Toenail fungus is a widespread fungal infection that affects our toenails. Less commonly, nail fungus can infect our fingernails. Toenail fungus happens when fungi get between our toenail and our toenail bed (the tissue right underneath our toenail). This usually happens through a crack or cut in toe.

Who does toenail fungus affect?

Anyone can get toenail fungus. It often affects older adults, especially people over 60.

You may have a higher risk of getting toenail fungus if you have:

• Athlete’s foot (tinea pedis).
• Diabetes.
• Hyperhidrosis (sweat a lot).
• A nail injury.
• Poor blood circulation due to peripheral vascular disease.
• Psoriasis.
• A weakened immune system, such as from an autoimmune disorder or HIV.

Tinea unguium can change our toenail’s appearance in more than one way for example:

• Change color (looking white, yellow, black or brown).
• Look chalky or cloudy in some spots.
• Thicken and possibly look misshapen.
• Separate from nail bed (leaving space between the nail and the skin underneath).
• Crack or break in one or more spots.

Toenail fungus can be unsightly to look at, but it usually isn’t painful.

Is tinea unguium contagious?

Many types of toenail fungi, including tinea unguium, are quite contagious. One can spread the fungus to someone else through direct contact by touching an infected surface or wearing other’s shoes.

Nail fungi like warm, moist, dark places. Anybody can get toenail fungus by:

• Walking around the perimeters of wet and/or humid areas.
• Using a public locker room or shower.
• Using shoes of another infected person.

Some dermatophyte fungi spread easily to our skin. (Our skin hairs also contain keratin.) When dermatophyte fungi affect our skin, the condition is called ringworm.

Toenail fungus may spread to:

• Other toenails.
• Skin between toes (called athlete’s foot).
• Groin area (jock itch).
• Scalp.

First look closely at the affected toenail to evaluate patient’s symptoms. They may be able to identify toenail fungus simply by looking at the toe. Take a small sample from underneath the nail to further analyze it. Viewing the cells under a microscope can confirm a toenail fungus diagnosis. If the initial test is negative, a scraping can be sent to see if the fungus grows out in a culture. This also helps us to identify the type of fungus.

Allopathic treatment for toenail fungus is notoriously tricky and may need to treat tinea unguium for several months but still, toenail fungus often comes back. In shorts there is no treatment for toenail in allopathy, that’s why a dermatologist or podiatrist may recommend no treatment.

Tinea unguium treatment options include:

Oral antifungal medication

Oral antifungal medication to treat the fungus. Options include:

Terbinafine

The best pill for toenail fungus is terbinafine. Evidence suggests it works better than the alternatives and has the fewest side effects. Common side effects may include headaches, skin rash, and vomiting. Advise terbinafine once a day for 6 to 12 weeks.

Itraconazole

Another allopathic treatment option is itraconazole. Side effects can include headaches, stomach upset, and respiratory infection. Advise itraconazole once a day for 6 to 12 weeks.

Fluconazole

Oral fluconazole is another allopathic drug that’s sometimes used to treat toenail fungus. It’s commonly used to treat yeast infections.  And it doesn’t work as well, it’s usually taken once a week for 3 to 6 months.

Posaconazole

Posaconazole is a newer oral liquid medication. Studies show that there are too many side effects of posaconazole.

Be very careful with these medications, they can affect patient’s kidneys and liver and interact with other medications, so oral antifungals aren’t for every patient. Topical medications are most effective when paired with oral medications. Regularly apply a topical medication right onto the nail.

If the fungal nail infection is severe, tablets can be used in combination with nail polish or cream. For example, if the nail is very thick, urea cream can be used along with tablets to gradually remove or partially file off the affected nail. Combining these treatments may also be an option if there are large collections of fungi beneath the nail.

Another option for severe fungal nail infections is professional medical footcare. If the nail is filed off, it’s important to ensure good hygiene and disinfect the area, because the removed nail tissue could contain infectious fungal spores.

Laser treatments

A high-tech laser beam and special lights at toenail to treat the fungus. Lasers improved “temporary increase of clear nail” in nail fungus, but they’re not a cure.

Homeopathic Treatment for Toenail Fungus

The most effective fast and without side effects toenail fungus treatment for everyone and any age is Homeopathic treatment.

Here are some scientifically proven Homeopathic medicines for toenail fungus:

Causticum

Soreness in folds of skin, back of ears, between thighs. Warts large, jagged, bleeding easily, on tips of fingers and nose. Toenail fungus. Old burns that do not get well, and ill effects from burns. Pains of burns. Cicatrices freshen up; old injuries reopen. Skin prone to intertrigo during dentition.

Antimunium Crudum

Nails brittle; grow out of shape, toenail fungus. Horny warts on hands, under nails and soles. Feet very tender; covered with large horny places. Inflamed corns. Pain in heels. Eczema. Pimples, vesicles, and pustules. Thick, hard, honey-colored scabs. Warts. Dry gangrene. Scaly, pustular eruption with burning and itching.

Sabina

Fig-warts, with intolerable itching and burning. Exuberant granulations. Warts. Black pores in skin. Toenail fungus.

Nitricum Acidium

Fetid foot-sweat, causing soreness of toes, toenail fungus; chilblains on toes. Sweating of palms, hands; cold, blue nails. Offensive sweat in axillae. