How to Prevent Fungal Infections on Your Toenails

Avoiding toenail fungal infections might be the last thing on your mind, but perhaps it should be higher in your list of priorities...

Toenails

Avoiding toenail fungal infections might be the last thing on your mind, but perhaps it should be higher in your list of priorities. After all, fungi can be found almost everywhere, and they thrive primarily in warm, dark, and moist places like your footwear. For this reason, it’s not hard to come by this type of condition.

At least half of nail-related disorders are due to fungus. While the effects aren’t life-threatening, it can be an embarrassing and potentially painful condition to have. However, with the proper fungal nail infection treatment, you can overcome the problem. But wouldn’t it be better to avoid it altogether? In this article, we’ll cover a few tips that will enable you to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Alternate your footwear

It’s a good hygienic practice to alternate your footwear. You’ll be more susceptible to fungal infection if you wear a pair that isn’t dry yet from the sweaty workout regimen. It’s never a good idea to wear the same shoes consecutively, so make sure you don’t. Instead, allow them to breathe out. Place them in a place where they’ll be able to thoroughly dry. As simple as this might seem, it will keep the risks of infection at a very minimum.

Disinfect your shoes regularly

Apart from alternating your shoes, you’ll also want to clean them up regularly. First, disinfect them using an anti-bacterial solution, mainly if you’ve used them without wearing socks underneath. Additionally, you can wash your socks using hot water with a little bit of bleach to remove existing fungi. Lastly, it makes a lot of sense to keep your feet clean and dry.

Trim your nails

It’s a general rule of thumb to trim your nails short because if they’re kept long, it’ll make it easier for the fungi to spread. Don’t share your nail clippers with anyone else; clean them up before and after using them. Keep yourself from cutting your cuticles. When you get right down to it, the skin surrounding the base of your nails is a barrier against infection. If you take them out, you’ll only increase your risks of fungal infections.

Be careful around public areas

Public showers, locker rooms, and pools are all hotspots for fungi. Due to this, it’s a bad idea to walk around barefoot in these areas. You’ll also want to find somewhere else to store any clothing and footwear you bring. Keep them inside your automobile if possible. While it’s true that this can be a lot of hassle, it will make you much less susceptible to developing fungal conditions than you otherwise would.

Use online resources

These days, most people defer to the World Wide Web when it comes to health and wellness. When you get right down to it, the internet boasts an abundance of resources on the subject, from programs for digital care and health technologies. It can also enhance the efficiency and efficacy of delivery in healthcare, making medication and treatment as precise as it is personalised.

In the case of fungal infections, you can secure topical creams and solutions and even prescription medications to treat the condition without having to leave the comforts of your home. As a result, you’ll save yourself a lot of time – and trouble – having to go out of your way to purchase it at a store directly.

Conclusion

There aren’t many things as humiliating and painful as having a fungal infection on your toenails. Beyond the embarrassment of going around in open footwear, it can also cause physical discomfort and soreness in severe cases. Therefore, it’s always a better approach to take all measures to steer clear of this problem.