Should You Be Worried About Your Thick, Discolored Toenails? скачать в хорошем качестве

Should You Be Worried About Your Thick, Discolored Toenails?

Do you have thick, discolored toenails? Dr. Norman Regal, DPM with Triad Foot & Ankle Center is here to put your worries to rest and talk about what could be causing your nails to discolor. TRANSCRIPTION: I don't necessarily know that I would be worried, but this is a condition that can be treated. Most people when they have thick, chalky, yellow, discolored nails. They immediately think fungus. When we look at a condition like this, we're thinking about a number of different things and surprisingly not all the time is this fungus, meaning that nail beds can become traumatized. When they become traumatized, they can thicken. Other conditions also cause this that are systemic, so my message is when you do look at a nail that's thick or yellow. Or all your nails that are thicker or yellow, don't put it into one box. There are several different causes that we can diagnose and treat. Treatment for fungus varies. There is oral medication and there's been somewhat bad press about oral medication. But when used appropriately it can be very beneficial for the patient. There are topical medicines, which have improved over the years, but they do not penetrate the nail bed so their use is somewhat limited and there is over-the-counter topical, which I think is very limited. Then the third option is what's called laser therapy and we utilize the Q-Laser therapy, which is a YAG laser system. The idea of laser is a create a burst of heat, which can penetrate the nail and into the bed and essentially creates an inhospitable environment for fungus to grow. My message is one size does not fit all and each case is different of which some we have appropriate treatments. Others there is no treatment for. I also do look at the pain that's associated with these nails as they get thick, often they get loose, there can be dark discoloration and bleeding under the nail beds and often they lead to ingrown toenails. We treat not only the discoloration and the thickness of nails but also the discomfort that can be associated with them and there's a variety of procedures we use to combat that.