Fingernail infection: any suggestions?
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free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:56 am

I have chronic swelling of the area of my finger just below the nail (not under the nail itself) and no cuticle on that finger.

I have had similar problems with one or more nails for most of my adult life. I have visited dermatologists maybe a dozen times, without much luck. This particular nail has been a problem for about two years now.

I realize eds is not a medical forum per se, but the only useful advice I ever got was from a friend who is not in the health care field. Her remedy has fixed more than a few nails; unfortunately, it's not working on this one.

So, since this apparently common condition seems to stymie the specialists, I thought maybe someone here had successfully dealt with chronic paronychia. Thanks!

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:43 am

Hermosa,

Would you tell us what you have tried? I think it might help so we don't give recommendations that you have already used? Smile

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:46 am

Have you been advised to try/do any of the suggestions at this link for "Chronic Paronychia"?

http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/paronychia_nail_in.html

It's unfortunate, but the dreaded yeast + candida bacteria typically present in this, are extremely difficult to eradicate... Sad

On the fingers it is all the more difficult because our hands are exposed to not only moisture, but every bacteria imaginable. Often the skin barrier is irritated and many times compromised, which becomes a portal of entry for even more bad guys.

Keeping your hands thoroughly clean + dry will help. Cotton lined gloves are also good protection from the elements. And for goodness sake, Very Happy

keep hand shaking to a minimum...

Also, 50 mg/day fluconazole is both effective and safe in the management of chronic paronychia according to this study;

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a790814654&db=all

One other thing I can tell you just from my own observation of a few patients, is that for whatever the reason, being in contact with 'cardboard' box + similar materials, seemed to exacerbate the symptoms for all. Perhaps just a coincidence, but thought it worth mentioning.

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:33 pm

Thanks, DM and Kassy!

My reliable treatment involved cutting away damaged parts of the nail, usually along the sides, and applying iodine.

I have also tried soaking in various solutions, lately (the last month or so) 100% tea tree oil. Once a derm gave me a tube of triamcinolone cream and that seemed to help, but I got a new tube and it's not working on this nail. It seems to be a different sort of infection/fungus from prior problems.

Kassy, that study is fascinating! I had not run across that. I have heard horror stories of lamisil for toenail fungus (thank goodness my toenails have been fine) but the fluconazole doesn't seem to have the same risks. I will definitely look into that. I'm also investigating lasers, which seem like an awfully big gun for my little fingernail,but if one blast would fix it, well, I'm tempted.

The affected nail is my ring finger, left hand, so it doesn't shake hands or mess with cardboard, or really do much of anything other than hit the w,s,and x keys. (I'm right handed.)

As problems go, I realize this is pretty minor, but all the same, it frustrates me and I will love to make it go away.

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:15 pm

Hermosa - I found out about another type of tea tree oil that's better yet. It's called Manuka Oil and they say it's "twenty times more active against gram postitive bacteria(staph/strep) than Australian tea tree oil and up to ten times stronger against fungus".

I must have had a low level fungal infection growing on my toes and heals for the last dozen years or so and tried this with great success. I had used so many other types of products, including tea tree oil, lamisil, tinactin, lotrimin and lotrimin ultra. Each of those products helped a little bit to get rid of the dry skin and thickened nails that I had, but this Manuka oil is really doing the job. I think I had such a low-lying fungus that I managed to 'ground' in with pumis stones over the years that the other products couldn't penetrate very well. I never had a rash or itchiness, just flakiness and dryness. Left alone, my skin would actually get fissures.

I have found this Manuka oil a 'nail' saver too. My nails had been damaged in my youth from psorisis and could never grow out. They would always be brittle and peel or split. They are now a good length and very strong and no longer peeling or splitting. The polish stays without chipping for longer than a week too.

I discovered this for my nails in a search for what was causing a few of my toenails to be thick and crusty. A search on psorisis led to a mention of a fungus possibly causing psorisis and then to my use of all the OTC products that didn't work. I'm really glad to have found the Manuka oil and now have beautiful long nails! (And smooth, soft heals and toes).

You might want to give this Manuka a try. It's not expensive and can be used easily. It does have a strong scent, but that disappates after a while. It goes on as a liquid so it can easily get under a nail and be absorbed readily. I saw results in a few days of using this product (after trying all those other ones even!)

Read about it here: http://manukaoil.net/
apparently you need the manuka oil from New Zealand. The brand I used was the East Cape one and bought it off of Amazon for around $13. I've also used Manuka Honey and that's good for your immune system. It's knocked down some colds for family members and myself.

