I don’t think that “minor irritation” is the correct way to describe this condition. Both of my big toenails look like Beware of Doug’s description. Also, the skin around the nail is perpetually slightly inflamed, the nails catch on my socks, and when they get really thick, they push up on the insides of my shoes which hurts. I’m only 34 and I’m not looking forward to another 50 years of this.
My fantasy is to have the nails removed, treat the fungus, and let the nails grow back. However, my podiatrist tells me that even if the fungus were removed, the nail bed is so screwed up that my nails would never grow back in a “normal” shape.
And to relate all this back to the OP, yes keep your toe clean. I got my first fungus following a nail losing episode.
My doctor refused to give me a prescription for Lamisil because of what it would do to my liver. I had had a prescription for Penlac, a brush-on solution, that did nothing. He prescribed me a big bottle of Urea lotion, and it cleared up my yellow toenail in about two months.