What Habits Help Keep Your Nails Fungus-Free?
Fungus nail infection, or onychomycosis, is a widespread but stubborn infection that affects fingernails and toenails. It causes thickening, discolouration, ility, pain, and embarrassment. While fungal nail infection is difficult to manage and treat, prevention is the best cause of action.
Luckily, the prevention methods aren’t as complicated as many may assume. All it requires is good habits to help you enjoy fungus-free nails. Fungal infections love warm, moist areas, so it is little wonder feet are susceptible.
However, you can eliminate the risk with cleanliness, suitable footwear, and precautions to safeguard yourself. This article explores seven essential habits that help you maintain strong, fungus-free nails. By incorporating these into your routine, you can safeguard your nail health and avoid the need for extensive treatments.
1. Keep Your Nails Clean and Dry
Maintaining good hygiene is one of the most effective ways to prevent nail fungus. Keeping the nails clean and dry makes the conditions less suitable for developing a fungal infection. Shower or bathe daily using soap and water, and ensure you wash between the nails to wash away the bacteria and dirt.
Also, dry the nails entirely after you wash them. The infection cannot live where there’s no moisture; therefore, dry using a clean towel and ensure no moisture between the toes. If there’s excessive sweating, apply the antifungal powder on the feet to ensure the feet are dry.
Moreover, most individuals turn to fungal nail treatment once the infection has occurred, but preventive treatment is always the best. Cold laser treatments are the new revolutionary alternative where the fungus is painlessly and side-effect-free killed. However, by being cleanliness-conscious, you will never have to turn to all that in the first place.
2. Trim and File Your Nails Properly
Good nail hygiene is essential in preventing fungal infections. Trimming and filing your nails properly reduces the risk of breakage and limits the surfaces on which the infection may develop. Cut your nails straight across to avoid ingrown nails, which can serve as entry points for infection.
Smooth the jagged nails using sterilized nail files so the dirt does not settle. Clean the nail clippers and files using alcohol after each use in order not to transfer the bacteria from one nail to another. Never use another individual’s nail-cutting tools either because this transmits infection.
For frequent visitors at nail salons, one must ensure that the utilized equipment is sterilized. Bring clippers and files along if you can minimize the risk. Following these practices prevents infection and keeps the patient healthy.
3. Wear Breathable Footwear and Socks
Healthy nails need good shoes. An infection prefers warm, wet surroundings, and that’s just what they find in the closed-toe confine. Reduce the risk by using well-ventilated leather or mesh shoes. These let the air move.
Additionally, both socks and shoes are essential. Socks that wick moisture away, either cotton or breath synthetic, will ensure the feet remain dry. Changing them often after exercising or after several hours will prevent moisture accumulation.
Furthermore, never wear the same pair every day. Rotating pairs will allow the moisture to dry and reduce the chance of infection growth. If you are wetting the shoes frequently, use antifungal sprays or powders so the shoes become dry.
4. Avoid Walking Barefoot in Public Areas
Public places such as pools, locker rooms, and showers are ideal breeding grounds for fungal infections. They are warm and usually moist, the perfect breeding ground for fungus. Walking barefoot in these locations truly amplifies the risk.
Wear a shower or flip-flop shoes to shield your nails when visiting public facilities. These barriers don’t let you have direct contact with the contaminated surfaces and thereby prevent infection.
Also, take precautions when stepping around on public mats or carpets at the gym. If you need to step around on common surfaces, wash and dry your feet afterward. Simple routines such as these prevent the nails from becoming infected by fungus.
5. Disinfect Nail Tools and Footwear
Fungal spores can also survive on personal items such as nail clippers, nail files, and footwear. Regular disinfecting prevents the infection from spreading. Disinfect the nail tools using hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol after every use to eliminate potential infectors.
Your everyday wear shoes also need disinfecting. Spray between the shoes and let them air in a dry area to kill the remaining spores. Ultraviolet (UV) shoe disinfectors are another good way to kill fungal microbes.
Individuals who the fungus has previously infected can have new shoes that need to be purchased. Fungal spores have been known to linger in the boots and reinfect. Sanitizing the equipment and the shoes eliminates the risk of getting nail fungus.
6. Eat a Nutritionally Balanced Meal
A healthy, functioning immune system will prevent you from having nail fungus. Proper nutrition that includes all the body’s required nutrients will also reduce your risk of infection. Foods rich in Vitamins A, C, D, and E and zinc and biotin will provide robust, healthy nails.
Also, supplements gut health by adding foods that contain probiotics, such as kefir and yogurt, that increase immunity. Reducing the intake of sugar also proves helpful because fungus feeds on sugar. Staying well-hydrated using water makes the nails softer and less likely to crack or become infected.
7. Avoid Sharing Personal Items
Sharing one’s belongings like nails, clippers, shoes, or socks increases the likelihood of infection by the fungus. Even when the nails are healthy, spores in these items can infect another person.
To minimize risk, never borrow or lend nail treatment equipment and keep the use for yourself. If you must switch tools between you and others, wash them well before and after use. Wearing your personal towel and protective shoes within communal spaces within the gym also decreases exposure to fungal infection.
Conclusion
It is easier to prevent than treat nail fungus. If you maintain good hygiene, trim nails properly, use shoes that breathe, don’t go barefoot in public places, and sanitize nail tools and shoes, you make life challenging for the infection.
Constant observation of these habits keeps nails healthy and lessens the need for medical treatments. While treatments exist for infected patients who have the infection, prevention remains the better option. Act now, and you will ensure healthy nails and clean nails down the road.