Visiting a public swimming pool can bring a lot of joy, entertainment, pleasant emotions and, definitely, health improvements, because swimming as a type of physical exercising helps one to stay fit and preserve his general health. However, such public places, as pools, showers, etc. may also be a source of certain types of fungal infections. Commonly, fungi attack human nails, especially toenails, and cause the outbreaks of fungal infection, which can vary in severity and duration.
Fungal nail infection, also known as “onychomycosis” is considered to be a pretty common and widely-spread disorder, affecting mostly older individuals. It should also be mentioned that men are more predisposed to get nail infection than women. Besides, people with some chronic diseases, such as diabetes, may suffer from more severe forms of fungal nail infections because of the weak immune system.
There are many types of fungi associated with nail infections, but most commonly (in up to 80-95% of cases) the disorder is caused by dermatophytes fungi, which are also responsible for such disorders as athlete’s foot or ringworm.
Sometimes yeasts, for example, candida albicans, as well as certain species of moulds, may also cause nail infections. Unlike infections caused by dermatophytes, yeasts and moulds infections are not contagious, but on the other hand, these disorders are harder to treat, because they do not respond well to usual antifungal medications.
So, fungal nail infection - what does it look like? First of all, it should be mentioned that fungal nail infections mostly target nails of the toes, and only sometimes the fingernails. The big toenail is at the greatest risk of infection, and once infected with fungi it may become a source of infection for other nails. The infected nail usually turns white, yellow, green or even black in color. It can also become thicker or otherwise deformed. The end of the nail may lift up and crumble. Often flaky yellow patches or white spots appear on the surface of the nail. If left untreated, fungal nail infection may end up in the complete nail destruction and damages to the nearby tissues.
It is a pity, but fungal nail infections are not always easy to treat. In fact, the situation is not always that serious – in many cases, when the infection is mild and a person is healthy, the organism itself can fight the infection and regenerate nail tissue. However, once it comes to the necessity or nail infection treatment, it may take pretty much time, efforts and money to overcome the fungal infection. Usually, the treatment course lasts for about 12 weeks, but sometimes it may even take up to 12 months to completely kill the fungi responsible for the outbreak of infection.
For the time being, there are many options to treat fungal nail infections: one can get OTC topical antifungal creams, lotions, nail polishes, and, of course, there are stronger medications, usually in the form of oral antifungal pills, which are available by prescription. The examples of tablets, which may help in fighting nail infections, are Sporanox, Diflucan and Lamisil.
Finally, it should be said that fungal nail infections belong to the conditions, which are easier to prevent than to treat. So, below there are several tips to minimize the risks of fungal nail infections: do not go barefoot in public places, like showers, pools, locker rooms; take appropriate care of you nails – keep them short, clean and dry; and do not wear tight shoes, because this will cause the accumulation of warmth and moisture, which is a favorable condition for fungi growth. Following this tips and having a certain amount of luck will definitely turn pool visiting into a pleasant and beneficial entertainment, not a risky one.
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