toenail fungus

[alpinerabbit]

I had it once and was given an antifungal in the form of a nail polish, you put it on every few days and sand down as much of the affected nail. it basically takes until the nail's grown out to disappear, but I am sure the fungus is dead sooner than that.

[baskingshark]

Like Annie, I have toenail fungus that my doctor said I could treat with oral lamisil if I wanted to, but told me about the side effect. She also suggested that I first try "Vicks VapoRub" - she said that several patients she knew had tried this and found it worked, however weird it seems. I haven't tried it yet, but who knows...

[chickwhorips]

make sure your toenails are filed down properly. because i run i have to keep them very short (in salons, state regulations prevent us from trimming them down to short for sanitary reasons) or my toes/toenails get sore. shape should be straight across and rounded at the edges to prevent ingrown toenails. it is also better to trim down your nails with a clipper first then file instead of filing them down to as short as you want them. a file is to shape not take off massive amounts of length.

its true that a former injury to the nail bed will cause an infection/fungus if it isn't healed properly. if the nail bed is damaged things like to grow underneath. specially if it is in a moist environment often. to help prevent it make sure you wash your feet with an antibacterial soap if you have problems often. tea tree oil is a good natural product to use. you can put it on your nails to help "sanitize" them and help get rid of infections.

a major problem is wrong fitting shoes. yes i know its hard to throw out those shoes that are oh so cute or so expensive that you bought and you still feel you have to wear them (i have been guilty of this also) but proper fit is important. not only for your performance but for your feet and nails. if a shoe is to small it has a tendency to put extra pressure on your nail beds and cause problems. either the nail bed will lift and bacteria will get under the nail or you can have the splits in your nail itself and the bacteria will get under as well.

foot and nail problems aren't fun at all, specially when we have to use them all the time. for fungus treatments, like lamisil or the nail polish one or any otc treatment, its one of those things you do have to wait out untill the nail completely grows out to see the complete result when the fungus is gone. its frustrating i know, everyone just wants it to go away NOW! just like a bruised nail, that you have to wait to grow out, it just takes time. just put nail polish over it and make sure you change your polish once in a while so you can keep an eye on how the fungus (or other damage) is doing while it grows out.

and don't make me tell you some of the horror stories that i have of toenails, everyone who didn't want to go to a salon, went to beauty school to get their nails done, and i mean EVERYONE.

[makbike]

I was diagnosed with nail fungus last year. My podiatrist gave me samples of a medicated nail polish to use. I had to apply it every day for several months, it did kill the fungus and all is well now. He also advised me to spray my shoes (work, cycling, tennis, etc) with Lysol before I wore them and to spray them again after I took them off my feet.

Hope this helps.

[Popoki_Nui]

She also suggested that I first try "Vicks VapoRub" - she said that several patients she knew had tried this and found it worked, however weird it seems. I haven't tried it yet, but who knows...

Weird as is seems, it does work. It also works on athlete's foot too. It took the better part of a year, but I have all my toenails back, and no athlete's foot anymore. Probably would have worked faster if I'd been more diligent in applying it daily instead of every few days, but it worked well and made my feet feel nice and cool on hot sweaty days.