Questions about the contractibility of a fungal infection (poss. TMI in responses)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m looking more for specific answers here, if there be such, than personal experience or life stories, but lord knows, we’ll get those personal experiences no matter what, so I’m putting this in IMHO.

I have spoken with two doctors and a nurse about this: I have a fungal infection. From those consults, I’ve gotten the impression that the sole effect of this is that my toenails look white, and it is possible that someone could pick up this contagion if, say, we shared a shower. It’s otherwise not particularly contagious, and one doctor went so far as to say that sharing a shower or walking around barefoot in similar dark, damp places is about the only way for somebody to contract it from me; a karate class, for instance, would not qualify.

They have all agreed that, since this is a systemic (whole-body) small-cell infection, the only way to kill it off is to use treatments appropriate for other systemic small-cell infections, also known as cancer, i.e., they could kill it with chemotherapy, which might damage my liver, might destroy it, and might kill me. As the first doctor put it, "There are a few things I never want to have to say as a doctor; one of them is “Sorry your husband’s dead, ma’am, but at least his toenails started to look pretty good towards the end there.” Plus, even if it does get killed off by the chemo, there’s nothing to keep me from re-contracting it the next time I step into a public shower (or, really, wear my own shoes again…).

I’ve been looking into this in a bit more detail in online places recently and have been dismayed by the breadth of differences between various opinions:

(a) As I’ve been told, not particularly contractable. Don’t worry about it.
(b) Not particularly contractable, just don’t walk around barefoot anywhere other people walk around barefoot (such as, say, a karate class…).
© OMGZ TEH PLAGUE!

So what I would like is actual, factual medical opinion, and I realize this isn’t necessarily the place for that. If such opinions are available here, I’d love to hear them; otherwise, we’re going to throw the phone lines open and hear everybody’s war stories and suggestions.

This might get a little gross.

2

I’m not asking for details, but if you know where you got it, does that give you a better idea about how contagious it would be for others? For example, if you got it via karate, that makes karate a way to get it, etc.

3

I’ve had a toenail infection for years and have shared a shower with my partner for a decade. He’s never picked it up. I talked to my dermatologist about it and she basically said it was up me if I wanted to take medication as it was basically a cosmetic thing in my case.

4

I’ve had it for at least a decade, and my wife & kids don’t have it. I could have gotten it at the dojo, or at any of the showers at SCA events I travelled to, or because I walked outside barefoot one time too many…

5

Frustrating. Good luck getting answers.

6

I’ve got the damned thing on one foot. Some of the nails are distorted pretty badly, but I’m not one for pedicures.

I’m Diabetic. As such, that makes it very COMMON to be suseptible to fungal nail infections. You might want to check with your primary care physician about that!

My doctor told me to save my money on OTC topical treatments. They cannot reach the actual infected areas. You CAN take oral fungicidal medications (Rx), but it takes MONTHS for you to finally obtain clean, clear nails (6-12 months for the big toe!), and once you stop taking the meds, the infection will be right back again!

The Rx fungicidal medications are hard on the liver. You cannot drink when you are on this medication. In my case, my Diabetes is controlled by oral drugs, and the combination would probably destroy my liver, or make it very, very unhappy.

There IS an Rx topical medication that is applied like nail polish that CAN work. You have to be extremely diligent, though…and this means soaking your feet every night and applying the medication, FOR MONTHS.

I tried it for a while, but I didn’t have the dedication to see it through.

So, you live with it. It’s not going to kill you or make your feet fall off. For me, it means a pain and a bit of bleeding to cut the deformed nails.

Warning: you have the vulnerability to have the fungus appear on other body parts, like the “personal zone.” Keep everything clean and dry, and keep Tinactin or Gyne-Lotrimin on hand.

And you know exactly what I mean.
~VOW

7

Home remedies that may or may not work include slathering Vicks Vapo-Rub on the affected nails, or soaking in white vinegar or old-school yellow Listerine. I took a course of the oral medications for fungus once, and VOW isn’t kidding: that stuff is HELL on your liver. I’ve never felt that sick in my life.

8

I live with my father and he has a fungal infection in his fingernails (and probably toenails too). He doesn’t want to take meds because of the potential damage to his liver. Obviously we handle the same things around the house, and I haven’t gotten it.

9

Does a systemic fungal infection do anything else other than giving you discolored nails and making you potentially contagious? For example, does it cause fatigue, dry mouth, a 50% increased chance of getting pneumonia, or a 25% increased chance of developing bipolar disorder within the next 10 years?

10

If what my doctors have told me is correct, all it does is the former: funny-looking toenails, and very mildly contagious, and even then only under specific circumstances. I’m just looking to find out if other people know of or have experience with wildly contrasting opinions before I start taking karate classes again in a month or two. At which I would definitely not be using the shower.

11

Buy a pair of cheap flip flops to wear in the shower at the karate dojo.
~VOW

12

I’ve always wondered about that… the point of showering is to, at least in part, rinse my feet off onto the floor… how do the shower sandals help?

13

From UpToDate.com, my subscription medical resource:

In other words, the damn fungus is everywhere and anywhere. The average person has it on their skin, not causing any problems or infections. But it often ends up in someone’s toenails, causing funky nails. It’s estimated that perhaps as much as 8% or more of the population has it. It’s rarely a threat to health or life. It’s not clear that there’s any way to cut down your risk. Shower sandals couldn’t hurt, if you really want to minimize possible risks, but there’s no data that it helps.

14

Thanks, all (and thanks to people for not posting grim & gory stories… do not want). I figured I was overreacting, and shall continue topical treatment with vinegar goop/athlete’s foot powder, and just hope that the people at the dojo avoid a knee-jerk bad reaction when they meet me next month or so.

15

Know that the only really reliably effective treatment is an oral antifungal, particularly terbinafine daily for 6 weeks, at about 75% success. Topical treatments clock in at significantly less than 50% success. One study had Vicks’ cure rate at 22% after a year of treatment. Relapse is common.

16

Yep, I realize it’s mostly whistling in the dark. However, I started using the vinegar goop this summer and have seen a slight improvement, particularly in the big toenails. I still have half the bottle, so I’ll let it run its course and see how it goes.

17

I used Vicks on one, thick yellow crumbly nail for about a year. I cut it way back, filed it as thin as I could. I used the Vicks with fingertip band aids 24/7.

It cleared quite a bit and I switched to Proclearz morning and night, keeping up the filing and cutting for six months.

All gone now.

18

I had athlete’s foot and toenail fungus a few years ago. I’m pretty sure I picked it up from a family member who had a really bad case. He moved back home after some time away, and within a few weeks at least two other family members had fungal infections on our feet. I guess the toenail fungus was mainly a cosmetic issue, but athlete’s foot is actually really annoying. I took oral medication. It did take a few months to work, because that’s how long it takes toenails to grow out completely, but it definitely cleared everything up. Unlike PurpleHorseShoe, I felt absolutely no side effects. My doctor made me have blood work done every few weeks to make sure my liver was doing ok, but I never had a problem with that either. It probably helped that I’m young and basically in good health.

19

Not quite what you asked, since I have no experience with anything like this, but regarding rejoining karate: I assume you are barefoot for the class. If you’re worried about being contagious, would Five-Fingers shoes (or similar from other brands) be a possible solution?

20

That might work, depending on how strictly traditional they are (very traditional, AAKF Shotokan Karate, as far as I can tell).