She may recommend an oral antifungal, such as terbinafine or itraconazole, too. 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.
Dermatophytes: A common cause of toenail fungus
Keratin is also in your skin and hair. Dermatophytes, the fungi that usually cause onychomycosis, feed on keratin to grow and multiply. Dermatophytes love warm, moist environments, including: Public pools.
If the toenail fungus progresses, it can go deeper into the nail, causing discoloration, thick white stuff under the toenail (keratin debris), nail thickening and crumbling, and even transmission to surrounding nails.
Dermatophytes use the keratin in your nails to grow and multiply. By consuming the keratin in your nails by breaking it down, creating keratin debris — a crumbly residue that becomes part of the toenail fungus.
Nail fungus is a common infection of the nail. It begins as a white or yellow-brown spot under the tip of your fingernail or toenail. As the fungal infection goes deeper, the nail may discolor, thicken and crumble at the edge. Nail fungus can affect several nails.
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.
Keratin is a tough, fibrous protein found in fingernails, hair, and skin. The body may produce extra keratin as a result of inflammation, as a protective response to pressure, or as a result of a genetic condition. Most forms of hyperkeratosis are treatable with preventive measures and medication.
That chalky substance is likely keratin debris, which is formed when keratin protein (a.k.a. fibrous protein found in the nails and outer layer of the skin) breaks down, usually due to fungal infection. If left untreated, it can spread to other areas.
These compounds can dehydrate the nails underneath them, leading to a protein called “keratin” dehydrate. These keratin molecules can clump together, creating white smudges. These are white fragments that are like curled-up cottage cheese on top of your toenails and fingernails.
If after removing your toenail polish, you see these white chalky patches then in most cases it is a condition called keratin granulation. These occur from constant polish wearing. This is not a fungus but can look much like it and can trigger a fungus so it is important to treat it.
Try medicated creams.
Apply a nonprescription cream that contains urea, lactic acid, alpha hydroxy acid or salicylic acid. These creams help loosen and remove dead skin cells. They also moisturize and soften dry skin. Put on this product before moisturizer.
Regular nail paint may look beautiful when used to hide diseased toenails, but doing so might exacerbate infections. It is wet and dark where fungus thrives. Fungus can flourish in environments created by nail polish. Antifungal nail polish can be covered with non-medicated nail polish.
Toenails are made of two different types of keratin: hard and soft. The fungi that most commonly cause onychomycosis are called dermatophytes. These fungi use the keratin in your nails to grow and multiply and make onychomycosis highly contagious.
“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…”
Revolutionary nail fungus laser therapy has an 80% success rate. Instead of medications or debridement, Dr. Frankel offers a laser therapy treatment with an 80% success rate at permanently treating nail fungus. It's painless and performed in-office with three 10-minute procedures every four weeks.
Saltwater strips hair of keratin, which means the treatment you spent all that time getting will be ruined. Sodium opens up your cuticle, depleting your hair of keratin and moisture. If you think you'll swim in a pool instead, think again.
4) Lemon is a citrus fruit containing a lot of citric acids. The acid level in lemon is adverse, and it might remove the keratin layer.
Can coconut oil be used on keratin treated hair? Yes. Virgin coconut oil binds to the hair and can reduce keratin loss during wash cycles.
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.