I’ve got an infected toenail and I’ve been losing the battle against it for over a year now. The doctor prescribed this antifungal nail polish and it worked until it didn’t. It doesn’t hurt or itch, and I have this set of mega-clippers that cuts right through it. Do I need to pursue more aggressive treatment here? Could it infect tissue and/or blood, requiring stronger antifungals? Or can I just live with it?
well ive had mine for like 10+years and I’ve lost the toenail 2 or 3 times so it’s not a big deal …funny thing is every time the toenail came off id clean it out and it looks better
And yeah I tried that toenail stuff too because the medicine ta the time was too much for my liver but if it bugs you there’s OTC stuff now also
My dermatologist cousin says just about all males have toenail fungus on their feet …
Fungal nails are rarely a threat to health or life, unless they’re in the setting of a chronically ischemic, infected finger or toe, most typically in advanced diabetes.
Topical treatments have a poor record of success, though newer topicals have a bit better history of some success. Usually it takes 6 to 24 weeks of daily use of an oral antifungal pill to raise the success rate higher than 50%. But those meds can cause liver inflammation, so extended use of them usually requires blood tests to monitor the liver.
Soak the damn thing, carefully file/sand it down, never taking off too much at one time or it’ll be sore the next day, and they’re manageable. Podiatrists make a nice living using dremel tools to shape them.
Honestly, I’m going on 50 years with fungal toenails that end up looking like an Orc’s a**hole, and I’m otherwise fine (twitch…twitch).
About two months ago I went to the doctor because I had fallen, twisting my knee and banging up my right foot. In addition to x-raying my foot and giving me antibiotics to prevent infection (there was a bad cut on one of my toes). The doctor mentioned that I also had a fungal infection on my left big toe, and that it could be treated with oral medication sometime in the future. I’d completely forgotten about it until the other day, when I happened to be checking my feet and noticed that the big toe looked a bit funky.
Due to the physical problems I have trimming my own toenails, I get a pedicure every few months. I had done this a couple of weeks ago, and the pedicurist didn’t say anything about any infection while he was trimming my nails. I haven’t been having any pain, and based on what I’ve read here I think I’ll just keep an eye on it.
I had a toenail fungus disappear after I used a Baby Foot foot mask. These are booties filled with lotion. You soak your feet for about an hour. Over the next week or so, skin peels off of your feet quite dramatically. I didn’t expect it to act on a fungus, but something happened. Disclaimers - Off label use, correlation does not equal causation. Baby Foot © Original Exfoliation Foot Peel (16 Natural Extracts)
Back around 2015 I had a minor, but persistent, infection on my big toe and Scholl Fungal Nail Treatment cleared it up in about 2 weeks. It might take a bit longer with a more severe infection but I highly recommend it.
I know someone who avoids modern medicine. He wrapped a gauze bandage soaked in vinegar around his toe. Not just ordinary vinegar, the stuff that’s as high as 10% acetic acid content that will make your toe feel like it’s being burned off. He claims after 3 days his fungus infection was gone. Anecdotal evidence of the existence of anecdotes. YMMV.
Laser treatment is more effective than topical anti-fungals and less problematic than oral meds. It’s also more costly (and rarely covered by insurance), so shop around if that’s an issue. The sooner treated, the better the outcome. Fungus nails (onychomysosis) rarely causes serious problems, but it often causes nail thickening and dystrophy. Chronic ingrown nails (onychocryptosis) is a common sequalae of dystrophic nails, which may get infected and potentially (though rarely) go deep to bone and cause bone infection (osteomyelitis). Osteomyelitis is typically treated with IV antibiotics and may require a lengthy hospital stay.
Some people swear by apple cider vinegar soaks as a preventive, or direct application as a treatment. I wouldn’t recommend that a layperson use 10% acetic acid, however.
Anyway, my dad had chronic toenail fungus back when the only options were topical, or griseofulvin which he couldn’t tolerate long term. So, his podiatrist simply removed the toenails, which were cubic in shape and ruining his shoes and socks. This freaked out my sister when she came for a visit and he was sitting in the recliner barefoot, and she said he looked like he’d been declawed (which, in a way, he had).