have concerns about getting a treatment done. Because the fungus lives under the nail itself, any nail fungus treatment needs to penetrate through the nail and get into the nail bed. Topical medications need to physically penetrate through the nail. They are usually ineffective at doing so and may require long periods of application before they show any results at all. Oral medications bypass the nail by traveling through the bloodstream. But this poses risks to the body itself. The oral medications can cause toxicity and damage to the liver. Laser treatments for fungus use wavelengths that penetrate through the nail into the nail bed to kill the fungus there.
Toenail Maintenance
Softening thickened fungal nails is an important part of nail hygiene and is an important part of general hygiene practices as well. Regular toenail hygiene includes regularly washing the toes. This process can help remove dirt, grime, and other things from underneath the nail. Trimming the nails is an essential part of nail hygiene as well. Without regular trimming, the nails can become excessively long, which is often uncomfortable and unsightly.
Very long nails can even start to push up against your shoes as you walk, which can be a cause of pain and discomfort. Additionally, the nails can start to curl underneath your toe, causing more issues. When the nails get excessively long, they can start to irritate the skin of the toe. The nails are also more prone to breakage when they are excessively long. When nails of this length break, there is potential to create sharp edges that could form an ingrown toenail.
Softening thickened fungal nails is important to be able to trim them, which is essential for their maintenance. However, trimming them can feel impossible for people to do because of the way toenail fungus has affected their nails. This is because the symptoms of toenail fungus can directly impact the ease of trimming the nails. When nails become excessively thick, traditional home nail clippers often won’t even fit around them.
Thickened Toenails
Thickened nails are also physically more difficult to cut. The nail clippers have to slice through more nail material, which presents more resistance to the blades. Lastly, nails can even become more hardened by a toenail fungus infection. This means that even if the toenail is the same thickness as normal, the nail can still be more difficult to cut.
Softening thickened fungal nails is, therefore, an important step in their maintenance. This is easy and simple to do at home. Some of the most effective and easy nail softening techniques can safely be done at home with a few ingredients required. Soaking thickened fungal nails in warm water regularly should effectively soften your nails to some degree. The purpose of soaking them is to allow them to absorb water, making them easier to cut.
How to soften toenails
Fill a bathtub with enough warm water to submerge your feet, put your feet in the tub, and then simply let them sit for 20-40 minutes. If you would like to enhance the experience, you can add Epsom salts to the water. If you would like to make the experience even more enjoyable, you can light a candle or read a book in the meantime. This can make the softening process something you can even learn to enjoy!
After softening thickened fungal nails in warm water, it should be much easier to trim them. Immediately after your feet have soaked, attempt to trim your toenails again. If the nails are still too hard to trim, you should repeat the softening process the next day until your nails are soft enough to cut.
By repeating the process over a few days, you increase the amount of time your nails have to soften. However, this process won’t be effective for everybody with hard, thick toenails.
Why is softening thick fungal nails important?
Softening thick fungal nails may not seem essential. Most people think that damage to the toe from fungus is typically only cosmetic. The fungus will cause the nails to discolor. It will usually start as a small spot or stripe that will then grow with the infection. I can start to cover more of the nail. As the infection continues to grow, the texture and structure of the nail will typically change. Debris buildup under the nail is one symptom of the damage. There are many other changes that may include cracking, brittleness, thickening, and hardening of the nail itself. These damages are typically only aesthetic and will not affect the proper usage of the toes.
The texture of nails may be affected to have functional consequences as well. For example, when the nails start to become very brittle or hard, using nail clippers to trim the nails can become very difficult. The hardness that nail fungus can cause can make it very difficult to push the nail clippers hard enough to cut through the hardened nail. Thickening from a toenail fungus can also have consequences for the use of toenail clippers. This constitutes a functional consequence of the infection for trimming the nails as well.
Importance of regular grooming of nails
Softening thick fungal nails is definitely a good habit to get into. This way, you will be able to trim them regularly. Trimming your toenails regularly is very important for several reasons. For one, this simple practice keeps the nails looking neat and tidy. It will help the aesthetic of the nail to keep them as tidy as possible. If you are worried about how your toenail fungus may seem to other people, keeping them at a moderate length will help make the aesthetic changes the fungus causes less obvious. Excessively long hair can be associated with being dirty by itself. Combined with the changes toenail fungus can cause, the “dirty look” will be compounded. If you trim your nails regularly, the nails will look like they are being regularly groomed. This will reduce the number of people who can tell that you have a fungal condition in your nails.
Easy ways to soften fungal nails at home
Softening thick fungal nails is actually pretty simple to do at home. The easiest way to soften fungal nails only requires one thing: water! Soaking your feet in a bath of warm water softens the nails and makes them easier to cut. Softening thick fungal nails may not make them as easy to groom after the first attempt. If you have a severe toenail fungus infection, multiple sessions of soaking may be necessary before your nails are soft enough to cut. If your nails still don’t get soft enough, you can try a nail softening cream after the water bath as well.
What to do if at-home treatment is not enough?
Softening thick fungal toenails at home won’t always be enough. Sometimes, the nail is too thick, and there is no amount of softening that will get it between the nail clippers. In such cases, you will need to meet with a nail doctor. Most nail doctors have a technique to file down the top of the nails to make them thinner.
To permanently get rid of thick nails, you will have to seek toenail fungus treatment. After eliminating the fungus from the nail bed, a new healthy nail should start to grow behind the old damaged one. This nail should be clear, thin, and soft enough to cut. The best option for this treatment is the PinPointe laser, which typically requires only one treatment to eliminate the fungus from the nail bed. To find which of our 150 podiatry clinics is near you to get the toenail fungus laser treatment, visit our page here.
Treatments for Toenail Fungus
Softening fungal toenails can only be permanently done with an FDA-approved treatment administered by a licensed podiatrist. To avoid needing to soak your feet every time you trim them for the rest of your life, you will need to eliminate the root cause of the hardening and thickening.
The best treatment available is the PinPointe laser, which typically requires only one treatment to eliminate the fungus. After this treatment, a new healthy nail will grow behind the old damaged one. This new nail will be softer and easier to cut. To schedule a consultation with a licensed podiatrist for the PinPointe laser, give us a call at 1-(800) 672-0625 or visit our website for more information.
