These fungi often live harmlessly on your skin, but they can sometimes multiply and lead to infections. The fungi prefer warm, dark and moist places like the feet.

Once no more infected parts of the nail can be removed, ask your pharmacist for antifungal nail paint to prevent re-infection as the nail regrows over the next few months. Removing the nail Laser treatment is a possible option if you have a fungal nail infection that’s particularly stubborn. The laser emits high doses of light energy, which are used to destroy the fungus. A Review on Antifungal Efficiency of Plant Extracts Entrenched Polysaccharide-Based Nanohydrogels. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8232670/ Most fungal nail infections occur as a result of the fungi that cause athlete’s foot infecting the nails. A procedure to remove affected nails completely isn’t usually necessary, but may be recommended if the infection is severe or painful and other treatments haven’t helped.As it can take a long time for antifungal medication to work, some people may prefer to use a treatment that involves softening and removing infected parts of nail over a few weeks. Essential oils – prospective candidates for antifungal treatment? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10412905.2019.1604437 Keep using the treatment until your GP says you can stop. Stopping too early could result in the infection returning. Softening and scraping away the nail If the treatment is working, you should see a new healthy nail start to grow from the base of nail over the course of a few months. The old infected nail should begin to grow out and can be gradually clipped away. Treatment may also be unnecessary in mild cases of fungal nail infection. It’s also unlikely to cause any further problems so you may feel it’s not worth treating.

Antibacterial Effect of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) leaf gel against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31391416/ Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Essential Oils against Human Pathogens and Their Mode of Action: An Updated Review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206475/ Treatment kits are available from pharmacies that contain a 40% urea paste, plasters and a scraping device. The paste softens the infected parts of the nail, allowing them to be scraped away so they can be gradually replaced with healthy nail. If you want to try laser treatment, you’ll have to pay for it privately because it’s not available on the NHS. Be aware that the treatment may need to be repeated several times for up to a year, so it could get very expensive. How to prevent fungal nail infectionsA small sample of the infected nail may need to be taken and sent off for testing before treatment starts, to confirm that you do have a fungal infection. A fungal nail infection is unlikely to get better without treatment. However, if you’re not bothered by it you might decide it’s not worth treating because treatment: Early research suggests the treatment may be helpful in treating fungal nail infections, but there’s currently not enough evidence to recommend it as a routine treatment.