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:22 pm

Hermosa,

I agree with Foxe although the 2 trees are very closely related the Manuka is much more effective than Tea Tree oil. I have both oils and for fungus type infections, which my dad had on toenails the Manuka knocked out what Tea Tree couldn't. Smile

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:09 pm

Thank you! I just placed my order for East Cape manuka oil. If that doesn't work, I'll try the flucanazole, but a topical remedy would be ideal.

After looking at so many sites that seem to be unable to tell me anything other than to soak the finger and to keep it as dry as possible, I am very happy to have some alternatives.

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:24 pm

Hermosa wrote:

Thank you! I just placed my order for East Cape manuka oil. If that doesn't work, I'll try the flucanazole, but a topical remedy would be ideal.

After looking at so many sites that seem to be unable to tell me anything other than to soak the finger and to keep it as dry as possible, I am very happy to have some alternatives.

I know those "small things" can really get to be big annoyances when you can't make them go away! I think you will find this does the trick, keeping my fingers crossed for you! Smile

free skin care · Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:47 pm

Manuka honey. Ir is truly amazing.

free skin care · Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:36 am

Glad to hear you're going to give some a try Hermosa. I hope it works for you. You should also try the Manuka Honey for some internal cleansing of this fungus since it has some of the same properties as the oil and is anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. It can help to have two things to attack this stubborn infection you have.

free skin care · Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:40 am

foxe wrote:

Glad to hear you're going to give some a try Hermosa. I hope it works for you. You should also try the Manuka Honey for some internal cleansing of this fungus since it has some of the same properties as the oil and is anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. It can help to have two things to attack this stubborn infection you have.

foxe,
It's amazing how many things the Manuka Honey is helpful for, I first found it about 4 years ago while looking into natural things for UC and it is great for UC, Crohn's and IBS amongst many other ailments. Smile

free skin care · Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:27 pm

I heard of using tea tree oil to treat nail fungus. It may take 4-6 weeks adn you have to use is consitantly.

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:16 am

What about soaking the finger in good old vinegar?

http://antinailfungus.com/toenail-fungus/vinegar-for-toenail-fungal-infection

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:51 am

I am reading raves about the manuka honey, so that is on the list. I'm going to see if Whole Foods stocks it first, and will try vinegar while I'm waiting for the manuka tea tree oil to land in my mailbox. However, my understanding (have yet to run across a scientific explanation though) is that toenail fungus and fingernail fungus are different beasts. My sister and husband both have terrible toenail problems, so whether or not the manuka works on my fingernail, I'm going to have them try it.

Thanks all!

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:27 am

Hermosa - The Whole Foods by me did carry one variety of Manuka Honey (rated +15). It was around $19 (not cheap).

Quote:

my understanding (have yet to run across a scientific explanation though) is that toenail fungus and fingernail fungus are different beasts.

That might be, but I used the same darn pumice stone on my fingers that I had used on my feet. Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:42 am

The Tea Tree, Manuka Oil, Manuka Honey and ACV are all known to be broad spectrum antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. I would think they would work even if it's a different strain of fungus. Smile

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:14 am

foxe wrote:

Hermosa - The Whole Foods by me did carry one variety of Manuka Honey (rated +15). It was around $19 (not cheap).

The prices I saw online were $20-30. Add $6 or so for shipping, and you're getting up there. So WF at $19 would be a relative bargain (can't believe I'm using "WF" and "bargain" in the same sentence). No tax on food here in California either.

free skin care · Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:21 am

Hermosa wrote:

foxe wrote:

Hermosa - The Whole Foods by me did carry one variety of Manuka Honey (rated +15). It was around $19 (not cheap).

The prices I saw online were $20-30. Add $6 or so for shipping, and you're getting up there. So WF at $19 would be a relative bargain (can't believe I'm using "WF" and "bargain" in the same sentence). No tax on food here in California either.

LOL Whole Foods and Bargain don't normally go together. Smile

The Manuka Honey is expensive, but comes from a limited area.

free skin care · Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:03 am

Hermosa - I'd go with Keliu's suggestion of the vinegar as it's cheap and "relatively" easy ...

