Smelly toenail fungus can be a very distressing condition for many people. In general, toenail fungus can be something embarrassing for people who have it. People with visible toenail fungus can be uncomfortable showing their toes. This is because of the visual symptoms and damage that toenail fungus can cause. These symptoms can be pretty obvious. Also, they stop doing activities that they enjoy like going to the beach or wearing sandals.

The resulting decrease in enjoyment of life can be one of the worst parts of toenail fungus. When the fungus causes a smell, it can cause even more embarrassment, shame, and discomfort. This particular symptom is usually more noticeable. 

Smelly Toenails

If you have a smelly toenail problem, you may not even know what is actually causing it. When it is the nail itself that smells rather than the feet, heels, or toes, the smell is probably caused by toenail fungus (also called onychomycosis). The causal fungal spores infect under the nail in an area called the nail bed and use this bed to grow their colonies. These fungal spores are also the reason behind the bad smell associated with the infection.

Fungal growth occurs when fungal spores from the environment get into contact with the nail and attach to the nail bed. After the initial attachment has formed, some people will develop a full-fledged infection more quickly. This is particularly more common with people who wear closed-toed shoes, exercise frequently, or sweat excessively. Fungus loves dark, moist, humid environments; shoes are perfect for them! 

Symptoms of Toenail Fungus

Smelly toenail problem causes can usually be narrowed down to fungus by examining a few factors. The similarity of the smell to cheese is a big one of these factors. If the smell coming from your toes has a cheesy odor emanating from your nails, it is likely that a fungal infection is a culprit. Fungal nail smell will also get worse when the nails are trimmed since the nail clippers will loosen up fungus from the toenail into the environment.

However, the biggest sign that a toenail fungus is the cause of the smell is if you have noticed other visual signs of a fungal infection. Frequently, this will include discoloration of the toenails that are black, white, yellow, or brown. Fungal infections can also cause the nail to detach from the nail bed and almost fall off, as well as make the nail surface become brittle, hard, crumbly, or cracked.

Fungal infections can also cause what looks like debris buildup under the nail, which can actually be fungal spores themselves and can be a cause of the smell. While looking for signs like this can help you narrow down the cause of your funky smell, only a licensed medical professional will be able to give you a true diagnosis. The best medical professional to seek care from is a podiatrist. They are licensed doctors who specialize in feet and will be able to give you answers on the condition you have.

What to do with smelly toenails

If untreated, a fungal smelly toenail problem will actually continue to get worse. Fungal usually won’t halt with patience unless you receive proper medical intervention from a medical professional. To cure the smell coming from your nails and avoid it becoming worse, you should seek an FDA-approved medical treatment from a licensed podiatrist as soon as possible.

At-home treatments for fungus are a bad idea and are all very ineffective, and usually futile. Some of them can even be very dangerous, like using bleach on the toenail. Because of this, seeking medical treatment for a smelly toenail problem is a much better option. A medical professional will be able to diagnose your fungus and recommend the best treatment option for you.

Treatment options

However, not all smelly toenail treatments and prescriptions are the same and many are much worse. For example, topical treatments are actually very weak, making them ineffective at treating fungus. Topical medications like these, including both over-the-counter and prescription forms, aren’t good at penetrating into the nail bed well enough to eliminate the fungus.

They are also made relatively dilute so that bad reaction to the chemicals in them don’t happen. Oral antifungal medications are another prescription option for fungus, but these pills come with more downsides. They actually carry big risks of dangerous side effects like liver toxicity, and they are unsafe for many patients.

Laser for Toenail Fungus

There are other options to treat a smelly toenail fungus problem that aren’t topical or oral antifungal medications. In fact, some of the best options for treating a fungal infection don’t include chemicals at all! The safest treatment for toenail fungus is the PinPointe laser, which has no side effects at all. Additionally, this laser is the most effective laser on the market to treat toenail fungus. The treatment only requires one session to completely eliminate the fungus, so most patients don’t need to come in for multiple treatments.

This laser treatment also has great reviews, and patients are generally very satisfied with their results. To read more about the experiences patients have had with the PinPointe Laser treatment, visit our website here.