There is no way to reverse the damage that has already been done to your nails, so even after the fungus is killed off, you will have to wait until the warped, damaged nail has grown out completely. This can take several months, depending on how fast your nails grow.
Repairing thick or damaged toenails takes a long time because they grow slowly. It can take up to a year to fix some toenail problems, even with ongoing treatment.
How can you treat? Conservative treatment – the foot specialist will debride (file) your toenails to their normal flat level. Unfortunately, in a few weeks or months the toenail will become thick all over again so this needs to be repeated every few weeks/months.
What does it look like? Bruised toenails tend to be darker in color than fungal toenails. While fungal infections tend to be yellow to medium brown, bruised toenails tend to be red or purplish before becoming dark brown, or sometimes even black.
In extreme instances, black toenails can be a sign of cancer or liver or kidney disease. Dark streaks underneath the nail can signal a hidden melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer. If your toenails are white, you should be tested for anemia.
Nail psoriasis sometimes causes too much keratin to grow under the nail. This overgrowth is called subungual hyperkeratosis. People with hyperkeratosis may notice a white, chalky substance under the nail. When this occurs in the toenails, the pressure of shoes pushing down on the nails might cause pain.
"It helps your cuticles, keeps your hands and nails hydrated, and works better than callus removal if you put it on your feet and wear socks overnight," says Nguyen. "The best part is that it's affordable and probably already in your medicine cabinet!" she adds.
Podiatry treatment for thickened toenails
Our podiatrists regularly reduce thickened toenails as part of a general foot care treatment (medical pedicure). This involves nail cutting, removal of corns and callus, followed by application of a heel balm, making your feet feel great again.
If your fungus doesn't clear up at home, you should check in with a dermatologist (a skin, hair, and nail specialist) or podiatrist (a foot doctor.) They may gently scrape under your nail to get rid of some of the fungus or send it to the lab for diagnosis. They can also prescribe stronger medicines.
The most common cause of thickened toenails is aging. Toenails thicken with age because the growth rate of the nail plate slows. Other reasons toenails may thicken include: A common skin condition called psoriasis.
“Applying Vicks VapoRub to fungus-infected toenails can clear up the notoriously hard-to-treat condition. Michigan State University clinicians found that applying the product daily to the infected nail cleared the condition in 32 of 85 patients, though it took anywhere from 5 to 16 months…”
Causes of toenail problems include trauma, ill-fitting shoes, poor circulation, poor nerve supply and infection. Problems with toenails can be successfully treated by a podiatrist.
There are multiple treatments for toenail fungus, though some are faster than others. The fastest way to eliminate the infection is through toenail laser treatment.
If your nails are crusted with keratin debris, she scrapes it away with specialized tools. If your infection is severe, she may recommend toenail surgery to temporarily remove the infected nail and treat the nail bed topically. Clearing onychomycosis can take up to a year.
While you may immediately assume that you've picked up something at the nail salon, most of the time, you're probably just dealing with keratin granulations. Keratin granulations, recognizable by their color and chalk-like consistency, appear when your toenails are dehydrated.
The condition of your toenails is something everyone needs to pay more attention to. Bacterial and fungal infections can cause color, texture, and odor changes to toenails.
If the nails are mostly white with darker rims, this can indicate liver problems, such as hepatitis. In this image, you can see the fingers are also jaundiced, another sign of liver trouble.
Brittle nail syndrome, onychomycosis, paronychia, nail psoriasis, longitudinal melanonychia, Beau's lines, onychomadesis and retronychia are common nail disorders seen in clinical practice.