Fungal nail treated with Terbinafine

[TimTooYoung]

What is the most popular treatment for fungal nail and how long can it take to cure?

[-xtine]

After applying various potions for years, prescribed and OTC, a new podiatrist suggested Vicks ointment twice daily. She warned it might take a year or more. It is working for me. Good Luck!

[Janstr in reply to -xtine]

What Vick’s ointment do mean? I know only of Vick’s vapour rub, but suspect you may not mean that. I had toe fungus for years pre PMR & tried a year of a drug ( not sure what it was, but it didn’t work), I’m currently trying Muco nail available by prescription in. NZ. It’s too early to tell if it’s working

[-xtine in reply to Janstr]

That’s the one - Vicks vapour rub. It’s cheap and may take over a year , applying it twice a day, but it has worked on me better than anything else I have tried

[SnazzyD]

Fungal nail infections can be extremely stubborn. How long have you used the Terbinfine for? It may need months. The oral treatment is heavy on the liver and needs a blood test first. Unfortunately steroids make fungal infections more likely. There is a home spun soak treatment that I have seen results with but it still isn’t over night. I can’t remember it but it has come up on here before and perhaps someone can remind us.

[TimTooYoung in reply to SnazzyD]

Hi I've been taking Terbinafine for about 5 months but the nails don't look as if the fungal infected nails are receding. I have all toes infected and one finger nail. I have a blood test every 6 weeks and liver function is fine. I was wondering if I could help the tablets by using something like a vic treatment as well to attack the fungal growth. What do you think?

[Blackcatlover in reply to TimTooYoung]

My husband took the Terbinafine for three months and was told to wait for a year to see the clearing of the fungus. He waited and the nails cleared. Good luck!

[HeronNS in reply to TimTooYoung]

Provided it's a topical treatment I don't see why you shouldn't try something. On the other hand nothing you do is going to make the nails grow faster so I doubt you would see extra improvement. I wonder, however, if using something like tea tree or an occasional vinegar/water soak after your prescription has proven its worth would help prevent a future infection? Don't know, just guessing.

bad.org.uk/for-the-public/p...

[HeronNS in reply to SnazzyD]

vinegar and water, can't remember the proportion

[Charlie1boy]

Hi,

I've been on this forum for over five years and not seen a post on this subject before!

Anyway, I suffered from fungal growth on my toe nails many years ago, and was put on turbinafine at the recommendation of a podiatrist. It did absolutely nothing for me.

Subsequently, our shiatsu guy recommended tea tree. So, off I went to Holland and Barrett and got "organic Tea Tree purifying Nail Solution". I've been using it daily ever since and it has worked miracles - no problems at all now. You brush it on, and it's just really straightforward. Better than taking tablets!

Can't say it will work for you, but it certainly worked for me.

Good luck

Paddy

[TimTooYoung in reply to Charlie1boy]

Thanks I'll give it a try

[Charlie1boy]

Hope it works for you. With me, it wasn't instant, but after a few weeks I began to notice the fungal growth was going away.

Paddy

[Marijo1951]

I haven't put this to the test but I was told once that Listerine does the trick. It has to be the old-fashioned original antiseptic, not one of the fancy-schmancy newfangled versions. The person who told me said she had filled an eggcup with Listerine and stuck her toe in it for 30 minutes every day (can't remember for how long) and the fungus had been totally destroyed and never returned.

[SheffieldJane]

Do you have Psoriasis at all? It’s just a thought. I have spent a fortune on fungal treatments in the past, to no avail, not realising that the Psoriasis on my feet had spread to my nails. The base cream I use on my feet seems to keep the nail issues at bay now, with the occasional addition of very low dose Cortisone cream.

[TimTooYoung in reply to SheffieldJane]

No Psoriasis

[diana1998]

I was advised against taking a drug as there can be side affects. No thanks.. don't like pills. Tea tree oil helps but Nailner is good if used twice a day. Can't go into Boots now so ordered it on line. Will prevent it from coming back once nail has grown out clear.

[Blues1]

Tea tree oil worked for me

[Mack100]

As a retired podiatrist/podiatric surgeon I suppose that I'm as qualified as anyone to comment. In general terms I always advised that systemic medication could have significant risk factors for some people and that regular blood tests are recommended to assess the effect the medication is having on the individual.

In the light of the present pandemic and the way this is affecting health services all over the world my feeling is that any systemic approach is contraindicated. We simply don't need to burden our bodies in this way for a comparatively trivial condition.

In practice I used many topical modalities and came to the conclusion that they were all pretty useless but that's not to say that some treatments were not of benefit to some people, it's just that statistically nothing stood out as a therapy that I could honestly recommend.

I even on rare occasions employed surgery with limited benefits.

In reality you could put anything you like on your affected nails as long as you were absolutely certain that what you were using carried no risk factors, i.e. could not cause any harm such as being too caustic or cause an infection/allergic reaction. One thing I would definitely advise against is any attempt at home surgery, it rarely works out well

This does not constitute medical advice etc. etc.

[TimTooYoung in reply to Mack100]

Most helpful. With all the many suggestions that I have received I have one question. Is it ok to use multiple treatments at the same time, Ie take Terbinafine and use Vicks ointment?

[AdoptMeow]

I applied an expensive liquid sold by the podiatrist many times over several months and the fungus didn't go away. Then I applied Vicks Vapourub about six times over a month and my toenails cleared up completely.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If anyone is interest WHY Vick works:

lifehacker.com/use-vicks-va...

[woopigirl]

I had a pesky fungal toenail for over 2 years. Oregano Oil applied topically every day fixed it in no time. No recurrence.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to woopigirl]

The link being the thymol in the oil