While it is true that nail fungus is especially common in adults and even more so in seniors, this does not mean that children are completely immune to nail fungus. There are a few different reasons that children may be prone to fungus.

Nail fungus prevention relies heavily on personal hygiene, and children are notorious for having poor personal hygiene. Children often forget to wash their hands or feet, and even if they do, they do not necessarily dry them. If your children dress themselves, they may end up repeating shoes and socks in which they sweat. This leads to their nails being stuck in a moist environment, which is exactly what nail fungus needs to grow.

As children run around and play, they sometimes end up barefoot. This includes places like on the playground or by the pool, where potentially other children may be running around barefoot as well, and may be spreading nail fungus. These are common places where children may catch nail fungus. As they walk around the house and on carpets barefoot, they can spread the nail fungus to other members of the family. They are also less likely to pay attention to their nails, and so would not catch nail fungus early if they did begin to develop symptoms. It is likely that the infection would progress too far before they would notice anything amiss.

Because of these reasons, it is important for you to inspect your child’s nails from time to time so that you can spot any early signs of nail fungus. If you do notice symptoms in your child, contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our doctors at one of our over 120 locations, including Charlotte, NC.