A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; furthermore:
- Inspection (viewing) of the nails on the hands and feet, but also of the entire body, since mycosis (fungal infection) may also affect other areas of the body, such as the groin region can affect [yellowish discoloration of the nail, onycholysis (detachment of the nail plate), grooving in the area of the nail plate, subungual hyperkeratosis (cornification disorder occurring under a fingernail or toenail), thickened nails, deformed nails, decay of the nailNote: purely clinical diagnosis is not sufficient; required is a mycological laboratory tests and cultural evidence of fungi in the untreated patient]
- Dermatological examination [due todifferential diagnoses:
- Chronic nail dystrophies (nail formation disorders that may be congenital or acquired).
- Eczema nails
- Lichen ruber planus (nodular lichen) of the nail organ (chronic inflammatory disease of the skin/mucosa).
- Nail psoriasis (nail psoriasis)
- If necessary, neurological examination [due topossible cause: peripheral neuropathy (nerve disease that affects several (poly = much) nerves at the same time)].
- Health check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
