Diseased Toenails

Diseases of the toenails often go undiagnosed, misdiagnosed and left untreated until they result in significant pain, odor, nail malformation and even debilitation. Among the conditions are fungal infections, pressing ingrown toenails, bone spurs and warts. When an abnormality is suspected, it is important to see a podiatrist as opposed to self-diagnosing or visiting a nail salon technician. Podiatrists are physicians who may differentiate disease symptoms, diagnose underlying conditions that cause them and offer proper treatment.

Things You'll Need

• Podiatrist

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Instructions

• 1

  See a podiatrist if you have concerns about the health of your toenails. You may be diagnosed with onychomycosis, the medical term for toenail fungus. According to Dr. Michael Sapko, toenail fungi may also cause great pain, foul odor and open the toenails to bacterial or viral infections. Start with treatments that will only destroy the fungus. Dr. Tracey Toback promotes a 30-minute laser treatment with an 88 percent success rate. Prepare for surgery if prescriptions fail and laser treatment is unavailable. Urea solutions and the forceful tearing away of the nail bed is considered a last resort option for chronic onychomycosis cases.

• 2

  Stay away from nail salons and have your ingrown toenail treated by a podiatrist. A salon technician will be able to see if a toenail is digging into your skin and may cut it away. A foot doctor, however, will be able to diagnose the cause and help you prevent recurrence.A podiatrist may also determine if an infection has started and prescribe antibiotics. Epodiatry experts explain that the primary causes of ingrown toenails are poor cutting techniques, a curvy-shaped nail that promotes poor nail growth, pressure from shoes that do not allow toes to move freely, chubby toes, pressure from other toes and trauma.

• 3

  Do not self-diagnose painful toenails, especially pain in the big toe. When tumors or spurs develop on the bone underneath the nail, it is called subungual exostosis. If this pain is misdiagnosed as an ingrown toenail, for example, resulting pain from trying to resolve it yourself may make the condition worse. According to the website of the New Zealand Dermatological Society Inc., 50 percent of reported cases occur in patients under age 20 and most of the cases are women and girls. Subungual exostosis lesions are removed only by surgery.

• 4

  Do not leave warts around the nail margins unattended. Images provided by the American Academy of Family Physicians refer to these warts as periungal warts and show them pushing the nail bed up when left untreated. These warts may permanently deform the toenails. Periungal warts may be destroyed by topically applying salicylic acid, freezing, burning or injecting them with the chemotherapy agent, bleomycin.