Introduction
Many patients suffer from nail mycosis (onychomycosis) and ask themselves the question whether nail mycosis is contagious. In principle, nail mycosis is a disease caused by a fungus, usually a filamentous fungus (dermatophyte). This fungus has different possibilities to spread.
Among other things, it has so-called spores, which can survive for a very long time in swimming pool furrows or on the nail scissors of a chiropodist. There are several reasons why nail fungus is infectiousThere are several reasons why nail fungus is infectious and spreads especially in public showers. A possible cause that leads to becoming infected with nail fungus is if you wear the same shoes or socks as a patient who has become infected with nail fungus.
In the moist, warm environment of the socks, the fungus feels particularly well and then slips into the socks of a patient who is not yet infected with nail fungus, the fungus can easily pass over to the still healthy nail of the patient and infect it. A further cause for the infection with a nail fungus can be that a patient has a foot fungus, which he does not treat correctly, which leads then to the fact that the foot fungus spreads on the nail and the patient is infected by the foot fungus with nail fungus. Another reason why a patient can be infected with athlete’s foot is the lack of hygiene in some foot salons or swimming pools.
For example, a patient can be infected with athlete’s foot if she goes for a pedicure and a patient was treated with athlete’s foot before her. If the instruments, such as nail scissors, nail file, etc., are not properly cleaned and disinfected, the contagious nail fungus can be transmitted to the second patient through the instruments. It is therefore important when choosing a nail studio for a pedicure to pay attention to whether the pedicurist works with disinfected instruments or whether she changes instruments between patients or whether the same instruments are used repeatedly without being cleaned sufficiently in between.
It is also important to know that fungal nail fungus is very contagious and that it is not enough to hold the nail scissors under water for a short time, but that it is best to disinfect them and use different scissors for the next patient to avoid the transfer of the contagious fungal nail fungus from one patient to the next. Above all patients, whose blood circulation in the vessels is disturbed and/or decreased (for example diabetics) should particularly pay attention not to become infected with an infectious nail fungus since it takes very long until the patients get rid of the nail fungus again due to the bad blood circulation. In general, public showers or swimming pools are also a great risk to get infected with nail fungus.
Since here often larger groups of people shower together without cleaning the floor in between, it is easy for the infectious nail fungus to find a new pair of feet through the water on the floor and to infect them. However, the risk of getting infected with nail fungus in the swimming pool or in public showers is not the same for every patient. Patients whose immune system is currently weakened (for example, by a cold or by drugs that suppress the immune system or a disease that weakens the immune system) are particularly often affected.
Especially these patients should take certain precautions as nail fungus is a contagious disease, which is long and annoying and can sometimes lead to pain. Even if the nail fungus is a contagious disease, it is also important to know that you do not automatically become infected with nail fungus just because your partner or a family member has nail fungus and you use the same shower. Because even if the nail fungus is contagious, as with any other disease, certain risk factors must be added, which then favor the infection and lead to the fact that a patient is infected with the fungus. This means that nail fungus is contagious and should be considered with caution, but there is no risk of getting infected in another patient just because he or she has used the same shower several hours before.Most importantly, a nail fungus that is treated is much less likely to be contagious than a nail fungus that is not treated.