I had I think a similar problem to what you've described on one fingernail a while back and tried lots of stuff (prescription and non-prescription), with great expenditure of time and money, and nothing worked until I tried vinegar. Maybe try soaking the fingernail in 50/50 water vinegar mix for 10 minutes per day - I used a small skincare container lid and put just enough in to dip that finger. It should start looking better in a week or two, but you'll have to keep it up for a few (or more) months to fix it permanently. I just used cheap white vinegar. Don't think it matters what kind of vinegar, as I believe it's the acid factor - fungus doesn't like an acid environment, or so I've read.

I've had a few issues with a couple of toenails as well, which I'm treating differently as it's not so convenient to soak feet in a large container and not be able to move for 10 minutes...

free skin care · Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:14 pm

Hermosa wrote:

foxe wrote:

Hermosa - The Whole Foods by me did carry one variety of Manuka Honey (rated +15). It was around $19 (not cheap).

The prices I saw online were $20-30. Add $6 or so for shipping, and you're getting up there. So WF at $19 would be a relative bargain (can't believe I'm using "WF" and "bargain" in the same sentence). No tax on food here in California either.

That is a good one!

I bought from WF for the same reason - S & H added to the cost too much.

Make sure the honey is rated - I read somewhere that +16 or +17 was the rating number you needed, but the +15 I found at WF was close enough IMO.

free skin care · Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:43 pm

Sorry to hear about your problem. It sounds awful.

Have you tried hydrogen peroxide? My friend soaks her toe nails in that when she suspects fungal infection, and it seems to work for her.

free skin care · Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:27 pm

Great suggestions, all. I got my manuka oil the other day and have been dabbing it on every hour or so. I also have been soaking the nail in vinegar a few times a day. Haven't tried hydrogen peroxide, so maybe I should alternate the two. No luck yet but I'll keep at it for at least a couple more weeks.

free skin care · Wed May 19, 2010 7:28 pm

Hermosa - how are things going for your nail?

I actually added the H2O2 to my Tx w/ the manuka oil and I think that's kicked things up a notch. I went through a large bottle of the oil in about a month and am now trying out a 2nd large one.

I must've really ground in that fungus using a pumice stone over the years and had never realized what I actually had. I use to always just think it was 'dry' skin.

the fungus had been appearing as cracks running across the normal grain of the skin and the skin itself was much thicker and appeared dry. I use to have multitudes of these lines and I now see very few of them. The skin no longer appears thick and feels soft(normal) to the touch. AND - I no longer *need* a moisturizer.

I believe in another month I will be done with this and have 'normal' skin again! It certainly has done wonders for my nails - they are the strongest and longest ever and polish stays on it without chipping.

On the down side - my DH has been really complaining about the smell of the oil. It seems to be lingering around more and more lately.

free skin care · Wed May 19, 2010 8:55 pm

DarkMoon wrote:

foxe wrote:

Glad to hear you're going to give some a try Hermosa. I hope it works for you. You should also try the Manuka Honey for some internal cleansing of this fungus since it has some of the same properties as the oil and is anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. It can help to have two things to attack this stubborn infection you have.

foxe,
It's amazing how many things the Manuka Honey is helpful for, I first found it about 4 years ago while looking into natural things for UC and it is great for UC, Crohn's and IBS amongst many other ailments. Smile

So can you use Manuka honey on a cut or scrape?

Iknow this company I buy cookies and candy from often- now one addon a banner just has apicof Manuka honey..and of course they never explain anything on their site, just item , pric, size, countryof origin...

I've probably emailed a zillion times this year with product questions.
But kindadoubtful a chocolate company knows tons about Honey.

Looking now it is Lune De Miel brand from france, 250 grams, and 10+ active.

It is selling for $20 canadian.
Is this any good? or useful?

free skin care · Wed May 19, 2010 11:40 pm

Thanks for asking! That nail is much, much better. It's not 100% but it no longer looks inflamed.

The manuka is great stuff. Over the weekend, I had a couple of other nails that were starting to worry me and I began dousing them with the oil. Amazing improvement!

The honey, which was pretty expensive -- around $30 for a jar, I think? -- tasted fine but didn't seem to make much of a difference. I'm not a big honey fan in any case, so after I went through the pound or so, I didn't get another one.

I've tried soaking the nail in vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, but the manuka tea tree is easy to use and seems to provide an adequate effort:results ratio for me.

Ottawa Shopper, the honey proponents say that it works externally as well as internally. The New Zealanders claim that their oil and honey are the best, and their manuka products are officially certified. The medicinal quality honeys seem to have a 15+ or 16+ rating. Unless you can find out more about the Lune de Miel, it may not be worth the money.

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