Curing toenail fungus with prescription and natural remedies | Don’t Contract a Toenail Fungus Infection in the First Place

So we’ve discussed how you can contract a toenail fungus from others. But is this the only way one can become infected? Not at all. 

We’re surrounded by millions of microscopic bacteria and spores on a daily basis. Good health and cleanliness, while formidable barriers, are no assurance of protection against any one of the little critters that find our bodies to be wonderfully cozy hosts. It only takes the right condition coupled with exposure and you could well find yourself with this condition.

As mentioned in my previous post - Is a Toenail Fungus Infection Contagious - I mentioned my own experience with this annoying infliction. I stated that I’d damaged my toenail. If you’re interested, I did so while rock climbing (I’d taken off my climbing shoes and was walking around barefoot when I tripped and kicked a rock, splitting the nail fairly deep and breaking my toe for good measure). 

Damage to the nail provides easy access to the spores responsible for a toenail fungus infection. It’s an open door invitation for the fungus to take root, setup shop and start making you miserable. By further providing a suitable environment (sweaty climbing shoes for me - I tried to continue climbing through the pain) you greatly increase the odds of infection.

On the premise that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of medicine, a damaged nail should immediately serve as an incentive to start some preventive medicine. An over-the-counter anti-fungal medicine (preferably specific to toenail infections), applied regularly until the damaged nail heals, should keep a toenail fungus from establishing a foothold (pardon the pun) and will spare you the discomfort and embarrassment of a full-blown, nail-discoloring fungal infection.

Remember, once you have contracted a toenail fungus infection, you’re in for a long treatment. Even as you kill the fungus, you’re still stuck with that hideously discolored nail until it completely grows out (and you should be treating it the entire time). That’s the most frustrating part of the process. Toenail fungus treatment takes and annoyingly long time, sometimes to the tune of months. If you prevent the infection from ever taking root or doing any real damage, you’ll be spared that misery.

So if you’ve damaged your toenail recently by splitting it, thinning it or otherwise providing easier access to the nail bed, get on the treatment wagon right away so you don’t contract a toenail fungus infection in the first place.