Toenail Onychomycosis Treatment

Yellow nails and nail thickening may be due to various causes, but fungal invasion is found in more than 75% of all of these cases. If your nails are both discolored and thick, it should be assumed that you have nail fungus until proven otherwise. Other causes of nail thickness include mechanical trauma about 25% of the time (the first and the fifth toenails are very frequently distorted by chronic shoe pressure) and random systemic causes 5% of the time(like psoriasis).

Treatment can be very difficult but scroll down to the Home Treatment Section to find out the best scientifically backed methods available!

Other Causes of Nail Thickening

1)Mechanical nail thickness without fungus (~25% of the time) – usually due to compression of the first and the fifth toenails against the front of the shoe, the way to tell these types of nails apart from nail fungus is that they will usually be a normal color rather than yellow or green.

2)Systemic causes (~5% of the time) Psoriasis, Eczema, Trauma, Yellow nail syndrome & other rare causes

3)If the nails are white suspect superficial white onychomycosis or keratin granulations.

 

Table of Contents

Before you try treatment!

Understand these two principles

1) Do I have Toe Fungus

-Click on the above link to find out the exact mechanism of toenail fungus- I promise reading it will change your entire outlook on whether you even need a cure

 

2) How is Toenail Fungus Spread

-Read the above guide to find out how you got toenail fungus, it is important that you understand these principles before you cure your toenail fungus- otherwise odds are it will just come right back!

 

Think Nail Fungus if:

  • Thick, crumbly and tender nails.
  • Toenails that are discolored, especially yellow or green.
  • The surface of the nails becomes thick and rough.
  • This pressure is transferred into the nail bed and causes pain.
  • Nails just feel “ugly”, not like they used to look

 

What is causing my fungal nails?

These are the things you need to take a look at that may be causing the fungus:

1) Systemic Factors

-Old Age, immunosuppression, poor peripheral circulation, nail psoriasis

-Genetics

2) Agent factors

-Exotic non-responsive organisms (<10%)

-This is very unlikely

3) Environmental factors

-Occupational factors- excessive sweat

-Occlusive footwear

-Prolonged contact with water or sugary food

 

 

Does Home Treatment Really Work?

Topical and Home Remedies have a good chance of working if:

• Area of nail involvement is under 50% of the total nail surface

• There is no ingrowing of the nails into the skin edges

•The nail is not painful

• The skin under and around the nail still looks normal and has not yet become thick.

• No White / yellow or orange / brown streaks in the nail exist

 

You will likely need to visit a Podiatrist to receive treatment in the form of oral medication if:

• If all toenails are 100% involved

• Immunosuppression (Diabetes, Rheumatoid arthritis or any systemic disease)

• Diminished peripheral circulation (Peripheral vascular disease, smoking, high blood pressure or more)

• Poor nail growth (Nail has detached before, loose edges)

• If you are over 65 years of age

 

 

Treatment:

Note: Be careful using any of these methods at home- this guide is for educational use only and should never be attempted without podiatrist supervision.

 

1)Home Treatment of Pain due to Fungus:

  • Soak the foot in Epsom salts one to two times per day for 15-30 minutes while watching TV, this will make the nail and the skin softer for easier trimming of the nails. It also makes the nails softer for using an emery board or a pumice stone to make the nails smoother on top.

  • If the nail is ingrown and causing you any pain: Soak the nail as above and try to lift the nail and put some gauze or a Band-Aid underneath the sharp and painful corner.

  • Be careful in attempting to cut out the ingrown nail yourself, if you cut yourself in the slightest, go see a podiatrist immediately! Especially if you have diabetes, poor blood circulation, smoke or any other systemic medical condition.

  • Try to avoid heels or tight shoes until the nails become softer and you are able to cut the thickness down (I know you won’t listen anyway ladies!).

  • It is good to use a Brannock device to measure your shoe in width, length and arch length- most people don’t know that they are not wearing the proper shoe size!

  • When trimming your nails, cut straight across. Do not round the corners. This is more of a guideline to prevent the nails from curving in- but if the corner is digging in, then clip it out.

  • Keep the nail thin and make sure the nail curvature remains decreased.

 

 

2)Home Treatment of the Fungus:

  • Ensure that what you have is actually fungal nails- for our home diagnosis purposes we should assume that anything thick, yellow and is crumbling is nail fungus. It is otherwise impossible to know for sure without a microscope or a culture sample.

  • Be prepared for a long treatment- it takes at least 6-9 long months for a nail to grow out (1 millimeter per month). Be aware that you cannot cure your nail, but you must grow out a clean new nail.

