I’m sure we all have our own issues when it comes to our nails. Some of us may have suffered a broken nail, and some of us have even experienced clipping it off, ouch! Still, all these experiences are just normal. However, one type of nail problem exist and should not be taken lightly. Paronychia infection can also “bite” you if you do not take good care of your nails. It is estimated 30 million people today have this type of nail infection.
No worries though, this infection is treatable but the best thing to do is preventing it form infecting you.
Paronychia or also known as onychomycosis is type of fungi that grows well in moist, dark and warm environments. A symptom that can tell you if you have been infected by this fungus is that your fingernails start to be brittle and discolor to either yellowish or brownish. Research has shown that dermatophytes, which are tiny organisms, are responsible for these fungal infections. These organisms live in the spaces between nails and nail beds, although there is a protein called keratin that covers between these spaces. Dermatophytes destroy this protein which in effect makes your nails look discolored and make your nails brittle.
- Causes
One cause of being infected by this type of fungus is poor hand hygiene. This fungus can also infect you through nail trauma (over trimming and banging it on a hard surface). Exposing your hands for too long in moist and damp conditions is also a factor that can contribute to the growth of this fungus.
- Prevention
Blood circulation is also a factor, try to prevent having pins and needles, which is due to an improper blood circulation. This can cause you to have paronychia. Try to avoid banging your hand too much and be careful on what you do for it may cause wounds. Try to use hand sanitizers every once in a while especially when what you do needs your hands to work a lot. Try to pick hand sanitizers that have skin moisturizers so that you would not feel uncomfortable using them.
- Cure
Well, if you have already been infected by this nasty fungus you can try tropical creams, oral medicines, sprays or a combination of the three is better. However, consult your doctor, better yet a dermatologist, when it comes to this.
To point out, paronychia treatment is much more expensive than prevention methods. If you want to avoid all the problems of going to a dermatologist and the purchasing of the medicine to cure this infection then consider these methods of prevention for these methods have little or no cost at all. So take care of the nails.
For more info about paronychia, you can visit en.wikipedia.org: paronychia
