Terrible fungal falling off nail. With photo (disgusting) WHAT DO I DO?

[tigerdriverII]

I have had a fungal infection for years on both big toes and second toe (which also has a damaged nail as its longer than my big toe and rubs on shoes). But things have now got worse. After a soak in the bath, my toenail started to come away and I have cut it down as far as possible and scraped out a lot of yellow gunk. But what do I do now? I don't really care too much how it looks but I don't want to lose it! Any suggestions? I'm 53, if that's relevant.

[somewheresomehow]

I think a trip to the docs for anti fungal tablets and wait for it to grow out, or try neat tea tree oil every day and hopefully it will grow out although mine hasn't

[pinkfrocks]

I don't think tea tree works- didn't for me. some people swear by Vick ointment. For bad cases you can take tablets- go to GP.

[Pleasemrstweedie]

Neem oil from Neals Yard, twice a day. Before you do that ,cut off as much as you can.

The podiatrist said she couldn't do anything with mine, but neem oil fixed it in less than a month.

[Kundry]

GP and a prescription. It's way beyond topical treatment especially as it looks like the adjacent nail is affected.

[clarinsgirl]

Yep, you need to go to the docs. Anti fungal tablets with solve the problem but will take at least 6 months.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Goldenseal tincture is what you need. Drop it on and although it's a very bright yellow colour it does the job fantastically . Cured ds's nail when he was too small for any treatment at all.

[NinkyNonky]

I'm using neat tea tree oil and mine is growing out but I don't think that works for everyone. I've tried quite a few remedies as I know thet tablets can be quite harsh so they were going to be my last resort.


Definitely keep them cut as short as possible for comfort and make sure you use a set of clippers that you don't use on your healthy nails to avoid it spreading.


Apparently keeping your feet well aired helps to prevent fungal infections so I try to spend as much time as I can barefoot when I'm at home now.

[tigerdriverII]

Thank you all. I was hoping to avoid the medication route but I suspect it may go that way. I have tea tree oil, so may try that. Vicks has never worked for me.

[FannyFifer]

You need to go to GP & get some proper treatment. How have you left it so long.m?

[trixymalixy]

Anti fungal tablets worked very quickly for me. I'd tried topical nail treatments, tea tree oil etc, none of which made any difference.

[Kundry]

I tried tea tree oil for 5 years. Utter waste of time.

[NinkyNonky]

My understanding is that there are different kinds of fungus, which is why things like tea tree oil work only work for some.

I did go to the doctors about it a while ago and they sent some clippings off for testing, but it came back inconclusive so they wouldn't give me anything. That's when I did a bit of reading up about it and found that the tablets can be a bit harsh so thought I'd try some 'home' remedies before trying the doctors again. I will totally go back to the doctors if the tea tree stops working though, I feel so self conscious about my feet!

Weirdly, I did find that when I painted my nails I'd get a bit of fungus free growth coming through but curanail didn't work at all. Bizarre!

[Kundry]

In Op's photo there doesn't appear to be any uninfected nail though. Tea tree etc can only work if there is healthy nail you can protect as it grows up. Once the infection is down to the cuticle it isn't going to work.