Toenail Fungus

It begins inconspicuously. A slight discolouration at the edge of a toenail — yellowish, brownish, perhaps just a narrow stripe. Then it spreads. The nail becomes thicker, brittle, cloudy. It detaches from the nail bed, deforms, smells. What was once smooth and clear becomes porous and destroyed. Slowly, but unstoppably.

Dermatology describes toenail fungus as an infection by dermatophytes, yeasts or moulds that embed themselves in the nail plate. Moisture, warmth, a weakened immune system, circulatory disorders — these are the known risk factors. And they are real. But the psychosomatic perspective poses an additional question: why now? Why you? Why precisely at the toes — the part of your body that carries you forward, that touches the ground first, that sets the direction?