Infection Of Nail

Chronic Nail Infection

At present, thousands of people in the United States alone are suffering from nail infections. These nail infections affect your fingernails as well as your toenails. However, it has been found that people who have to work more in water are more likely to have their nails infected. Nail infections are caused by micro-organisms like bacteria or yeast and these organisms grow quickly in a warm and moist environment. That is why those who have their hands or feet in water for long periods are more prone to these infections. Nail infections are of two types acute, and chronic.

Chronic nail infection refers to infection that does not affect the nail immediately but develops gradually, and re-occurs periodically. Due to this reason, medical professionals often consider chronic nail infection to be more severe and hence, more difficult to cure. Chronic nail infections are also more dangerous because the infection can spread easily. So if any one of your finger or toe nail is infected, then it is quite certain that the adjacent fingers and toes will get affected too.

The symptoms of a chronic nail infection are similar to those of an acute nail infection. The infection ruins your nail and makes it ugly, by making the nail plate gets discolored and opaque. The nail bed of the infected nail becomes tender and swollen. People often try to hide infected nails by using artificial nails. But according to doctors, artificial nails should not be used in case of chronic nail infection. The use of artificial nails does not allow the flow of air between the nail and the nail bed and that might make the infection even more severe.

There are many medicines that are available for the treatment of chronic nail infections. To cure such an infection, the best possible method is pharmaceutical treatment. For a severe nail infection, the most effective anti-fungal remedy used is Terbinafine that is manufactured by Novartis Laboratory. This product is marketed under the trademark of Lamisil and is available in two forms tablet and cream. However, this medicine may can cause side-effects in some people. Hence, it is strongly advised that you consult a doctor before deciding he course of treatment for a chronic nail infection.

Infection Of Nail