Nail Fungus

| December 15, 2009 |

There is a big difference between nail fungus and nail mold. Many nail technicians don’t realize there is a difference and use fungus and mold synonymously. As a nail technician you owe it to your clients to be educated and well informed. As a client you want to be informed about what could happen to you, and know what to do if you get an infection. Today we will talk about what nail fungus is.

I have a habit of having a lot to say on the topics I post about , and this one is no exception. I’ll have to divide the topic of fungus into a few posts. Let’s get the big science terms out of the way first. The fungus you contract on your nails are micro-organisms of the Dermatophyte class. These micro-organisms love warm, dark, moist environments that lack sunlight. Nail fungus organisms feed off the keratin in your nails, which is one of the reasons fungus thrives once it finds a home in your nail plate and nail bed and can be very tough to get rid of.

As the fungus eats away at the keratin in your nails, your nails can become discolored (yellowish), brittle and start to thicken. If not treated your nail will get worse and worse, eventually separating from your nail bad and falling off. It can become painful and may even start to smell really unpleasant.

The fungus micro-organisms need to gain entrance through the outer layer of your skin, once they do they can cause an infection. The most common way fungus infections develop is by gaining entrance through cuts and tears around your nails. It can even gain access through the exposed area between the nail plate and the nail bed. Once the fungus has made its way into your skin and you are infected, you don’t even know it.