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Toenail Pain [Toenail Fungus, Ingrown Toenails, Discolored Toenails]
Keratin Granulations or Toe Nail Fungus?[ Causes & Best Treatment]
Do you have keratin granulations or nail fungus? If toenail polish is removed, There is a 90+% chance of keratin granulations, not FUNGUS!
Look:
- We will show you an animated diagnosis & treatment guide, photos, and the best FAST treatment options for toenail fungus.
- These are Simple & EASY options that we have seen success with.
- Also included is our Toenail Fungus Treatment Video Guide!
So, Let’s Get STARTED!
Table of Contents
White toenails causes & treatment video:
Causes of white toenails:
White Toenail Picture Gallery:
Look:
- These photos are of dehydrated superficial nail keratin granulations vs. other toenail conditions.
- Keratin granulations are white chalky appearing dehydration.
- It is possible that some toenail fungus could be mixed in with the keratin granulations.
- It is also possible to have superficial white onychomycosis.
So click on the photos for gallery mode & description!
Click on pictures for full size & descriptions:
Click on pictures for full size & descriptions:
What Are Keratin Granulations?
- Keratin Granulations are white smudge marks on your nails that usually occur after you take off your nail polish but are luckily very treatable!
- They are a dehydrated protein caused by the acetone toenail polish removal agent.
Keratin granulations overview:
- Nail polish remover contains compounds like acetone.
- These compounds can dehydrate the nails underneath them, leading to a protein called “keratin” dehydrate.
- These keratin molecules can clump together, creating white smudges.
- These are white fragments that are like curled-up cottage cheese on top of your toenails and fingernails.
What can I do about keratin granulations?
- This can sound really gross, but don’t worry. This is usually something that you don’t really have to worry about.
- Simply moisturizing your toenails will result in an excellent recovery of keratin granulations.
- Toenail and fingernail fungus usually appears more green or yellow in almost all cases.
- There is a type of nail fungus called white superficial onychomycosis, but this is really much less likely to be your problem.
Damaged Toenail Treatment Overview:
- Do you want to keep it simple?
- Well, just trim and file your toenails and fingernails.
- Get rid of the dry, damaged toenail on the surface level and the length.
- This will solve your white damaged toenails. Then moisturize them with any moisturizing agents you have around the house!
- Only get these products if you are still not having luck.
- This does not have to be expensive or time-consuming!
Keratin Granulation Causes:
- Having dry toenails or fingernails.
- Removing toenail or fingernail polish.
- Using acetone to remove this polish.
- Extensive dishwashing without moisturizing your nails.
- Repeated nail trauma, such as rubbing against the front of your shoes.
- Tight shoes at the front of your feet.
- Having bunions and hammertoes and having these rub against the front of your shoes.
- A dry home during the wintertime.
- Poor humidity inside your house.
Are Keratin Granulations Dangerous?
- This condition is not very dangerous. It is basically just a fancy way of saying that you have dry nails.
- The only downside to not doing anything about it is that your nails are more brittle and more likely to chip in the future.
- Think of this as being a completely cosmetic problem only.
Symptoms:
Keratin granulations can manifest themselves in the following ways:
- White nails.
- Dry and brittle nails.
- Nail polish was just recently removed.
- No pain or irritation.
- Nails were previously healthy.
- No real pain to the site.
- If you don’t have any medical condition such as diabetes, it is much less likely that you will just have regular fungus by itself.
- Check if you can scrape off the dryness off the top of your nail. If it’s not underneath the nail, then it is likely not fungus.
Keratin Granulations Not Toenail Fungus?
It is very difficult to know for sure without testing. But I recommend initially assume the diagnosis of having keratin granulations:
- If your toenail is white, it is overwhelmingly keratin granulations.
- It still could be toenail fungus, but it likely is not.
- Try to treat the keratin granulations for 2 weeks. If treatment resolves your white toenails, then it was keratin granulations.
- If it does not resolve after 2 weeks, then it is likely toenail fungus.
Keratin Granulation Diagnosis Guide:
- Two choices are either toenail fungus or keratin granulations. Follow the below rules to check with 95% certainty that you don’t have anything dangerous going on!
- If there is ever any question, remember you do have to see your podiatrist.
Rule #1: If your toenails are thick and yellow. It is toenail fungus!
- Especially if you cannot simply scrape off the white stuff from your nails.
- If you can scrape the white crust off the top of your nails with a toenail file, then it is likely not fungus.
- True fungus usually builds up underneath the nail, not on top of the nail.
- If the actual nail is completely thick and brownish yellow crust is built up underneath it: this is much more likely to be true toenail fungus.
- If you are a completely healthy person, who has used toenail polish in the past, then it is almost 100% likely that this is a keratin granulation.
Rule #2: If you have white on top of your toenail, it can be toenail fungus – but it probably is not!
The differential diagnosis of keratin granulations is a fungus called white superficial onychomycosis which should be treated by a podiatrist.
- Luckily superficial white onychomycosis is the most easily treated fungus.
- It can be treated very easily which topical antifungal medication.
- It is extremely difficult to tell whether you have keratin granulations for sure rather than nail fungus.
- Yet studies show it is rarely superficial white onychomycosis in these cases(using nail polish).
Since superficial white onychomycosis is not extremely urgent, try to cure your keratin granulations for a week, and if they start to get better, you know, it was not fungus.
The Best Keratin Granulations Home Treatment:
First, make sure that it is keratin granulations!
- Read above to make sure that it is not a thick fungal toenail.
- If you are a healthy person who recently used toenail fungus and acetone to remove the polish, then it is almost for sure keratin granulations.
