Fungus Symptoms
Early symptoms of nail fungus can start with discoloring of the nails, usually a brownish or yellowish color will appear in the finger or toenail itself. Most times it goes unnoticed. Ladies must be especially careful if they wear fingernail polish. The fungus will only grow stronger and progress more and more. The reason for the change in color is the fungus getting established and growing stronger under the nail.
When the yellow color starts its a sign that the fungus is growing slowly under the finger and toenails. This is only a sign that the fungus is growing and the infection is started. You may see the yellow for awhile. In most instances the bodies immune system will go to work to eliminate the fungi, and its possible that the fungus will go away. Its very difficult for the immune system to fight the fungus or infection because the fungi grows into the nail itself and the immune system cells or anti bodies can’t follow or go into the nail itself. Then the fungus grows and grows and the fungus becomes apparent.
As the symptoms advance in the nails they will start to come apart. You see the nails, finger and toe are made up of dead cells. Just like the skin, at the base of the nail the cells are piled up into layers. When more of the dead cells are stacked at the root the cells are pushed up and out. The fungus grows through the cells of the nails and the nail itself starts to fall apart. This is another symptom thick and flaky nails. The color may continue to get worse because there is more growth of the fungus.
The protein that our toe and fingernails and skin are made of is called keratin. This is what makes up the layer outside of our skin and nails. The keratin serves as a protective covering over our skin. The keratin or dead cells serves as a food for the fungus that grows on our nails, and since our skin is covered in keratin it makes it easy for the fungi to spread to the skin. Therefore another symptom is to look for flaking and scaling skin or inflammation and redness of the fingers or toes.
