Philippine News Today #83 :
(Originally Posted) July. 2009

Onychomycosis, also known as Tinea Unguium, is a scientific name of a fungal infection of the nail caused by Candida and moulds . This nail disease is commonly known as nail fungus and it constitutes half of all nail abnormalities. A lot of people have this nail disease, in different severities, but they may or may not be aware that this particular nail disease should be given attention and medicated as soon as possible.
How do you detect a nail fungus? Nail moulds or fungus are often common on toenails but fingers nails can also be infected. Nails may become rough and crumbly, separated or "lifted" from the nail bed. Usually, the plate may be thickened and may have turned yellow and cloudy in color and appearance. There may be no pain or other bodily symptoms associated with the nail disease unless it is severe. Infected nails which did not get medical attention for a long time may have significant discoloration from yellow to green, resembling the color of bread moulds, and emitting foul smell.
If you see these symptoms, seek medical help as soon as possible because this particular nail disorder is quite difficult to cure and could spread to the other fingers or other people .Once fungus gets into the nails, it is very difficult to treat. People with nail moulds may experience significant psychosocial problems due to the appearance of the nail. Ladies may "hide" the disturbing appearance with the application of nail color but men have no way of making them less noticeable especially when fingernails are infected. Treated nails can experience recurrence of the infection and removing the nail may or may not insure complete riddance of onychomycosis. When the new nail grows in, it almost always becomes reinfected.
This nail condition is not ‘hereditary' as some people say. One may get it by touching surfaces or objects touched by other people who have nail fungus. Avoid walking barefoot in public areas such as showers or communal changing rooms.Another possible way to contract the disease is by getting manicure or pedicure from salons that do not practice good sanitation protocols. Rate of getting it is higher among ladies who get artificial nails because when the real nail is not properly sanitized prior to the gluing of the artificial nails, the fungus can get trapped between the real and fake nails making it a perfect breeding ground for the fungus. It is always a good practice to be very cautious of sanitation because it is one's body that suffers from other people's lack of hygiene. Sometimes trauma or damage to a nail predisposes to the development of onychomycosis. Another thing that one has to observe is keeping one's feet clean and dry and avoiding sharing shoes and socks. My imagination is really far off when I visualize nail fungus and athlete's foot fungus in shoes from the shoe store racks, rental shoes in bowling centers, and rental ski boots in ski resorts. Staff tells me the shoes get sanitized, but because of my paranoia, I always wondered how well, eh?
Treatment is challenging and the treatment duration may be long. Pills are available but side effects are inevitable aside from being expensive. There are so many treatment products on the internet but consulting the doctor is the best way to go.