What is this on toe/toenail?

[FruHagen]

Hi all,

My 7 year old has this on her toenail. It's like hard skin underneath the nail bed that has made the nail grow in this way.

I was told it was a fungal nail infection by her doctor (not a podiatrist) so I have been treating it daily with an over the counter treatment she recommended for that... but it is not improving.

Does anyone recognize what it could be?

It looks fungal to me, I had similar. I wasted time trying otc products diligently. I ended up getting a prescription to clear it, which can apparently can be bad for your liver. But I was absolutely sick of it and wouldn’t wear summer shoes.

Im not sure if children are allowed the prescription drugs for it. If they are, I’d tell the gp you’ve tried OTC, it’s not working and need something stronger.

You need to cut the nail back as much as you can. I don’t think home treatments can work once it’s established itself on the nail. But just my opinion! I’d also gone to a podiatrist and had laser treatment, which did nothing.

I was pregnant, then breastfeeding so had to wait almost two yearsbefore I could take the prescription tablets and at that point it had got itself started on another toe slowly but surely.

It does look fungal. Realistically you need to use the treatment until the hail has entirely grown out clear of fungus.

I presume you've been told things such as drying feet with hairdryer after bathing to make sure there's no trapped moisture etc.

Kids can't have terbinafine otherwise I would suggest that if it was an adult and persistent.

Thanks for the help. I'll see what can be done next.

No-one has mentioned hair-drying the feet. Was just told to cut nails straight and wash socks at 60 degrees.

Soak her foot at least 2 x daily in a solution suitable for sterilising baby bottles.
Expose the area to the air as much as possible.
Wash socks frequently.
Use a pumice stone to deal withe hard skin.
Sterilise the pumice stone in the sterilising solution every time you use it.

Thanks @endofagain
Will do

I used Boots sterilising tablets and made the solution exactly according to the instructions. I had a fungal nail infection and it cleared it up after a couple of weeks.

Definitely looks fungal. Try filing down the nail as much as possible and putting tea tree out on it. Its not a quick fix but it's the best I've found for my little boy.