SearchExclusive.com

Causes & Risk Factors,Health & Lifestyle,Signs & Symptoms

Understanding Causes and Symptoms of Nail Fungus

Onychomycosis, also known as tinea unguium or nail fungus, is a problem most people face sometime in their lives. This is a fungal infection that takes place in the fingernails or toe nails. Nail fungus causes swelling, inflammation, thickening, yellowing and crumbling of the nail. While nail fungus isn’t that painful, there are some cases where it can be so.

Causes of Nail Fungus

Nail Fungus is caused primarily due to a fungal infection. However, here are a few other factors that cause nail fungus.

Abnormal pH levels of your skin can cause nail fungus since fungi and certain bacteria tend to thrive under abnormal pH levels.
A weakened immune system is another cause of the development of nail fungus.
The most common cause of nail fungus is constant and prolonged exposure to moist environments. This includes wet or sweaty socks, poor hygiene, not wiping your feet after washing them, or when your feet get sweaty. Fungi thrive in moist and warm environments, so exposure to such environments will cause the fungus to grow.
Sometimes, contact with another person who has nail fungus can be a factor as well. Fungal infections can spread easily. So if you’ve used a pair of socks or shoes that belong to a person who’s already suffering from it, then there’s a high chance that you’d also have gotten infected.
If you are in the habit of getting manicures and pedicures done at a local salon, then make sure you ask if they disinfect tools and if they do it often. Emery boards and nail clippers, if used on an infected person before you, can spread the infection if they aren’t sanitized properly and frequently.
Diseases like diabetes can cause nail fungus as well.
Swimming in a public swimming pool is another cause of nail fungus, and the chances of this taking place are especially high if the swimming pool isn’t cleaned often.
When you wear closed shoes, your feet don’t breathe. Tight and ill-fitting shoes can cause nail fungus on your toes.

Symptoms Of Nail Fungus

Nail fungus can affect the entire nail. There are rare cases where it only has an impact on a part of the nail. If you are extremely unlucky, your other nails can get infected as well.

These are the symptoms of nail fungus:

Subungual Hyperkeratosis, this is scaling under your nail
The tip of your nail or the corners of your nails will begin to crumble. This is called distal onychomycosis.
Visible yellow or white streaks or lines across the nail. This is known as lateral onychomycosis.
White areas on the nail that flake and cause pits on the surface of the nail.
The appearance of proximal onychomycosis, which are yellow spots at the bottom of the nail.
The nail might lift off from the nail bed, be loosely attached. This can fall as well.
In some cases, you will find an odor coming out from the infected nail.
The nail tends to be thickened or brittle.
When the nail fungus has reached its peak, the entire nail falls off.

Tips On How To Get Rid Of Nail Fungus

Apple Cider Vinegar
Mildly acidic, apple cider vinegar kills bacteria and fungi and helps prevent nail fungus from spreading. To use this on your nail, mix apple cider vinegar with equal parts of water and soak your nails in this solution for about 30 minutes every day. After this, make sure you dry your nails thoroughly. You can also mix a little rice flour with apple cider vinegar and use it as an antifungal exfoliating scrub. Apply this paste on the nail that is affected, and gently scrub the nail. This will also help remove dead skin cells.

Baking Soda
Baking soda is an excellent ingredient in treating infections. It is an inexpensive and easily available ingredient that is found in almost every kitchen. Baking soda also helps neutralize foot odor. Add half a cup of baking soda, a full cup of hydrogen peroxide, and a few spoons of Epsom salt. Soak the infected area for about thirty minutes in this solution. Wash your feet after this and dry it with a clean cloth. Do it daily for good results.

Mouthwash
Mouthwash kills germs and bacteria in the mouth and removes bad odor. This can be used to treat nail fungus too. Made with compounds that kill fungus and bacteria, mouthwashes also have alcohol, which acts as an excellent antiseptic, keeping away fungi and other harmful bacteria. Add equal parts of Listerine to water, and soak the infected area for 30 minutes. Scrub the fingernail or toenail gently. Rinse it off and then dry the affected area. Make sure you repeat this process twice daily until you see positive results.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.