Thick Yellow Toenails

Thick Yellow Toenails: Find out why they are yellow, what caused this and how you can start treating them at home today!

Symptoms Of Thick Yellow Toenails:

The most common symptom is the nail becoming thickened and discolored; especially at the end of the toenail. Other symptoms include:

• Brittle toenails.
• Pieces breaking off or coming away underneath the nails.
• The skin around it becomes thick dry and crusty.
• Scaly skin forms underneath the toenails.

Causes Of Thick Yellow Toenails?

If you have yellow toenails:** assume that you have toenail fungus!**

• Fungus under the toenails causes cross-linking of molecules called collagen.
• This cross-linking causes the toenail to become thick and yellow.
• The skin underneath the nail also becomes thick, hard and calloused.
• New studies are showing toenail fungus is almost always the cause of thick yellow toenails.
• This is especially true if the nails have crumbly debris under them.

How Did I Get Toenail Fungus?

Fungus usually enters underneath the toenail, where it replicates and begins to cause damage.** Foot fungus is always present before toenail fungus can occur!**

• Most people develop micro-trauma under the edges of the nail, which allows fungus to enter.
• The fungus then begins to colonize underneath the nail plate itself.
• This causes a thick yellow callus to form underneath the toenail.
• This yellow callus is what causes the toenail to look yellow.
• It also causes the nail to become thicker because less moisture is getting to the nail from the nail bed.
• Foot fungus is always needed before toenail fungus can occur!

Does Nail Polish Cause Thick Yellow Toenails?

**Toenail polish usually causes white chalky nails, not yellow toenails!**

• If you have white chalky toenails consider keratin granulations.
• Keratin granulations are when the top of the nail plate becomes dehydrated.
• Toenail polish dehydrates the nail plate, cause the collagen molecules to become white and chalky.

Jump To The Keratin Granulation Treatment Guide.

Confirmation Of Toenail Fungus:

The only way to confirm toenail fungus for sure is to head to your podiatrist’s office where they can before some tests. But these are usually no necessary!

• KOH smear: this is the fastest & most cost effective test.
• PAS test: this is the most sensitive test.
• Fungal culture: this is the most specific test.
• PCR (Polymerase chain reaction): this is the most sensitive & specific, but most expensive.

The bottom line is all of these tests are time consuming & expensive. But after years of data, the bottom line is that thick yellow toenails are almost 100% due to toenail fungus.

• It is not essential to know exactly what fungus you have, because the medications all work very well!

Home Yellow Toenail Treatment:

Remember that in order to effectively treat your toenail fungus, you first must be able to prevent fungus from attacking your feet first!

• This means protecting against fungus living on your skin!

Stage 1)Prevention Of Foot Fungus!

 A) Get Breathable Shoes.

• Tight & occlusive shoes are a major cause of foot fungus.
• Get shoes or sandals that breathe.
• The goal is to let moisture evaporate from your foot throughout the day.
• Without a tight occlusive shoe, the fungus cannot grow.
• This gives your body enough time to fight the infection off.

B) Get Synthetic Socks.

• Synthetic socks are shown to evaporate moisture easier.
• This will let your feet breath more.
• This prevents the optimum environment for fungal growth.
• Try to avoid cotton socks.

C)Keep your foot web-spaces dry.

• After you bathe or shower, make sure your web spaces are clean and dry.
• If you have swollen toes, try to dry out the web spaces regularly.
• Don’t put creams in between your toes!
• This will allow the fungus to proliferate.

D) Use anti-fungal powder or spray to prevent moisture buildup.

• There are medicated anti-fungal drying agents available.
• Do this if you cannot switch to open shoes or synthetic socks.
• This alone will most likely take care of your problem!
• Make sure to use it for at least 30 days for effectiveness.

Stage 2: Preparing Your Toenails Is Essential!

