Nail fungus...home remedies in your first aid kit

By Dr Adepeju O Adeniran

It is not hard to recognize when your nails become infected with a fungal infection: it will most likely change color, sometimes change shape, and even texture too, in many cases.

For people who do not know what I am talking about, have you ever seen fingernails or toenails especially, become different-looking: change color to white, light yellow, and look "harder" than nails are supposed to be?

Sometimes these changes start at the corner of the nail bed and then spread to the other parts of the nail.

With the changes in texture, some people experience brittleness, which causes the nails to flake off or powder off (like breaking of chalk).

There can also be pain, if the blood supply to the nail bed becomes affected and subsequently if the skin of the nil bed starts to die.

Yes, nail fungus is a nasty disease and an embarrassing inconvenience.

But how does one contract it?

If you live in Africa, you need to listen; most fungi, especially the ones that cause skin and nail diseases love and thrive in, environments that are warm to hot, moist and not very open to air or oxygen.

If you live in Africa and like to wear clothes that are not natural fabrics like cotton, which allow air to move freely over and around your body, chances are that you might have at one point had a fungal infection on your skin.

But what about in your nails?

It is very similar, most nail fungi like a moist and wet environment on the nails to grow well, but how in the first place do they get there.

a) From wet shoes. Especially gym shoes if you work out, since you are likely to sweat during a work out.

b) From sharing sponges. Think about it, sponges are always either wet or moist and most soaps do not kill fungi.

c) Same thing with wet or moist towels.

d) From sharing someone else's salon pedicure set. Many fungi have been known to live dormant on instruments used for manicures or pedicures. In fact a number one known arena of nail fungi transmission is the salon. Either from the instruments, or from inside the foot baths that the feet are soaked in. Many Salon beauticians are unaware that they are spreading infection by their inability or unwillingness to properly clean and disinfect and DRY their bowls before use. Bowls like that should be wiped clean and DRIED IN THE SUN, not kept moist in a dark corner to grow the fungi better.

So that's all the things you need to avoid to AVOID THE FUNGUS.

But what if you have already caught it..click the next page for some suggestions that may help you...