Fungi love the warm, moist, and dark conditions found inside your shoes. If you treat a fungal infection of your toenails or feet incompletely, it may not be obvious at first because the infection will appear to be gone. But then it comes back even worse than before. This is often because of incomplete treatment or re-exposure. Try our fabulous, painless, drug-free laser treatment for fungal toenails to get the best results.

What causes repeated fungal toenail infections?

3 reasons why your fungal toenail infection keeps returning may include the following:

• Partial treatment—The over the counter treatments may appear to show promising results, but oftentimes the infection comes back because the virus wasn’t completely eradicated. More advanced treatments that can attack the fungus under the nail or complete nail removal may be required for longer-lasting results.
• Re-exposure to the fungus—After you rid yourself of fungal toenails, you will need to keep from getting reinfected. Be sure to spray all your footwear with fungicide and wear shower shoes when using public facilities where microbes proliferate. Also, make sure your own shower and bathroom have been decontaminated.
• Immune system problems—If you have diabetes or circulation problems, then you may have a less robust immune system that allows microbes to continue growing. Continued monitoring and treatment are necessary to prevent reinfections.

If you have a fungal toenail problem that just won’t go away, see your foot doctor for the best result. At Your Next Step, our team of board-certified podiatrists has access to advanced technologies, along with years of experience, to help diagnose and treat a variety of foot and ankle problems, including sports injuries, joint pain, toe deformities, nail fungus, chronic tendon pain, and skin problems. Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen provide high-quality foot and ankle care to patients in the greater Philadelphia area at our offices conveniently located in Ardmore, Paoli, and Downingtown. Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.