Everything You Need to Know About Toenail Fungus Treatment

Toenail fungus, also called onychomycosis, is caused by fungi known as dermophytes. This fungus lives in the skin and on keratin, the main component of hair and nails. Dermophytes get under the nail and start to multiply, causing damage to the nail. It discolors, gets white, brown, or yellow. Over time, the nail might thicken, harden, become brittle, and even fall off.

Unfortunately, nail fungus is easy to pick up from showers, locker rooms, and swimming pools since fungi live in damp, humid conditions. People with chronic conditions such as diabetes, circulatory issues, or immune-deficiency conditions are especially prone to toenail fungus. In many cases, this condition is difficult to cure. Treatment for toenail fungus can last for several weeks or months.

The first thing to do is to take a history of the problem. In other words, you need to speak with your podiatrist about how long you have had this condition and what previous treatment you’ve had. Your doctor should understand the extent of the issue and any other factors which may impact their choice of toenail fungus treatment.

Toenail Fungus Treatment 

Oral treatment

Oral anti-fungal treatment options like Lamisil (terbinafine), Diflucan (fluconazole), or Sporanox (itraconazole) are quite effective and typically take around three months to work. But they can have unpleasant side effects, such as stomach upset, dizziness, skin issues, and liver damage leading to jaundice. Therefore your full medical history is important. 

These meds are expensive and the biggest problem is that they are not benign. Lamisil can stay in your body six months after you stop taking it, and that’s one of the reasons why it works so well. When using oral treatments, doctors have to be conscious that these options could damage a person’s liver, since the liver is the organ that helps to detoxify the body and excretes that medication.

Topical treatment

Topical treatment options are applied directly to the affected nail. However, they might take a long time to work and are not always effective. 

Not every medication works great for everyone. If you were treated with the oral medication and it wasn’t successful, there’s an alternative. 

Laser treatment

Laser treatment is offered by many foot doctors. It’s non-invasive and works quite quickly. The laser can attack the fungus beneath the nail and kill it off without damaging the nail itself.

However, a clinical cure and a mycological cure are two different things. With the clinical cure, your nail looks fine, smooth, and clear. However, if you sample the nail, you may find that there’s mold or fungus there, so it doesn’t have a mycological cure.

Surgical treatment

Surgical intervention is the last resort. In some cases, the whole nail can be removed and a healthy nail can grow in its place. However, if the infection has reached the nail matrix, where the new nail is formed, the new nail will also be infected. In this case, it might be necessary to remove the matrix as well.

Home remedies

Since the treatment for toenail fungus doesn’t always work and can lead to side effects, many people turn to various home remedies when trying to figure out how to get rid of the problem.

Plant extracts

According to a 2008 study published in Planta Medica, applying plant extract to the affected area over three months was more effective than treatment with the prescription anti-fungal Penlac (ciclopirox).

Weird and wacky

According to a small study published in 2011 in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, applying Vicks VapoRub regularly can help get rid of nail fungus.

Another popular home toenail fungus treatment is to use Listerine mouthwash on its own or mixed with an equal amount of white vinegar. 

Essential oils and ozonated oils

Tea tree oil possesses powerful anti-fungal and antiseptic properties. According to several small-scale clinical studies, tea tree oil might be an effective home remedy for toenail fungus. Plus, these are the best essential oils for combating foot odor.

Oils including olive oil and sunflower oil contain ozone gas. According to a small study published in the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology in 2011, small doses of this kind of ozone, applied over a short period, can fight fungus in rabbits.