Nail Fungus?

[kantuckid]

Like many others I have it. Like many others I tried the OTC stuff and found it a waste of $$$.
I could care less about cosmetics here and have a toenail that is no bother but and it's a BIG BUT! the fungus on my right thumb is a true PITA! 
It's hard to describe but folds in the middle thus forcing the outer corners to dig into my thumb. Before we went to FL and my hands got a rest it got infected from the shop work wherein the pressure on the pad of that thumb pushed the nail into the skin and got infected from shop dirt. 
At my twice a year dermatologist visit(where I get chewed out for not wearing a hat enough-I do wear one) I asked the doc, she said it's a waste of time to remove it or try to treat it.
Today I got back a reply phone call from a U of KY clinic specialist who told me to go to my local doc and asked for some Terbinafine, an Rx drug.
Has anyone tried that treatment?
If you work you know how valuable a thumbnail is to work!

[pabst79]

Have you tried tea tree oil? Or Listerine? I had it bad on a couple toes for a year or two. I tried a drop of tea tree one night, then listerine the next night, after 8 weeks the fungus was gone, hasn't came back. No idea if they both worked or just one.

[dgdrls]

second for use of tea tree oil.

also have seen recipes using apple cider vinegar,

D

[sprucebunny]

I'm another tea tree oil user on my toenails. Cured. I still use it once a month as a precaution.

[Ljohnsaw]

I've got it on one of my toes for the last 22 years.  Had a horse stomp on my foot (sneakers) in a damp pasture.  I figured that was the cause.  I tried Tea Tree oil for about 3 months several times with no difference.  Maybe I'll try the oil/listerine treatment.  My doc said the options were remove the nail , take some drug that is really, really bad for your liver or live with it.

[Nebraska]

We use turbinfin for fungal infections  routinely, (ring worm in pets) I think  it's worth a try, as well as the Apple cider vinegar soak...... thinking about it  i wonder  if boric acid may be helpful as well. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have been fighting it in my right foot for 40 years with no luck. My running buddy in 1986 when I was in the 4th Marines was our Regimental Surgeon and he suggested the internal medicine and I tried it. I had indigestion so bad I was sucking down Pepto Bismol like it was water. I finally decided the cure was worse than the ailment. I tried Vics Vapo Rub and Vasoline and they both softened the nails and made them easier to cut but did not kill the fungus. Over the last year I have gotten fungus in 3 of my finger nails usually after some damage to them. I tried the drops advertised on TV such as Fungi Nail and such with no results at all. I had never heard of the tea tree oil and may look into that. 

[kantuckid]

Turbinafine is called Lamisil. It has a serious laundry list of side effects that would scare anyone! Not to go off on a medical tangent here, but to sort of finish the topic some-
After I posted I dug in further and it conflicts with carvediol which I have taken since a heart attack in 2006, I guess it's a standard drug for heart attack people even though I had no heart muscle damage.
Yes lamisil also hits on the liver and far more such as causing acid indigestion too. Since I've been diagnosed with hiatel hernia/acid reflux, I'm not real inclined to try that pill.
I got on this fungus kick again from a phone call to tell me they were cancelling all elective surgeries, not that I had one, what I actually had FWIW, was a future appt to treat trigger finger again by a simple injection. That led to me asking if the nurse who I called about fungus same office, had any info yet on the notion of removing it or other treatment options. Turned out girl on the phone often dealt with fungus as she told me she'd worked much with chemo paitients who get it bad on all their nails! Hard to imagine taking Lamisil and chemo gut wise but maybe they do the fungus once the chemos ended. She said they surgically remove their nails for those who cannot take lamisil then insert silver "fake nails" in fingers or toes.

Vinegar acts as an acid in this case and most of the OTC treatments all have the exact same thing in them a certain acid, all at the same %, so on, mostly it's the prices that vary. Without looking, I think it's acetic acid. It does not work for me or my wife who has toenails with fungus. the lady said the body is an ideal host for that fungus and any trauma opens the door.
People on this board (like me) often have beat to death hands from hand work, so it's a wonder I didn't have it sooner. i have another nail thats too thin cause the doc sewed ~ an inch back on that got cut off from a grader blade dropped on it. He was a resident and I sort of kidded him as to was I his first live person to sew on. (I have had that sort of experience with a first timer on a spinal tap-yuk!)
I knew about tea oil from first time I looked online, Some say it works, others not at all. Mayo Clinic reports that trials prove tea oil doesn't work on nail fungus. Vinegar is acid, which I've already tried acid OTC stuff and zero effect. I read about one guy who put battery acid on his, not real smart huh?
I've known a couple of auto body guys who grew one thumbnail extra long just for tape handling on paintwork. Mine is very un-useful for anything this past year or so.

[Gary_C]

  I have been fighting it in my right foot for 40 years with no luck. 

Fifty years here and no luck.
One of my grandsons once told me I have "fake toes."   :
I did the quarterly foot nail trim with the podiatrist until Medicare changed their rules and it got too expensive to continue. So I just bought some of those fancy nail trimmers like the doc used (not the clippers which I hate) and cut my own.

[pabst79]

I should have added that I also tried all the OTC stuff and also read the Mayo report that tea tree wasn't a productive treatment, but my wife and MIL have used oils for years and I finally gave in. I'm fairly certain that if you had a bone sticking out of your arm they'd both try to put drops of something on it... I had a home remedy book that I received from my Grandmother that suggested Listerine. It's been almost a year and the fungus hasn't came back, hardly a clinical trial but both are inexpensive so if you haven't tried them it's worth a shot. Every night for several weeks, the minty smell is much nicer than the tea tree IMO.

[kantuckid]

The one thing that Mayo website says Tea Oil has shown good treatment results is acne, which I'm sort of past the pimple thing...
For now, I'll grind around on mine with my wife's hand me down emery boards so it doesn't poke into my thumb meat so much.
*DanG! it's raining again here, a day in, day out thing here. Outside work has been on hold for too long.
If there any virus germs up here on our hill, they blew in or the UPS man brought em...

[YellowHammer]

Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree) Oil: a Review of Antimicrobial and Other Medicinal Properties

This paper indicates Tea Tree Oil does kill certain types of fungus.  I've used it on a number of bacterial infections and its quite effective.  Its basically turpentine, and smells like it.  


I would also try Hibiclens surgical soap, its a product that was introduced to me when I had my hip surgery, it kills pretty much everything, and keeps killing for 6 to 24 hours.  I use it everyday to wash my hands to nuke any Covid-19 germs as well as anything else that tries to land on me.  It says its effective against fungus, and it's safe enough to use routinely.  I'd soak my hands or feet in to for a few minutes and see what happens.  Either way, its the best antibacterial, microbial stuff I've ever used.  

Hibiclens: Antiseptic Skin Cleanser - USA Medical and Surgical Supplies

[doc henderson]

one reason antifungals, topical or otherwise get a bad wrap, is it may take 6 to 12 weeks to get it out of the nail as it grows out.  It is like people who say amoxicillin does not work, but they ask for an antibiotic every time they have a cold.  and no antibiotic works on a virus... well now maybe except for azithromycin on covid 19... we will see.