Advice in treating toenail fungus

I’m hoping someone will have a suggestion or at least share their experience in dealing with toenail fungus. I have two badly infected toes on one foot (a problem of several years) and two more are growing in with fungus. I’m aware that there is a prescription medication I can take for this, but I have the impression that it takes several months to work and can cause liver damage. At any rate, I’m only 3 weeks away from giving birth (yikes!), and wouldn’t want to take it until I have finished breastfeeding, which could be quite a while. Has anyone successfully treated toenail fungus with any treatment, whether it’s medication or alternative therapy? I am so tired of covering up the fungus with polish (not a polish kind of person) and you can imagine how hard it’s been to reach my toes lately! Signed, I hate my toenails

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My wife has had toenail fungus for years. All the remedies listed she has tried without success. Right now she’s been trying Tea Tree Oil for the past 8 months. She lost her toenail (which is good.) And now that its growing back and it’s looking much better.

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I have known two people who successfully treated toenail fungus by dropping hydrogen peroxide on it every day. it took months to clear up and they both started when the fungus was in it’s early stages. if I were you I’d do that at least to keep it from spreading and I figure you may as well treat the other toenails while you’re at it. It couldn’t hurt. what I have heard about the oral meds are that they may or may not be effective in the long term (the fungus tends to come back). The meds are expensive and bad for your liver and I’m not sure if they get into breast milk. In any case, if you do treat your toes successfully, you will need to replace all your shoes – they will reseed the toenails since they are contaminated. good luck

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Welcome to the lovely world of toenail fungus! Actually, you can swim without spreading the fungus. The chlorine in the pool takes care of that. Wearing flip-flops in the showers/changing room also protects other swimmers. That’s not what seems to be the biggest problem for most sufferers, though. It’s the embarrassment about how their feet look.

Have you tried any kayak/canoe/wind-surfing shops to see if they carry some thin, Neoprene, slip-on foot covers? I believe they make them for these sports to help keep feet from slipping on wet surfaces, but they’re also thin enough to not feel encumbering, so you can swim. E.

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My husband and I are having great success with treating our dual fungus issues. We went to a great podiatrists, Dr. Anna Sorkin. She assured us if we follow her treatment, we’d see results and she was right. I recommend seeing her. She trimmed the nails and filed them down and prescribed both athletes foot cream (prescription) and an over-the-counter treatment called Fungoid Tincture. We put the tincture on all our toes and use the cream on our feet. She says the two organisms in athlete’s foot and fungus are the same. We disinfect the tub/shower whenever we showers with Lysol bath cleaner with bleach.

Within a month, nearly all my fungus was gone. After three months, I just have a wee bit on the two toes that were the worst. I thought I just had it on two toes, but turns out, it was on all of them. The sooner you treat it, the less time it takes to go away. My husbands will take longer. I am so happy with my results. Have the baby and then go see Dr. Sorkin.

Also, I loved getting pedicures but haven’t put any polish on my nails since beginning treatment and if I get a pedicure, it’s only at places that confirm they disinfect.

Good luck with the baby and the fungus-be-gone! pretty pink toes

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Yes – yes – I had the dreaded fungus for many years. I worked with just about every over the counter ad holistic solution available. I kept them trimmed, I kept them clean, I washed my feet every day and every night, and diligently applied every solution known to man. Nothing worked. Very embarrassing having yellow nails, especially for a clean freak like me.

Finally I bit the bullet and gave lamisil a try. My doctor was more concerned about liver damage than I was – I wanted the fungus dead and gone. I took the pills in three courses over several months with a liver test in between each course. I’m free and clear now, and actually thankful to the pharmaceutical companies if you can believe that!

The only caveat is that the meds are expensive. I think $250 per course, with no generic available. For some insurance plans like mine, your copay doesn’t apply, so I had to fork out the full amount. And as the doctors will say, there’s no guarantee that it will work for you. If you decide to go for it, make sure you get the testing in between courses. Good luck! Toes of Death

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There’s an herbalist at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market named Joshua Muskat who makes a topical toenail fungus formula. He sells it at the Saturday market and at his clinic in S.F.

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I’ve had this problem and have sort of cured it without taking the prescription lamisil tablets (which do have liver risks).

One nail infection progressed to the point where the nail detached. My doctor said that they don’t pull the nail anymore, but rather wait until it falls off on it’s own. Mine didn’t, so I took the opportunity to use daily lamisil spray (it’s over the counter) under the nail. My doctor said she didn’t think this would do anything, but I tried anyway.

Well, after a few months I noticed the nail continued to grow and the new growth looked clear. It’s been a year and a half and the old, infected part is only 1/3 of the total nail. Now that I am pregnant and my nails are growing fast, I think I’ll have a totally clear nail in a couple more months.

The lamisil spray label says that it should not be used on nails, but I think that is just because they want to sell the more expensive (and dangerous) systemic prescription tablets. While they may work faster, I’m comfortable with the slow progress that comes with using the topical lamisil.

One important thing to keep in mind is that your nails can become infected from a skin infection with athletes foot. I neglected one small skin infection on one toe for a couple of weeks and the nail got infected pretty quickly. It’s much easier and effective to treat a skin infection with lamisil cream or spray before a nail gets infected, so be sure you do that! My skin infection wasn’t noticeable and didn’t itch until the nail got infected, so be vigilant.

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I seem to have a long-term mild case of toenail fungus. I have tried lots of the over-the-counter stuff, none of which seemed to work. I have, however, had a significant improvement doing this: I soak my feet in straight vinegar. I learned about this from a posting on this listserv, I think, and it has really worked. I buy a big bottle of the cheap white vinegar. I heat it, and then I soak my feet for a good half an hour or so. You can reuse the vinegar until it gets gross. I do it about once a week, but I think it would work even better if I did more often. It seems to have changed the whole chemical environment of my feet. I also had mild athletes foot for years, which is now completely gone. And it makes my feet soft too. And you can do when you are pregnant, and it will feel nice. Have your partner give your feet a good towel rub at the end of the soak.

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Regarding toe fungus, try soaking your feet every day for 10-15 minutes in Listerine, the mouth wash. My husband tried it and found it be successful. I hope it works for you! Congratulations on your baby too!

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There are alternative treatments, but you have to be pretty good about keeping at it. The best thing I’ve found is apple cider vinegar. I’m serious. I’ve had toenail fungus for years, and had just sort of resigned myself to it. But then I read some crazy testimonial on the web about ACV, and thought, why not try it? Well, in three days–three days!–of applying it topically, the white fungus was gone. That still left the other, yellower fungus, but I’ve kept at it. I try to drink about a tablespoon of ACV in a cup of water every day and that helps. Also, about once a week I buff the top of the nail then apply a cotton pad soaked in AVC for about ten minutes. Slowly this is helping. I’ve also heard about using cinnamon oil, but have not used that as often. My dermatologist recommends Funginail, and I apply that sometimes too. I’ve been at this for over a year, but I have seen results in that time. It just plain takes a lot of time for the nail to grow out. As a side note, since you’re about to have a baby, the first time I heard about the usefulness of AVC was from my Ob/Gyn as a treatment for thrush. I had a terrible time with recurring yeast in my breast milk and also several bouts of plugged ducts. My Ob/Gyn recommended that I swab my nipples with a diluted solution of ACV and water before and after nursing. My baby didn’t mind the taste (in fact, maybe it’s one of the reasons he’s become an adventurous eater). The AVC really helped to keep the thrush under control. Anyway, good luck with it all.

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I saw this remedy and tried it myself: Simply soak your infected nails in ordinary mint-flavored mouth wash (e.g Scope) every day. If you only have one that is infected or don’t want to soak them, you can take a cotton swab and put the liquid directly on the nail. It will take awhile, but you’ll notice small results in about a week. This may sound weird but it really works and does not involve any harsh chemicals.

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I feel your pain. My big toenail was terrible for quite a while, but I think I cured it. At least, it’s been several years since it looked fungus-y. Here’s what I did:

• Cut off much of the nail as possible while it is crumbly, flaky, cracking, discolored, etc. This was easy for me because the nail fell off on its own. If the condition persisted when it grew back, I cut it off again. The theory is to expose the flesh to the air, so there’s nowhere for the fungus to grow.
• Painted the entire toe, especially the exposed under-nail area, with a liquid over-the-counter anti-fungal. Some brands worked, some didn’t, and I could tell right away because they lessened the itchy tight feeling.
• Gave away EVERY pair of problematic shoes, meaning those that were even slightly tight around the toes. I wore only well-fitting sandals around the house, or I went barefoot. I kept my feet cool and ventilated. This was a stylistic bummer. (Now that I’m ”cured,” I sometimes wear heels to a special event, but I still change into sandals when I get home.)
• Kept my shower floor scrupulously clean.

I wish you luck! I now have nails!

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I went to a nail salon last year and the owner noticed a fungus on my big toe nail. They recommended a product which she said works better than prescription drugs. It is liquid, called ”Varisi” which they sold me for $10. The active ingredient is ”citrus extractives.” Applied a couple times a day for a couple of months. it worked very well. I don’t recall the name of the salon, but it was on San Pablo Avenue in Albany, one or two doors down the street from Mangia Mangia Restaurant. (two blocks east of Solano Avenue).

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My daughter had this problem under her two toenails, and it made them grow funny. We used the over-the-counter ”antifungal liquid” ( recommended by her dermatologist)that we bought at Longs and applied externally each day. It took a few months, like the doctor said it would. Nothing fancy. No tricky holistic remedies. It definitely worked. Hope this helps

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I second the recommendation for Dr. Anna Sorkin — after decades of unsuccessful treatment, she finally got it right! Footloose and Fungus Free

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This is not directly about toenail fungus, but I had recurring athletes foot fungus and I cured it. I used the usual over the counter creams. After going through the whole treatment the medicine would get rid of the athlete’s foot for about a week or two and then it would come back. This went on for about a year. I remembered that I had heard that certain vitamins could be helpful. I looked it up and yes B complex vitamins were supposed to be effective. They were. I no longer get athletes foot at all. I used a b-complex with a higher than average dose.