I have white patches on my toenails when I took my nail polish off....

A couple of patients have recently visited the Clinic convinced they have a fungal nail condition.

Both ladies showed signs of slightly yellowed nails and white patches, which looked chalky in appearance, on the surface of the nail.

Usually this is caused by fungal invasion of the superficial layers (the very top layers) of the nail plate to form "white islands" on the plate and known (unsuprisingly!) as white superficial onycomycosis.



The air around us, and most surfaces, are covered with microscopic dust particles, fungal spores and bacteria. Most of these are not harmful to us in any way until they get the perfect conditions for growth.


Some of these fungal spores live on keratin (which our skin, hair and nails are made of) and these can start to penetrate the toe nails and cause a fungal infection.

In both these cases, the fungal spores, which were quite harmless, have been sealed in against the nail by continuous layers of nail polish. Not only does this prevent them from being cleaned away, but provides them with a sealed environment in which to florish.

Coupled with a nice warm, damp, dark inside of a shoe creates a perfect fungal greenhouse in which the fungus takes hold.



If caught at an early stage, as with both these ladies, the fungal spores and damage can be easily eradicated by drilling. I used a small burr and in a painless process just took away the surface which holds the spores.

In the long term, if the ladies use nail polish every now and again (rather than continuously) and are vigilant against further infection, they should suffer no long term problems.

P.s The yellow colour of the toenails was  just an over indulgence on the spray tan bottle! It stains your toenails just as much as your skin!!!