With the right treatment, you should be able to get rid of a nail infection caused by fungus, even if you’ve had it for years or it’s very bad. But you may have to be patient. It could take months to clear up.
Diagram of Toenail Fungus
Key points about treating fungal nail infections
- To get rid of a fungal nail infection, you will probably have to take a treatment, sometimes for up to six months.
- Fingernail infections tend to clear up quicker than toenail infections. You may need to take medication for only six weeks for a fingernail infection.
- Some Prespcription Medication can sometimes damage your liver (though this is rare) and you may have a test to check if your liver is healthy before starting a nail fungus treatment.
- Normally doctors recommend pills for this condition, but there are also treatments you can put on an infected nail. If the problem is mild, you might be given a nail varnish or use tea tree oil that kills the fungal infection.
- If your infection is severe or keeps coming back, your doctor might recommend removing part or all of your nail. But this treatment is rarely used.
- If your nail infection doesn’t bother you, you may wish to leave it alone.
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By: Susan Miller MS BSN RN
Nail fungus, otherwise known as Onychomycosis, has been recognized as being a very difficult type of fungal infection to treat. It is a cosmetic condition that most often affects the toenails. Risk factors for nail fungus include increased age, male gender, diabetes, nail trauma, hyperhydrosis, peripheral vascular disease, athlete’s foot, immunodeficiency, poor hygiene, and chronic exposure of the nails to water. There are many species of fungus that can infect the nail. Often in nail infections several types of fungus will be present at the same time. All nail fungus infections result in thickened, discolored, and distorted nails.
In the past, treatment options were limited and often not very effective. Now there are several treatment options available to cure nail fungus. It is important to see your health care provider to ensure that it is truly a fungal infection you are dealing with before any treatment starts. There are other disorders (such as: Psoriasis, Lichen planus, contact dermatitis, and certain bacterial infections) that can cause similar looking nail problems. Your doctor can verify if it is indeed a fungal infection by examining nail scrapings and clippings under a microscope and submitting these samples to a lab to be cultured.
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The oral prescription treatments for onychomycosis (nail fungus or toenail fungus) are associated with several and potentially severe side effects (Liver Damage). As a result many people turn to natural, alternative, home remedies to treat their onychomycosis. Do any of these remedies work? If so, which ones? Are they safe?
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The answer to this question is not as straightforward as you might think and even doctors get it wrong sometimes. Proper diagnosis is important because treatment can take a long time, can be expensive, and may be associated with certain side effects. If you suspect you have a nail fungal infection, you should know the symptoms of nail fungus(onychomycosis) and make sure that your physician performs the proper diagnostic tests.
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Lamisil is the brand name of the onychomycosis drug terbinafine hydrochloride. Lamisil can kill fungus in vitro (in a dish) and is presumed to kill or inhibit fungi in the body as well (in vivo). It is believed that Lamisil inhibits the activity of an enzyme that is important for making a component of the fungal cell wall. Without this component, the fungus cannot grow and reproduce. The drug is much more potent (4,000 times or so) at inhibiting the fungal enzyme versus the human one. Lamisil is particularly useful in treating the two major dermatophytes that cause onychomycosis: Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
Lamisil is unable to kill other fungi that may be involved in onychomycosis like Candida albicans. Therefore Lamisil treatment is limited to dermatophytoses of the nail. For this reason it is important for doctors to accurately diagnose the organism that is causing the onychomycosis before starting treatment.
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by MICHAEL TODD SAPKO MD
The days of onychomycosis being considered simply a cosmetic problem are over. Nail fungus is certainly unpleasing to the eye but it can be much more than that. The emotional and social impact of onychomycosis can be significant. Those afflicted with onychomycosis avoid public places and social functions. They avoid touching friends and loved ones with affected hands which can lead to real interpersonal conflict.
Beyond the psychological suffering associated with onychomycosis, the nails of the fingers and toes provide normally provide protection against trauma. The nails contribute to the way in which we sense the world. Nails affected by onychomycosis can be painful and interfere with sensation and walking. In addition, a fungal infection of the hands and feet may lead to a process called a superinfection in which bacteria and viruses also invade and infect the tissue on top of the fungal infection.
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Scientists and physicians are finding new ways to apply lasers to the treatment of human disease. Perhaps the most widely known application of lasers in medical and surgical care has been in the arena of laser eye surgery. Lasers are used to reshape the cornea of the eye in order to correct refractive errors and cure nearsightedness or farsightedness. However laser treatments have been used in various fields from dermatology to dentistry.
A laser, which is a concentrated beam of light energy, has the ability to selectively destroy certain biological structures, vaporizing them in very real terms. Depending of the wavelength of the light used in the laser, the type of biological structure being destroyed can be selectively targeted (more or less) and preferentially destroyed.
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Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the fingernails or toenails. This unwieldy medical term can be divided into onycho-, which refers to nails and –mycosis, which is a fungal infection. This condition is responsible for about one third of all fungal skin infections. Half of all diseases of the fingernails and toenails are diagnosed as onychomycosis.
Onychomycosis is generally a disease of older patients with most cases occurring in patients older than the age of 40. It is 30 times more likely for the disease to occur in adults that in children. Onychomycosis is very common and becomes more prevalent as people age. About 20 percent of all people between age 40 and 60 have onychomycosis. In fact, it has been estimated that as many as 90% of elderly patients have the disease.
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In the world of microorganisms, fungi are a pretty hardy bunch. There are generally harder to kill than bacteria and viruses. Dermatophytes, yeasts, and molds invade nails and dig themselves deep within the nail itself. Thus an already resilient organism is even further protected by layers and layers of keratin. Because of these reasons, treating onychomycoses has been difficult, historically. Even powerful oral antimycotic medications are not 100% effective. In light of this, can any over-the-counter nail fungus treatment be effective?
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Proximal subungual onychomycosis is the least common onychomycosis in healthy persons though it occurs fairly often in immunocompromised individuals. One of the more unique features of proximal subungual onychomycosis is that the fungus invades the nail at the cuticle and becomes intimately associated with the nail bed. The disease moves along with the growing nail toward the tip.
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Does it work?
The short answer is that no one really knows for sure. There hasn’t been much research on removing some or all of the nail to treat fungal nail infection. This treatment isn’t used very often, but your doctor might suggest it if your infection is severe or keeps coming back. If you are experiencing recurring nail fungus infestation then this might be a bigger issue with your immune system and your overall general health. You might want to discuss with your doctor doing a cleanse and changing your diet to include more organic live foods and stay away from cooked foods.
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Toenail Fungus Treatments