Toenail Fungus treatments?

Tubbs216
Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
edited November 16 in Fitness and Exercise
I know - EWWW, right?

I have it and it's just nasty. Last time I asked my doctor about it she just said "Me too! Nothing really works to get rid of it!" which wasn't very encouraging. This was a few years ago though, and I've seen a few ads recently for new prescription meds and even laser treatments. I just wondered if anyone has had any success with anything?

Replies

  • mjudd1990
    mjudd1990 Posts: 219 Member
    Fungal toenail infections aka Onychomycosis take a notoriously long time to treat and tend to only respond to oral antifungals as opposed to topical sprays/creams. Terbinafine has been around for ages and will usually do the trick. Even with medicine though, the discoloration/thickened toenails aren't likely to get back to normal for 6 months or more.
  • rianne1134
    rianne1134 Posts: 1
    Soak your toe in apple cider vinegar several times a day or try neem oil. Worked for my daughter's...
  • ginny92802
    ginny92802 Posts: 66 Member
    I keep sending my boyfriend groupons for laser treatment but so far he hasn't taken the hint. From the research I did it looked the most promising. If I catch it from him I'm going to be livid.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    rianne1134 wrote: »
    Soak your toe in apple cider vinegar several times a day or try neem oil. Worked for my daughter's...
    Yeah, thanks but I think I'm a bit far gone for home remedies. It's on all the toes on one foot and one on the other. :s
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    mjudd1990 wrote: »
    Fungal toenail infections aka Onychomycosis take a notoriously long time to treat and tend to only respond to oral antifungals as opposed to topical sprays/creams. Terbinafine has been around for ages and will usually do the trick. Even with medicine though, the discoloration/thickened toenails aren't likely to get back to normal for 6 months or more.
    I don't mind if it takes time. I've had it for ages. I just want something that will work.
    I think I'll talk to my doc again about the oral meds. Thank you!
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    ginny92802 wrote: »
    I keep sending my boyfriend groupons for laser treatment but so far he hasn't taken the hint. From the research I did it looked the most promising. If I catch it from him I'm going to be livid.
    It was a Groupon offer where I learned this was even a new thing! I'll take another look - if it's a one-off treatment, as opposed to a long-term course of drugs, that might be worth paying for.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    edited April 2015
    I've got one toenail that I had laser treatment on. It cost me like $1,500 total all said and done and didn't work. Don't waste your money on that one, not worth it.

    The oral meds have a pretty poor success rate, if I remember correctly, and they're fairly hard on the liver.

    The only thing I can see (for me anyway) would be permanent surgical removal, and I can't afford that. So I'm stuck with mine for the moment. I just cover it with a Band aid.
  • tat2cookie
    tat2cookie Posts: 1,899 Member
    If you find something that works let me know!! I've had it in both of my big toes for almost 15 years. :/ I'm allergic to the meds and the topical stuff didn't even put a dent in it.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    ginny92802 wrote: »
    I keep sending my boyfriend groupons for laser treatment but so far he hasn't taken the hint. From the research I did it looked the most promising. If I catch it from him I'm going to be livid.

    how would you catch it from him? my husband has had it for years and years and all clear on my feet LOL


  • ClubSilencio
    ClubSilencio Posts: 2,983 Member
    Sunshine will kill the fungus. You have to air out your foot and give it lots of sunshine. Fungus loves dark and damp.

    Beyond that try applying tea tree oil to the base of the nail every morning and night. Dilute it 1:1 with olive oil otherwise it will burn up your skin. You have to do this for pretty much a whole year until a brand new nail is fully in. There's no other way around it.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    emdeesea wrote: »
    I've got one toenail that I had laser treatment on. It cost me like $1,500 total all said and done and didn't work. Don't waste your money on that one, not worth it.

    The oral meds have a pretty poor success rate, if I remember correctly, and they're fairly hard on the liver.

    The only thing I can see (for me anyway) would be permanent surgical removal, and I can't afford that. So I'm stuck with mine for the moment. I just cover it with a Band aid.
    Well, that's disappointing. Sorry to hear it didn't work for you.
    ClubSilencio wrote: »
    Sunshine will kill the fungus. You have to air out your foot and give it lots of sunshine. Fungus loves dark and damp.

    Beyond that try applying tea tree oil to the base of the nail every morning and night. Dilute it 1:1 with olive oil otherwise it will burn up your skin. You have to do this for pretty much a whole year until a brand new nail is fully in. There's no other way around it.
    Ugh, I've made a huge mistake. I kept putting nail polish on to cover up the ick, and I now know that's the worst thing for it. Also, I live in Canada so it's boots for much of the year. The sun's out now though, so I'll start getting my feet out as much as I can.

    A year was how long my doctor told me the treatments take, but I was hoping there might be something new that would be effective a bit more quickly. I lost a big toenail through trauma a couple of years ago, so I know how long it takes for a nasty nail to fall off and the new one grow up.