Understand that the fungus is hiding under the nail, and the treatment agents must get underneath the toenail. So thinning the toenail and the skin allows these compounds to soak down underneath it.

Thinning your toenails makes treatment 25%+ more effective:

• Studies show that a thinner and shorter nail allows easier penetration.
• This increases healing rates over 25%.
• It is essential to take down both the nail length and lightly scrape the nail from the top with a nail file over the entire surface.
• It also helps to trim away dead thick skin around the toenails and scrape that off with a nail file or emery board.

Before you get started, get one of the following tools:

• Emery Board.
• Nail File.
• Pumice Stone

The toenail fungus can create a thick impenetrable layer of biofilm that prevents treatment agents from entering into the nail bed.

• This lack of penetration under the nail plate is the #1 cause of treatment failure!
• So trim and thin your nails before the following treatments are tried!

Stage 3: Home Remedies To Kill Toenail Fungus!

A) Apple vinegar soaks for foot fungus:

 Pros:

• + Easy to use method.
• +Very cheap and readily available at home.
• + 85% success rate.

Cons:

• – Can irritate the skin in some people.
• – It can get annoying to soak your feet every day.

Why Does It Work?

• A Michigan State University (MSU) study shows that Vinegar has anti-fungal properties.
• This study focused on fungal toenails, but skin fungus is much more superficial and easier to treat than toenail fungus.
• Apple Cider Vinegar provides a inhospitable acidic environment for the fungus.
• It is a fungicidal chemical, this means that it kills the fungus rather than just preventing its growth.
• It is very common to hear people say they feel immediately better after using this just for a short time!

Try This Treatment Now!

 B) Vick’s Vapor Rub for foot fungus treatment:

 Pros:

• + Easy to use method.
• +Very cheap and readily available at home.
• + High success rate, but perhaps not as potent as vinegar.
• +Less caustic(harmful) to the skin as vinegar.

Cons:

• – It can get all over your sheets.

Try This Treatment Now!

C) Listerine Treatment

 Pros:

• + Easy to use method.
• + Less caustic(harmful) to the skin as vinegar.

Cons:

• – It can get expensive for constant use.
• – It is a hassle to be dipping your feet every day.

Why Does It Work?

Listerine contains many of the same anti-fungal ingredients as found above.

• Camphor.
• Thymol.
• Menthol.

Try This Treatment Now!

D) Tea Tree Oil Foot Soak.

The majority of the articles focus on treating athlete’s foot (Tinea Pedis) and other superficial skin fungus infections such as the scalp and ringworm.

• One study found 100% tea tree oil effective against nail fungus in killing toenail fungus.
• The study also compared it to a topical medical treatment (clomitrazole) in effectiveness.
• A followup study found that tea tree oil was less effective than medications at lower concentrations.
• This lower concentration still did kill some nail fungus, but less effectively.
• Since athlete’s foot fungus is more superficial, it should be more effective than for toenail fungus!

Athlete’s Foot & Toenail Fungus:

If you have dry and flaky soles of your feet or in between your feet:** Assume that you have foot fungus.**

• It is now theorized that all toenail fungus comes from foot fungus.
• Once microscopic cracks form underneath your toenail, the fungus moves from the skin underneath the toenail.
• If you want to get rid of your toenail fungus, you must also do something to get rid of your foot fungus!
• Foot fungus is much easier to treat than toenail fungus, so don’t worry it will be a breeze!

To treat your foot fungus, follow our athlete’s foot treatment guide:

The Complete Athlete’s Foot Treatment Guide!

Other Related Nail Problems:

See if any of these other problems apply to your situation!

1. Toenail Fungus
2. Very Long Toenails
3. Ingrown Toenail
4. Toenail Falling Off
5. Black Streaks Under The Nails
6. White Patches On Toenails
7. Black Spot Under The Toenail
8. Red Spot Under The Toenail
9. Toenail Coming Off The Nail Bed
10. Toenail Psoriasis