TMI - fungal infection on toe

[Anonymous]

It is with great mortification that I find myself with a horrid fungal infection in one of my big toes. I think I got it getting a pedicure. Anyway, it makes my toe look atrocious. I wear nail polish over it, but it will not go away. I have tried tea tree oil. My doctor says it will be very hard to get rid of. Any experience out there re: this unsightly problem?

[Anonymous]

Me too. So gross.

I saw a dermatologist who gave me two options. Option one - take a lengthy dose of highly toxic chemicals with many well-known and bad side effects, or option two: wear nail polish. I went with option two.

I recently heard about laser treatment, but it's expensive and not covered by insurance.

[Anonymous]

I had a really bad fungal infection of the toenails - no matter what I tried, nothing helped. Looked bad even with nail polish. I was very self-conscious about wearing open toed shoes and sandals and I never had pedicures. My doctor said it was one of the worst cases he had ever seen. I took Lamisil - no side effects, no problems whatsoever. It was the only thing that worked. My toenails are beautiful now.

[Anonymous]

my DH did the laser treatment plus some topical stuff. Worked wonders. Now just have to wait for the nail to grow out. He also bought the ultraviolet shoe zappers that clean the inside of your shoes after wearing them.

My DC has fungus in one big toe and used to have it in the other. One went away when we had to soak her foot in a mild bleach solution (1 Tbs in a dish pan of water) when she had a staph infection on a different toe (the pediatrician recommended this). We recently tried this on the other toe and can't tell yet if it worked. But have cleaned out from under the toenail with nail tools and a safety pin (disinfect after and her nail tools are hers alone). There are many online raves about Vicks VaporRub to treat toe fungus. Search the Berkley Parents Network for lots of info.

Nail polish can actually make it worse, as it seals the nail and inhibits what little air circulation there is. No polish, wear socks, shoes that breathe, etc.

[Anonymous]

What does it look like? I just removed some polish to find a weird, white, rough surface on my big toe and I'm wondering if it's a fungal infection. Could I have got it at the nail place?

[Anonymous]

OP here: Thanks for the tips. For the most recent poster, my toe nail looks like I painted it with white-out. It is a shocking color of white. The toenail is also bumpy and flaky. So gross.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. Mine too. Thanks..

[Anonymous]

Another question -- can you get it from a pedicure? Because I got one and four weeks later -- fungus.

[Anonymous]

A few months ago, I thought I had a nail fungus and went to a podiatrist. She took a sample to have tested and there was absolutely no fungus.

The podiatrist said that the white roughed up look was from leaving nail polish on for too long (and not allowing the nail to "breathe"). She told me to ease off on the polish for a while until the white part grows out.