    Thanks for all the input. It's appreciated.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited April 2015
    I can tell you what worked for me-

    I switched to wearing sandals and never ever ever wore socks or closed toe shoes-
    No nail polish or dampness of any kind
    I cut my nails back as far as i physically could (exposing some of the nailbed which was infected (One of my nails i only had a teeny tiny bit left)
    I got a nail brush and i would take hot showers (NO BATHS!)
    when i get out i would dip the nail brush in a tray of mouthwash
    i would scrub the ever loving crap out of my nails
    I would then rinse with hot water and blowdry my nails dry
    then i would rub them down with teatree

    Before i went to sleep at night i would put more teatree followed by some vicks vaporub

    This cured mine within 6 weeks. It took longer obviously for all my nails to grow back to normal SIZE since i cut them the heck off, but i haven't had the problem since

    edit: oh yeah, and i never diluted the teatree.
  • rayw89
    rayw89 Posts: 564 Member
    I have an injured toenail from several years ago. I thought it was a fungus, but apparently it's something that can happen when the nail has experienced trauma (I rammed it on my dresser a long time ago, went to the doctor and they cut half the nail off, but should have removed the whole thing). Anyway, I saw a commercial for Kerasal, a topical treatment for nail fungus. I read some reviews, and there are a lot of success stories, including for my traumatized nail. I bought it and have been using it for a couple of weeks now. It's supposed to take atleast 30 days to start seeing a difference, but I think I can see it working. It definitely has started helping in loosening the excess keratin that has grown under my nail. It's around $20 through Wal-Mart, and I also got a coupon off of the Kerasal website. It can't hurt to try it.
  • mother624
    mother624 Posts: 1 Member
    edited April 2015
    I cut back my toe nail as far as I could without pain.I poured on a offbrand listerine, let it dry, and I used my shower water pick to spray hard under the nail everyday to get it soft. I scraped under the nail with a soft brush (soft tooth brush will work). Keep doing this. Don't cause injury to yourself be gentle but persistent. The fungus will try to come back. Push back the cuticle. Keep going, it will improve over time. This is better than organ damage. I soaked my toe in vinegar, it helps to soften your feet too. The smell of vinegar doesn't stay long, I use vinegar on my kitchen floor.
    I'm going to try baking soda on my toe. I will get back to you. Be safe and happy no matter the color of your toe.lol i used olive oil, tea tree oil.
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    My thumbnail got fungus when I was younger and I used Sally Hanson fungus remover. It comes in a little bottle that looks like nail polish and costs like $15 if I recall correctly. You can find it anywhere nail polish is sold. I cut the nail as short as it could go, (almost off - nails with fungus usually raise up, hollow out and become brittle and are easy to remove) to expose the fungus and applied the treatment directly several times a day. I forget how long it took to go away, but it wasn't super long or difficult.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    I have been using the medicine you are seeing in the ads, Jublia. It worked for me. I previously tried home remedies, over the counter products and another prescription med called Exelderm but none of those cured me. I finally have a normal toe! :smiley:
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    My dad uses Jublia and it takes a long time, but it seems to be working for him!
  • arabianhorselover
    arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
    You might have to go to an actual foot doctor to get something that works. Most regular doctors prescribe something that does not work. You have to put the stuff on twice a day for a long time. Once the fungus clears up, it can always come back unless you do things to keep it away such as keeping the toes as dry as possible with powder. There is also a spray for shoes to kill fungus in them. It's a lifelong struggle to keep it away once you've had it. And, yes, the oral medication has nasty side effects. They do have laser for bad cases. For the worst of cases, the toenail can be permanently removed.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    Tea Tree oil, the pure stuff. Many of the topical medications actually are diluted Tea Tree oil.

    The oral medications are hazardous to your liver, that is why blood tests are required before and after treatment.
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
    edited April 2015
    I really appreciate all of these answers. Thank you.

    I've cut my nails down as far as I can, and started using tea tree oil. I'll try the apple cider vingegar soaks and mouthwash scrubs too. I also have one of those home UV gel nail lights, so I thought it couldn't hurt to do 5 minutes in there every day, plus the real sunshine!

    I have a physical booked for a couple of months time, so if I don't see any improvement by then I'll ask for a referral to a podiatrist.
  • htimpaired
    htimpaired Posts: 1,404 Member
    I have had this problem for years. I took the lamisil pills years ago, it cleared it up and then three or so years ago it came back. I tried all the home remedies-Vicks vapor rub, tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, a few over the counter topicals. Not one worked. I also was referred to a podiatrist who took a sample of the fungus and tried to culture it to determine the best course of treatment, and they couldn't get the fungus to grow in the lab, so the doctor didn't know what to do!
    In the warm months when I can wear sandles, I buy the funkiest bandaids I can find and wear that over the nasty toe. I've got Avengers bandaids right now :smiley:
  • Padzster
    Padzster Posts: 75 Member
    Vicks Vaporub worked for me. Far cheaper than the standard treatments and very effective. You still have to wait for your nail to grow out, but you can see the new fresh nail growing fungus free below it. Google it. The stuff is great for all sorts of conditions.
  • nev888
    nev888 Posts: 67 Member
    A nurse I know told me to try Nizerol (think that's how you spell it) - medicated shampoo. Put it on the nail every day with a Qtip - cleared mine up.
  • ActiveApril
    ActiveApril Posts: 73 Member
    I've had a lot of luck using tea tree oil to treat athlete's foot - that might also help your toenail.
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