Ugly toenails, A.K.A. Fungal Toenails

Hello, I'm Dr. Lawrence Lloyd.  I'm a podiatric surgeon in Fishers and Anderson, Indiana with a sub-specialty in laser treatment for oncyhomycosis or fungal nail disease.  For the last decade, I've researched and developed the most effective treatments to help people who are deeply embarrassed about the appearance of their toenails. My multi-pronged approach to improve the nail appearance has been enormously successful compared to other single treatment plans.  Many of my colleagues try the "one and done" treatment plan which has a high rate of failure.  Why?  Well. let's talk about toenails and why they change appearance.

 

Heredity--  As with our hair and our skin, we inherit certain characteristics in our toenails that change with time.  Usually toenails become thicker with age and may have uneven surfaces that may even create an infected ingrown toenail.  As we age, we have less circulation to our toenails.  This means that the nails may not have a strong blood supply for nutrition and to fight off infection.

 

Trauma-- Like any body part, when a toenail is injured, there is a disruption to the blood supply and with the repair process there is thickening of the tissue.  If it is skin, we get a scar, it if is a toenail, the nail becomes thick, yellow, and discolored when injured.  There are several types of trauma:

 

  A) Direct Trauma-- An example would be when you drop that frozen turkey on your toe.  You may get a bruise under the toenail that we call a subungual hematoma. You may have damaged the nail bed and the nail root, which permanently changes the growth pattern.

 

  B) Repetitive Microtrauma-- Your toenail hits either the end of the shoe or the bottom of the shoe with each step that you take.  Because it is a "micro" trauma, you never feel the pain, but after running a marathon, or even just your normal work day, the toenail  has been injured repeatedly.  Eventually, multiple micro traumas takes their toll on the toenail.

 

  C) Chemical Trauma-- Nail polish can change the growth and appearance of the nail, but usually only temporarily.  However, the chemicals may weaken the toenails ability to fight off infection, and you may be more likely to get infection.  Also, pedicure techniques can vary and cause nail disease or soft tissue infection if not performed correctly.

 

  D) Chemotherapy-- Weakens immune system and affects micro-circulation.

 

 

Skin Diseases--Sometimes skin diseases such as lichen planus and psoriasis will mask fungal nail disease.  These diseases may be autoimmune disorders, and need systemic treatments.

 

Fungus, Yeast, Molds, Bacteria--  These germs live on the toenail, within the toenail, under the toenail, and in the nail root under the skin. They are living and breeding in your toenail, and like termites, they will destroy your toenail.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that unless you are immune compromised, they will never spread to your bloodstream.  If you don't mind living with fungus, yeast, molds, or bacteria in your toenail, you can bring these little critters with you to your grave! Of course, they will continue to breed for awhile after you've gone to the Great Hereafter.

 

Of all the factors that change the toenail appearance, the most common felon is FUNGUS.   Fungal nail infections are usually found at the scene of the crime, even if you have other factors such as trauma and heredity.  At Lloyd Podiatry, we attack the fungus using our proprietary treatment protocol developed after treating thousands of case with the use of an extremely powerful and safe FDA cleared laser.

 

Click here to hear from Chris on his successful Laser fungal treatment. 

 

 

With my next blog, we will talk about effective therapies.

 

Dr. Lawrence E. Lloyd

 

Life is motion...and motion is foot powered.