What happens if your toenail turns yellow?

Toe nails, unlike other body parts, don’t get much care as they are far from people’s attention until they turn yellow. Suddenly you notice something strange is happening to your toenails and wonder what the reason might be. A yellow toenail is not only unsightly but can also indicate serious underlying health issues that need immediate attention.

Yellow Toenails: What Causes Them?

Yellowing could happen due to a combination of reasons – hygiene, medical conditions or fungal infections. Here are some common causes that lead to turning your toenail yellow:

Inadequate Hygiene

Well, we all know how important it is to maintain personal hygiene! But sometimes we tend to take our feet for granted (a hard truth ever told). Dirty feet with accumulated debris often harbour fungus which can eventually spread on your toes causing discoloration and infection.

Medical Conditions

If you realize sudden change in the color of your nail and it continues despite maintaining basic cleanliness then there might be an underlying medical condition because nothing happens without a reason (I swear!). Diseases like lung disease particularly emphysema,circulatory problem such as peripheral artery disease can cause discoloured nails alongwith ageing process itself.

Fungal Infection

The most common culprit behind turning toenail into jaundice shade could be none other than Yeast or Nail Fungus (ewww) (shudder) . These tiny organisms easily find their way into warm moisture prone environment like shoes especially if women who bear closed-toe footwear on daily basis even during hot weather which prodigiously favors breeding of fungi making them ideal conditions for toe fungus growth [^1]. Since prevention is better than cure (we all agree), proper foot care should become essential.

With or Without Pain- Can You Tell This Color Change Urgency?

When experiencing slight discoloration or any unusual change in your toenail shade, it can be easy to dismiss the issue since discolored nails are often painless. However, one should not overlook them as they might be a sign of underlying diseases (that’s right! The body never lies).

Without Pain

If there is no accompanying pain or tenderness while wearing shoes then you could have a non – harmful fungus infection brewing underneath that nail bed (ugly sight!).The sooner the situation diagnosed and treated the better – else these mostly harmless infections can take months to heal leaving behind brittle nails which eventually leads to increased risk of secondary bacterial infection causing an array of medical problems.

With Painful Yellow Toenails

In some cases, yellow toenails may indicate serious health conditions like skin cancer or thyroid disease. Redness and swelling around affected area come along with discoloration which could cause sharp shooting pain on slightest pressure indicating tissue inflammation around nail bed (yikes!) (never funny). This condition requires urgent medical attention.

Prevention: Keep Them Clean from Fungus!

Prevention is always better than cure so keep yourself away from foot fungus through:

• Keeping feet clean
• Feet hygiene should become top priority especially after activities such hiking, working out etc.
• Moisturizing regularly

• Dry Cracked Skin acts as catalyst for fungal breeding grounds irritating delicate skin tissues giving birth to painful blisters and open infected ulcers [^7].

• Disinfecting Footwear Regularly.

• Fungal spores when find ideal environment which hampers their multiplication potential very quickly turn into full blown infection thus proper cleaning measure must become part and parcel regular routine lifestyle [^4].

### Some Other Preventive Measures Are:

– Avoid sharing other people footwear.

– Change socks frequently during exercise And wash shoes at high temperature if possible

– Always wear dry and comfy socks

– Avoid Red Flagged nail parlours (please, we shouldn’t have to explain why).

Yellow Toenails: Home Remedies

There are many home remedies which can help cure toenail fungus but mild cases are treated easily at home whereas severe infections require medical attention. Let’s discuss both options in detail (here we go!).

Mild Infections:

• Using Essential oils

• Oils like rose oil, lavender oil when mixed with olive or grapeseed oil and applied can act as natural antifungal agents and helps heal any kind fungal infection.

• Baking Soda soaks

• Relaxation should be the motto of every weekend plan.Isn’t this what a nice foot soak feel like bring relaxed streched out feeling after arduous week? Simply put few pinches baking soda into hot water and relax feet into sudsy mixture for 30 minutes before wiping it slowly using soft towel.

Severe Infections:

If mild treatments don’t work then serious measures need to be taken by your Doctor may prescribe oral medication or alternatively laser therapy (who knew?) available which helps kill fungi spores from root level.

A Few Parting Notes for you Toe Buddies!

Turning yellow is abnormal part of life cycle whether – hair, teeth,stress coping mechanism – hence no different with nails.Like other body parts our finger & toes characteristically changes as time passes however being protective never takes too much effort etlivid preventive care steps including .

Proper hygiene efforts

Safe Footwear habits,

Lifestyle choices

                   ()will keep nasty infections away while providing top preventiveness building blocks to effective personal healthcare regime.

Stay Safe folks!