Toenail fungus - what to do?

[ceebeegeebies]

I think I have toenail fungus (lovely eh?) as I get white marks on my toenails and have googled it (as you do) and that seems to be the most likely culprit. It does say that constant nail polish use is one of the causes of this and I have noticed that it clears up in the winter when I tend not to paint my toenails but appears again around Spring when I start using nail polish again.

Anyone had this and how do I treat it? I am going for a spa break in a few weeks and would love to have a pedicure as one of my treatments but there is no way I would be able to let someone take my nail polish off and see my nails

I'd advise seeing a podiatrist/chiropodist who will be able to give you prescription stuff to get rid of it. Meanwhile, make sure your shoes fit you to avoid bruising nails, leave your nails as polish free as possible - may mean applying/taking it off more frequently, make sure you wash your feet really well in the shower or have baths/soak your feet, make sure you dry your feet properly after washing, apply athlete's foot/anti-fungal creme, keep your toenails cut straight across and not too short.

But please get it seen to now - my mum had a dodgy toenail and just kept covering it with polish and is now in her 70s, finally had it treated but it has taken years and it still doesn't look 100% normal.

I am a beauty therapist. If you continually wear polish the formaldehyde in the polish dried out the nail bed. If you remove the polish & try to leave it off for a few days to let the nails breathe it will help. Get a 4 way buffer & buff with the coarser buff to smooth down the white patches. Then buff with the smoother ones in the correct order ( should say on the packet) until the nail is smooth & shiny. I don't think that you have a nail infection as the nail goes yellow, disintegrate, flakes & may smell. If in doubt try the buffing & leave polish off for a while. If no change then show the nails to a pharmacist as you can buy something OTC to treat it. You can get formaldehyde & toluene free nail polishes but probably aren't in normal chemists, usually a professional range.

TeaTreeOil is anti fungal and anti bacterial.
Use it every day to paint the nail.

Or you could try Loceryl from your GP (it's a once a week laquer so you could use it under nail varnish, just make sure it's the Loceryl that's on your naked nail, then your colour)

Your GP might do a sample to culture but they take a while to do, and sometimes come back as a false negetive.

A nail that is damaged is more likely to get a fungal infection, and they are difficult to diagnose early on.

If it might be, then treat it.
The treatment doesn't harm unless you are allergic to it.

You could try Curinail from Pharmacy. (that might not be the right spelling)

Oh - very important PERSERVERE> It can take a year to clear up. You're in it for the long haul.

Someone on here recently recommended Vicks! She said it worked brilliantly and very fast.

YY the Vicks thing - someone on here had great results! Slap it on and wear socks over night.

Thank you so much for the responses

I will try the Vicks thing (how great is that??) as we always have that in the house and if that doesn't work, maybe try the buffing stuff.

Assuming I can clear this up, how can I prevent it happening when I put nail polish on again??

NOt sure it's anything to do with wearing polish - I always wear polish and don't get fungal infections. Are you sure it's not just discoloured form wearing polish?

No, definitely not discoloured - they are like large white blotches rather than the discolouration you get from wearing dark nail polishes.

I guess it is one of those things that you can get from constantly wearing nail polish but not everyone who does will get it iyswim.

NOt zinc deficiency blotches?

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=fungal+nail+infection&hl=en&biw=1908&bih=872&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=iWPjxqanDwnCCM:&imgrefurl=dalejke.webnode.com/&docid=AskRJRvFtkq_YM&imgurl=files.dalejke.webnode.com/200000000-2eeb52fe52/nail-fungus28.jpg&w=520&h=520&ei=5K54T_WWOcr68QPnu7WzDQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=485&sig=117584570160406759711&page=1&tbnh=103&tbnw=104&start=0&ndsp=57&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=54&ty=52" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=fungal+nail+infection&hl=en&biw=1908&bih=872&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=iWPjxqanDwnCCM:&imgrefurl=dalejke.webnode.com/&docid=AskRJRvFtkq_YM&imgurl=files.dalejke.webnode.com/200000000-2eeb52fe52/nail-fungus28.jpg&w=520&h=520&ei=5K54T_WWOcr68QPnu7WzDQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=485&sig=117584570160406759711&page=1&tbnh=103&tbnw=104&start=0&ndsp=57&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=54&ty=52

Excuse the massive link! Fungal is more yellow than white

God no they do not look like that

They are like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=zinc+deficiency+nails&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=PA7&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1366&bih=703&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=fRfVbJPyV71tNM:&imgrefurl=www.garmaonhealth.com/minerals/white-spot-nail&docid=HZg1I17YQqw1zM&imgurl=www.garmaonhealth.com/wp-content/gallery/general-pics-for-posts/spotty-nail-4.jpg&w=1022&h=844&ei=CLB4T46UCZOR8gO_tOyqDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=362&vpy=386&dur=3340&hovh=204&hovw=247&tx=131&ty=143&sig=102348072879241156372&page=1&tbnh=157&tbnw=148&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this so maybe it is zinc defiency although I do not have any white marks on my fingernails

I'm still inclined to think it's the dry patches from nail polish as I get it to & just buff them & the patched disappear

Also the white patches on nails aren't due to zinc deficiency. It is a myth as most people think this. They are actually bruising to the nail root matrix as the nail is being formed. As it grows out white patches appear on the nails.

If you're utterly sure it's a fungal infection then you should see your GP. DH had this last year - the recommended treatment was Terbinofine (one tabled daily) until it clears up. As it can take up to 1 year (!) for a big toenail to grow out, curing ths infection can be a lengthy process, and DH is just coming to the end of nearly nine months treatment for his. One advantage of this treatment over the alternative of painting stuff on is that it is systemic, and kills off all nail fungal infections at one go. Downside is that you need a blood test every 3 months or so to check for any signs of liver damage.