One of the most commonly seen nail pathologies that podiatrist see is related to thickened nails but what are they? And why do they occur?

Thickened nails, or onychauxis, is a common nail condition that occurs in both young and older people, but the risk of this disorder does increase with age. Over time, the nail can become discolored and separate from the nail bed. The symptoms of onychauxis are similar to onychomycosis or fungal toenails, but onychauxis is not caused by fungus; but rather by damage to the nail root or matrix.

What does an onychauxis nail look like?

• abnormal thickening of the nail
• separation of the nail plate from the nail bed - things get caught underneath, especially fungus which can brew underneath
• yellow or white appearance
• red or black coloring if left untreated
• brittle crumbling around the edges of the nail

What causes onychauxis?

There are 4 main causes of onychauxis and one cause isn’t necessarily independent of the other.

Hereditary - so if one of your parents have got it onychauxis, it can be passed on to you.

Acute trauma - if you have dropped something on your toes particularly over the nail matrix or root.

Chronic trauma (repetitive trauma) - not wearing the right sized shoes, if our feet keep shuffling forward and our nail is constantly being stubbed this can cause damage to the nail root.

Chronic conditions - such as psoriasis, diabetes which effect skin and circulation can also cause thickening of the nails.

Is onychauxis contagious?

This is a tricky question to answer, unlike fungal infections, onychauxis does not spread to other people. The only way that it could possibly be passed from person to person is through genetics.

However, as previously mentioned people who have onychauxis are also at greater risk of getting fungal infections, so by the nature, the fungus is contagious.

So how can onychauxis be treated?

Unfortunately, once a nail root is damaged it is very difficult to reverse. A podiatrist can simply grind down the nail to its original shape but inevitbly once the nail grows, it will be thick again. We have outlined below some measures you can take to reduce the risk of onycauxis.

• Staying on top of your routine foot care - cutting your nails on a regular basis because the longer the nails grow the thicker and harder they are to cut.
• Wearing shoes that fit your feet to reduce chronic trauma
• Worst case is completely removing the nail to reduce the risk of damage to the nail bed. Especially for those that have diabetes because we don’t want the skin on the nail bed to break down and ulcerate.

We hope this article has addressed the common questions of why thickened nails occur. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact in the comment section.