Nail fungus (onychomycosis)…self-treatment principles:
Toenail fungus” is a common condition and usually difficult to cure. You know that you might have nail fungus if you have one or more thick toenails (a "dystrophic nail...scientifically representing the category, "onychodystrophy").
But there are many reasons/causes for thick ("pachyonychia", "onychogryphosis", or "onychauxis") toenails, and poor circulation is a very important one (and extremity poor circulation may indicate poor heart & brain circulation). Therefore, I advise that you get a diagnosis by a qualified doctor who can be sure it is fungus and not something worse. Dermatologists are the experts. Near the bottom of [this page] is a listing of scientific terms for some types of nail abnormalities, one of which is onychomycosis..
Treatment by prescription medicine will include the expenses of doctor’s fees to diagnose & then manage the treatment, pathology lab & pathologist fees if they are needed to make the diagnosis with the microscope, lab test costs to check your liver condition prior to taking the medicine, and lab costs to periodically check & be sure the medicine is not injuring your liver.
Below is either (1) another way to attempt treatment after getting a doctor’s diagnosis, or (2) a set of additional efforts you can make to add to what the medicine does to rid you of the fungus. [Health Central's page about abnormal nails & drop any of the above three medical terms into Google images search and see many photos of what it looks like] Here are some rules:
|
| keep toes & nails dry |
|
| keep dry by keeping nails cut short & clear/clean underneath. |
|
| if you bathe/shower just before dressing to go to work, get toes & the area under nails excellently dry before putting on socks and shoes. |
|
| have shoes large enough & loose enough to help air circulation & help the feet & nails to stay dry all day. |
|
| keep feet clean: gently clear out under nails…remove dead debris; use Lysol or Chlorox to disinfect shower or tub weekly. |
|
| keep feet acidic: splash on toenail areas a little bit of mixture of green alcohol with small amount of vinegar in it daily…especially after bath/shower...both acidifies & dries. Fungus hates acid environment! |
|
| kill& remove fungi: |
|
| keep shoes & socks clean & fungus free: |
|
| keep patient & persistent: toenails grow about 1/32nd of an inch per week; all of the old fungus-infected nail must grow out & be trimmed off as you treat (& this takes time). |
***give me
your comments
about this page***
[Additionally see home page for website author & contact]
We comply with the
HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.
check out the Highest TRUTH
check out this web site's site index