Toenail woes- help needed
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free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:42 pm

I've had a toenail problem for a few years that is driving me CRAZY Crying or Very sad

and I'm hoping someone here might know of something that can help.

My toe nails (especially on my left foot) are terrible. I thought it was a fungal infection and went to the dr. He took a clipping and it came back it wasn't. He sent me to a specialist and the specialist said it looked like I was "abusing" my toe nails. I'm a runner but I know LOTS of other people who run whose toe nails are normal. Anyhow I do buy very good quality running shoes but changed to a shoe that has a lot of room in the toe box area. It has been 3 years and no change.

Is there anything anyone would recommend?

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:38 pm

I would get another opinion...

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:41 pm

What exactly do your toenails look like? I suppose since 2 doctors said it wasn't fungal in nature, you can either accept their opinions or else try treating the nails for fungal infection in spite of it. The persistence of the condition sure seems like fungus. There's a clear polish (Penlac) that you could try.

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:45 pm

Is Penlac for fungus? Can I get it over the counter at a drugstore? I might as well give it a try (good suggestion). It would surprise me if that is what is was just b/c they sent a clipping to the lab but errors do happen?

Would Penlac be the best thing?

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:27 pm

lily - my mother used this a few years ago. It was prescribed by a podiatrist but I'm not sure if it's a prescription or OTC item.

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:28 pm

sorry - forgot to say that it is indeed used for toenail fungus.

free skin care · Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:33 pm

Lily,
PenLac is over the counter - in the US at least, it is available in beauty supply shops, as beauticians use it as a base coat for manicures. PenLac is just one brand...there are several different manufacturers. Nail fungus is one of the most difficult things to culture in a lab. Often times results will come back as a false negative (this happened to me). I treated mine with Tea Tree Oil though. It is a very powerful anti-fungal. It's funny that you are a runner too. What is it with us runners and our messed up toes?

Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:17 am

I'm with pbsadhaka on this one! While various anti-fingal treatments did absolutely nothing for my poor big toe - tea tree oil cleared it right up! I used to gently file down the surface of the nail a bit and then apply the TTO and put a bandaid over it to keep it in place over night. It cleared up in a really short time too!

ETA: I applied it undiluted to the nail only.

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 4:05 am

As well as tea tree have a look into Neem Oil, this is a very powerful anit fungal and an anti bacterial. Also it does not irritate the skin. You can either apply neat or mix in with a little moisturiser.
This is also really good used in the bath.

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:02 am

Mabsy wrote:

...tea tree oil cleared it...up in a really short time too!

That’s really interesting, because they show this commercial on TV here for an Rx med to treat toenail fungus, and in the fineprint at the bottom of the TV screen, the disclaimer says that it can take a year to kill out the fungus and have completely clear, healthy nails again.

I guess it just goes to show you that oftentimes, homeopathic remedies really are better than the so-called “latest medical breakthroughs”...Thanks for the advice in this, because my 20-year-old son has fungi-ed big toe but he doesn’t have enough discipline to faithfully use the treatment day-after-day for 12 months, but I think he could probably commit to a month or two using TTO – especially since he’s got extra “incentive” now in the form of his new girlfriend! All of the sudden he’s paying a great deal of attention to his personal hygiene and grooming habits. Just this weekend, I caught him contemplating all of my various jars of homemade potions and brews in the bathroom (we’re sharing two-bedroom suite at one of those “extended stay” hotels as we keep on waiting for our new house to be completed). He made me tell him what each one was and what it did, then he begged me to make up a batch of items that are tailored to fit his exact skin issues, so now he’s using an ACV Super Toner with TTO and a couple of other essential oils that treat acne and congested skin, plus an aspirin mask (you should have seen him strutting around the hotel room after he used it the first time and realized that it had almost completely faded all the red spots and blotches from previous breakouts!!), and homemade Emulsion Pure (he was extremely skeptical at first, but he had one of those “Mt. Vesivius” type bumps coming up on his forehead so I put some EP on a bandaid for him and he kept it on over the zit overnight and the bump was almost completely gone). I’m glad he’s starting to take an interest in his appearance these days, but I hope he doesn’t end up turning into one of those hideously vain metero-sexuals like David Beckham!! Shock

He just bought himself a new (used) car yesterday, a hunter green 1993 BMW 325i convertible, and he was out trolling the streets, looking for girls to impress with his stylin’ new wheels and his rockin’ new look. He thinks he’s the cat’s meow now!!

Anyway, back to the topic: Mabsy, when you said the TTO oil fixed up your toe in a “really short time,” can you quantify that for me? Was a couple weeks or a couple months?

TIA,
Carrie

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:09 am

Wow! Thanks for the feedback everybody. How interesting about the "false negatives" on that stuff from the labs.

I have Tea Tree Oil at home so I'll try that first.

The nail beds (on my left foot) look "raised", thick underneath at the top- does that make sense? I've never had athlete's foot or anything but why would I only have this on the left and not the right if it were from running? (I can't give up running to see if that helps- my mental health depends on it!!!)

Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:41 am

A cheap and easy treatment to try for fungus that is very effective is Vick's Vapor Rub! Most people just apply it over/under the nails and bedtime and see much improvement within a couple of months. This was recommended to my mother by a dermatologist since they were trying to avoid potentially liver affecting prescriptions. Good luck! Very Happy

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:52 am

lily - toenail fungus is often caused by some sort of trauma to the nail bed. You may want to have a trainer analyze your stride while you run, since you say your running shoes aren't causing the problem.

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:09 am

Trauma under the nail bed? Hmmm... I don't think my shoes are the problem anymore but who knows? I used to wear a shoe that was shallow in the toe box and that is when the problems started. Now it may have turned into something fungal.

Vicks sounds interesting...

Has anyone used Oil of Oregano?

free skin care · Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:43 am

I have used both tea tree oil and oregano oil (it is strong may sting).

PS Took about 3 months to look good.

Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:51 am

carekate wrote:

Anyway, back to the topic: Mabsy, when you said the TTO oil fixed up your toe in a “really short time,” can you quantify that for me? Was a couple weeks or a couple months?

Carrie - I can't remember exactly but it was a *very* short period of time compared to the OTC treatments which I used for months with no effect. I think I actually saw a difference in how my nail looked in about a week (all the soft, flakey stuff was gone) and it was back to normal in maybe about a month. I do believe that filing down my nail a bit did help though - I just thought that the TTO would be more effective if it could get inside the nail rather than just sit on the surface.

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