You must have heard about toenail fungus infection before. It’s not a surprise since it is truly a common form of infection caused by fungus. This tiny microorganism sneaks into your nail bed and makes it dark, brittle, and smelly. The medical name of this condition is onychomycosis. Some people are more prone to getting infected with toenail fungus. These are caused by factors such as age, gender, general health, poor hygiene, or unclean habits.
6Diagnosis
Onychomycosis is a result of the invasion of microorganisms like yeasts, dermatophytes, and molds. Other conditions show the same symptoms as toenail fungus infection. These include viral warts, onycholysis, eczema or dermatitis, psoriasis, Lichen planus, bacterial infection, and onychogryphosis. It’s because of these other conditions that diagnosis is important when it comes to toenail fungus infection. Diagnosis is done by getting clippings from the crumbling tissue at the tip of the infected nail. The surface of the infected nail can be scraped as well as the debris under the nail. Such clippings and scrapings will be tested at a mycology laboratory for microscopy and culture.
