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Onychomycosis
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Onychomycosis is a nail infection caused by fungi, and it shows up most often in the toenails. It can affect just one nail or several, and it doesn't stay on the surface: the fungi take over the nail and also the nail bed, the skin the nail rests on, something like the floor underneath a carpet. There's also no single culprit; different kinds of fungi are able to settle in there.
When they do, the nail changes: it thickens, it turns brittle and cracks, it loses its normal color, or it lifts away from that bed. The important detail is that this look doesn't belong to fungi alone. Other conditions leave a nail looking much the same, so a glance at it isn't enough to say for certain that a fungal infection is what's going on.
In brief
Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of one or more nails, and it affects toenails far more often than fingernails.
Several types of fungi can infect the nail and the nail bed underneath it. The nail may become thick, brittle, or discolored, or it may separate from the nail bed.
Other nail disorders can look similar, so appearance alone cannot reliably confirm a fungal infection.
Sources (2)
- Centers for Disease Control and PreventionClinical Overview of RingwormPublished
- National Library of MedicineFungal nail infectionPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated