Last spring (2011), I developed a red mark under a portion of my left, big toenail.
That eventually turned yellow.
I went to the doctor, who cut most of the affected nail off with snips (the yellow area was not connected to the nail bed), then took a culture. Yep, fungus (eww!).
He immediately suggested medication if it turned out to be fungus. Umm, no way! It’s only about a quarter inch from the edge of the nail, and maybe 3/8" wide.
I asked him if he could completely remove the nail, then I could use a topological cream to kill any remaining fungus, since everything I read says that the fungus is easy to kill, if you can get to it.
He said we could talk about it after the culture comes back, but my impression was that he’d only offer medication.
And so, after being confirmed that it was fungus, I started soaking the foot in a solution of vinegar. That lasted maybe a week (PIA).
I then started soaking the foot in a solution of bleach and warm water. I’d then cut the nail back as far as possible when it softened up.
That actually started to work, but then I got shipped overseas for 3 months for work, and didn’t feel like (nor had the time) to buy bleach and something to soak my foot in.
And so it worsened.
I got home in April and resumed the soaks, which seem to work, but the nail grows so damn fast, that the fungus seems to get a toe hold (pun!) and worsen, then I cut the nail again. I can’t cut the nail it constantly, since I need some bit of growth to actually get the clippers under to cut, and that little bit (1/32") seems to allow the fungus to thrive.
Grrrr.
So now I’m thinking, why not take a dremel with a cutting wheel (the sandpaper disk) and cut the nail right to the edge of the cuticle.
Just writing that made my palms sweaty, since I have a good feeling it’s going to hurt like hell. Maybe a few pulls of Wild Turkey 101 first?
Who am I kidding, what a dumb idea. And yet…
So how do I get rid of it? It’s such a small area, so medication seems like way overkill, especially given what it can do to your liver (and mine is taxed as it is). I’m to the point now of washing the foot, then prying the nail up and getting straight bleach under it with a q-tip. Again, starts to work, but the nail seems to only need to be a 1/32" long for the fungus to take hold again, and I just can’t seem to trim that little bit off.
Maybe drop a dumb bell on the nail and hope it falls off?
What a nuisance.