Toenail fungus, also known as Onychomycosis, is a what?
A: A fungal infection of the nail.
Symptoms may include what?
A: White or yellow nail discoloration, thickening of the nail, and
separation of the nail from the nail bed.
Toenails or fingernails may be affected, but it is more
common for what?
A: Toenails.
Complications may include what?
A: Cellulitis of the lower leg.
Different types of fungus can cause onychomycosis,
including what?
A: Dermatophytes and Fusarium.
What are the risk factors?
A: Athlete's foot, other nail
diseases, exposure to someone with the
condition, peripheral vascular disease, and poor immune function.
The diagnosis is generally suspected based on what?
A: The appearance and can be confirmed by laboratory testing.
Onychomycosis does not necessarily require what?
A: Treatment.
The antifungal medication terbinafine taken by mouth
appears to be the most effective but is associated with what?
A: Liver problems.
Trimming the affected nails when on treatment appears
what?
A: Useful.
There is a ciclopirox-containing nail polish, but there
is what?
A: No evidence that it works.
The condition returns in up to half of cases following
what?
A: Treatment.
Not using old shoes after treatment may what?
A: Decrease the risk of recurrence.
Onychomycosis occurs in about what percentage of the
adult population?
A: 10%.
It was first determined to be the result of a fungal
infection in 1853 by whom?
A: Georg Meissner.
What is the most common symptom of a fungal nail
infection?
A: The nail becoming thickened and discolored: white, black, yellow or
green.
As the infection progresses the nail can become what?
A: Brittle, with pieces breaking off or coming away from the toe or finger
completely.
If left untreated, the skin underneath and around the
nail can become what?
A: Inflamed and painful.
There may also be white or yellow patches on the
nailbed or scaly skin next to the nail, and what?
A: A foul smell.
There is usually no pain or other bodily symptoms,
unless the disease is what?
A: Severe.
Dermatophytids are fungus-free skin lesions that
sometimes form as a result what?
A: A fungus infection in another part of the body.
This could take the form of what?
A: A rash or itch in an area of the body that is not infected with the
fungus.
Dermatophytids can be thought of as what?
A: An allergic reaction to the fungus.
When onychomycosis is due to a dermatophyte infection,
it is termed what?
A: Tinea unguium.
What is the most common risk factor for onychomycosis?
A: Aging due to diminished blood circulation, longer exposure to fungi, and
nails which grow more slowly and thicken, increasing susceptibility to
infection.
Nail fungus tends to affect men more often than women
and is associated with what?
A: A family history of this infection.