By William Frome
Every person has probably seen or even suffered from a black toenail. This painful little foot injury is very common among people who like to move a lot. It is fairly easy to treat as it is not a chronic ailment. However, if it is not attended to early, then it might turn into something serious.
Having a dark nail simply means that the blood in the area of the toe is not moving properly anymore. This could be because of too much pressure on the toe due to an outside factor or a growing fungus. Now the most common reason for this clotting is tight shoes because of the constriction of the blood in the foot.
People who are into sports are the ones who have the most discolored toenails. This is so because they always put a lot of force on their feet which can contribute to improper circulation of the blood. Now if a person loves to run and wears tight footwear, then he will definitely suffer from this small injury. Also, if something heavy will fall on his toe, then a clot will also be created.
Another common cause of a tainted toenail would actually be the growth of fungi. Usually, fungus would thrive in the skin right under the nail. When this happens, the blood circulation is disrupted and would cause a lot of pain and even sometimes infections.
In order to cure this ailment, most people just leave it alone as the dark part will just grow and fall off. This is the ideal thing to do if the injury does not cause any pain. If it is swelling, then a cold compress may decrease the inflammation. Another treatment that could help is a foot bath with Epsom salts and warm water.
As for infections because of fungus, an anti fungal medicine will do. If one does not like to use drugs, then using mouthwash may be used as an alternative. This is because it contains ingredients that are known to kill most types of fungus. When it becomes too much to handle, then the best thing would be to visit a doctor.
By knowing the causes, then one may prevent having a black toenail. However, there are cases in which some people cannot avoid having this problem. That is why there are a lot of home remedies that are proven to work so that one does not need to visit the doctor anymore.
