What Treatments are Available?
You should always check with your podiatrist or doctor before undertaking any course of treatment:
To ascertain the best course of treatment, a nail biopsy should be undertaken. This usually involves taking a small sample - usually a clipping from the end of the toenail - that is sent away to a laboratory for diagnosis. Please remember you should always check with your podiatrist or doctor before undertaking any course of treatment.
The most immediate course of action is usually to tend to the infected nails - a podiatrist can file and trim down any thickened nails, as well as performing an examination for any signs of continued symptoms that may be problematic. Checking for athlete's foot is also essential.
There are many oral treatments now widely prescribed to treat toenail fungus:
Terbinafine - commercially known as Lamisil
Itraconazole, commercially known as Sporanox
Both of these treatments are taken up to and over three months, and are widely favored due to their lack of adverse side-effects and success rate in ridding of the fungus. However Sporanox is not recommended for use by HIV patients or those who have had congestive heart failure.
Another method is a topical treatment called Ciclopirox, commercially known as Penlac. It is a clear nail lacquer that is used to treat mild to moderate toenail fungus and is applied directly on the affected toenail. However this method of treatment is considered less successful than systematic treatment with Lamisil and Sporanox.
Other topical treatments of creams and lotions have tended to fall out of favor - although treatment on minor cases where only small areas of the nail are infected may prove more successful. Topical treatment is also more successful when treating a type of onychomycosis known as White Superficial Onychmoycosis (WSO). The presence of WSO is indicated by the appearance of white patches on the nail that gradually fuse together over the whole nail plate.
It is generally accepted that removing the infected nail is an inappropriate method of treatment. It is only used when a drug-resistant fungal infection is present, or when there is a reason that makes it inadvisable to prescribe a particular drug to the patient. This surgical procedure is painful and likely to cause disfigurement.
Some homeopathic remedies are used to treat onychomycosis, such as the topical application of tea tree oil to the infected areas. This is not generally a prescribed course of treatment.
AGAIN ........ You should always check with your podiatrist or doctor before undertaking any course of treatment.
This site is intended for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES only and should not be considered
as actual medical advice.
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