Are keratin granulations permanent?
- No, they are not permanent. Even if you do absolutely nothing, your nail will eventually grow out without the keratin granulations and dryness. The only downside is that a nail can take up to a year to grow completely.
- Most people don’t want to wait one year to get rid of this problem!
How can you speed up the healing time?
- If you think about your toenail as a table, keratin granulations are just like dirt that builds up on top of the table.
- By using a nail file or curette, it is very easy to simply scrape off these dry keratin granulations.
- An even easier way is to use something like Vaseline or moisturizing lotion to moisturize the top of your nails.
Why is it a good home treatment plan for keratin granulations?
- A great home treatment plan is to use a moisturizing lotion.
- Personally, I’m a big fan of Vaseline, because it is very cheap and effective.
- If you want to make sure that you don’t have fungus, you can also use something like Vicks vapor rub. Vicks vapor rub has eucalyptus in it. This will also kill any fungus if it is there.
- Just make sure to go see your podiatrist if something is not getting better over the first couple of weeks.
- Make sure it’s not toenail or fingernail fungus and that it really is dehydration of your toenail or fingernail.
- Once you know, it’s just dehydration and damage. Then you should have no problem moisturizing the site.
- If it does seem green or yellow with very thick toenails, this makes it much more likely to be toenail fungus.
Is toenail fungus dangerous to my health?
In a short answer, yes, it can be just like any other infection. You don’t want to have a growing for too long.
- But toenail fungus is not always as bad as it seems. Most of the time, when we see someone come in with suspected toenail fungus, it is usually thick crusty toenails from extensive rubbing.
How can I cure my foot fungus?
- Our goal is to avoid having you take expensive medications. With good podiatrist care, you can save a lot of money on your footcare, get rid of your fungus permanently rather than messing around with expensive medications.
- It is very rare to ever truly to need to take a dangerous oral medication. Excellent foot care can generally have good toenail growth once again, as long as it has not been uncontrolled for many years.
Toenail Fungus (Onychomycosis) Treatment & Cure Infographic:
Toenail Fungus Home Treatment:
- These are our favorite products to treat toenail fungus at home.
- It is difficult to properly diagnose any health problem such as toenail fungus with 100% certainty. So see your podiatrist and make sure you are not missing anything!
- Also, many of these products are considered beauty products more so than health products. Just be aware that they are not always FDA evaluated or approved in any way.
How to fix toenail fungus:
- There are many different types of toenail damage.
- In our experience, about easily 50% or more is related to toenail fungus.
- The key to toenail fungus is to trim it as much as possible and file that nail down vertically and length-wise.
- If you can do that, you have to make sure you can kill fungus the rest of the way with creams and topical medication.
- The best way to do that is to soak exfoliate the affected toenail skin. So, foot soaks can be a strong anti-fungus solution.
- At the same time, you have to apply anti-fungal medication such as these medications evaluated here or the toenail repair pens.
Recommended foot fungus products:
- It is also vital to fix your foot fungus.
- Athlete’s feet can be beneficial to remove from the foot because if left unchecked, they can quickly spread back to the toenails even if they are fixed.
- Even if you cure your toenail fungus, keep your toenails trimmed in healthy: your foot fungus can spread back into toenails.
- So make sure you treat your foot fungus, as well as your toenail fungus.
Best Toenail Fungus Clippers & Files:
- You have to be careful using at home, and definitely be safe and don’t use these if you have dangerous health conditions.
- It is important to see a podiatrist for foot evaluation and care if you have continued health care issues or problems with your feet.
- These are some great value heavy-duty clippers and sets.
- The key is to cut straight across and file the nail down from the top to keep it from impinging in the corners.
- It is also important to make sure all dead, dry skin is removed surrounding the foot.
- This is where you should really see your podiatrist if you have any concerns or are worried about cutting or hurting yourself.
- This is something covered, so don’t take chances with your health!
Best Toenail Fungus Polish and Remover:
- There is some great toenail fungus polish options and polish removal options.
- There are no acetone-based toenail polish removers, they don’t dry as quickly, but they are less like a dehydrator toenail.
- This also applies to your fingernails and hands.
- The benefits of using these non-toxic toenail polishes are that they are filled with non-fungal options such as tea tree oil, preventing toenail fungus.
- These can also work well for the fingernails.
- So great combo is to use one of these healthier toenail paint options, as well as a non-acetone-based toenail polish remover.
Best Shoes For Toenail Injuries:
- The key to prevent toenail ripping and lifting is to have good supportive shoes.
- If you have a good supportive shoe that keeps pressure off your toes in your toenails, there will be no lifting and cracking to allow bacteria and fungus to get in.
- This almost seems counter-intuitive, but when people make a switch to perfect supportive shoes that fit properly, their toenail problems almost always get better over the next few months or a year.
- Your current nail is already likely destroyed, especially with joggers toe, but let the new nail growing healthy without new damage.
- Click the following link for our most recommended shoes. Try to focus on shoes with mesh and room around the big toe and also the smaller toes.
Best Antifungal Moisture Wicking Socks:
- These are some great options for moisture-wicking sucks.
- The more you can wick moisture from your foot, the less chance there is that toenail fungus, and athlete’s foot can survive.
- We tried to focus on budget value stocks that are not too expensive.
- Sure there are better stocks out there, but these are great socks for a great price for most people.
- If you have diabetes, focus on getting yourself some diabetic socks.
Best woman’s antifungal socks:
Best men’s antifungal socks:
Toenail Pain [Toenail Fungus, Ingrown Toenails, Discolored Toenails]