Home Treatment- 40% chance of curing your fungal toenails according to medical data

It is a great idea to try these at home before you do anything else. These methods are extremely cheap, have no bad side effects beyond mild irritation of the skin (if this is you just stop and try something else). There is not a huge amount of data to support how well they work (mostly because drug companies pay good money for product effectiveness research- and these are not money makers!) The general consensus from medicine based evidence is that these methods only work on nail infections that are not heavily involved.

 

 

Topical and Home Remedies have a good chance of working if:

  • Area of nail involvement is under 50% of the total nail surface

  • There is no ingrowing of the nails into the skin edges

  • The nail is not painful

  • The skin under and around the nail still looks normal and has not yet become thick.

  • No White / yellow or orange / brown streaks in the nail exist

 

3)Home Treatment Video Guides

Trim and file the nail down before you try any treatment!

-Studies show that using an emery board to file your nails down in length and thickness increase the effectiveness of all of the following treatments by 15-25%, which is actually huge if you only have a 40% of working in the first place! The nail fungus has been shown to create a thick impenetrable layer of bio-film covering your toenail that prevents topical medications and treatments from entering into the nail bed. Research states that as you thin down your nails with an emery board or a pumice stone as described in treatment section #1 above, you gain a 15-25% increased chance of the following treatments in working for you. This means medications have to travel a smaller distance and have less resistance in the distance that they do travel. So trim your nails before the following treatments are tried!

A) Vick’s Vapor Rub Nail Fungus Treatment

Vick’s Vapor Rub contains the ingredients Camphor (4.8%), Thymol (1.2%) and Menthol (2.6%) which have all been show to all fight against toenail fungus in some research studies. The goal is to rub it onto your nail every night before you go to bed. Then put some socks over it so it does not get onto your sheets. A Spanish study states that Vick’s Vapor rub is very effective, while the Mayo Clinic admits that while many people vouch for this treatment method, it is difficult to prove that the Vick’s Vapor Rub is having a great deal of effectiveness. It is essential that you do this for at least 6 weeks to 3 months to eradicate the fungus from your nails. The nails then need 6-9 months to grow out.

WATCH VIDEO GUIDE

 

B) Vinegar Soak Nail Fungus Treatment

A Michigan State University study shows that Vinegar has antifungal properties and have been shown to reduce nail fungus symptoms and even cure the fungus – Pour some apple vinegar or some white vinegar (either is fine) into a tub of warm water. The mixture can be 50/50 or 33/66 if your skin becomes irritated. – If the skin becomes irritated, slow the treatment down and do it every second day instead of every day. It is essential that you do this for at least 6 weeks to 3 months to eradicate the fungus from your nails. The nails then need 6-9 months to grow out. – Put lemon or orange peels into the vinegar while you are storing it within the fridge, this will help eliminate some of the vinegar smell.

WATCH VIDEO GUIDE

 

 

C) Listerine Nail Fungus Treatment

Listerine contains the ingredients Camphor, Thymol and Menthol which have all been show to all fight against toenail fungus in research studies. The goal is to rub it onto your nail every night before you go to bed for six weeks. Pour some Listerine into a tub of warm water. The mixture can be 50/50 or 33/66 if your skin becomes irritated. – If skin is irritated do it every second day instead of every day. It is essential that you do this for at least 6 weeks to 3 months to eradicate the fungus from your nails. The nails then need 6-9 months to grow out.

WATCH VIDEO GUIDE

 

4) Home Prevention

It is amazing how difficult it is to treat your fungal nails, but then people jump right back into the situations that caused it in the first place. It is essential that you start to control your sweating, correct your footwear (and throw out the disgusting gym shoes!), use anti-sweat powders and use lysol to spray down your old shoes.

Sweating

-Control your sweating! People at risk for this are labor workers, people on their feet for a long time and athletes. It is not always possible to wear shoes that air out your feet. So get your hands on an anti-sweat powder like gold bond or ask your pharmacist what they have available in the local drug store.  If you can wear sandals or a non-occlusive shoe or sock. Wear that too!

Socks

-Wearing socks if you were not previously using them can be fantastic. The best socks for summer are synthetic socks and the best socks for winter may be wool socks, these decrease friction and prevent callus formation. Combine this method with the vasoline or petroleum jelly method above to greatly decrease friction.

Bad Footwear

-Use a Brannock device to measure your proper shoe size. Most people increase their foot size as they get old. Use this the metal foot measuring device available at running shoe stores and the podiatrist’s office to get sized.

Throw out old footwear

-Don’t go crazy and throw out all shoes, but if they are really and smell maybe its time to get a nice new pair. If you decide to keep the shoes, at least  use Lysol to spray them down heavily at the very least.

Powders

-Get gold bond or other anti-sweat foot gear.

Lysol

-Spray down all the shoes and socks that you have worn since you’ve had the fungus, or at least power wash everything a few times!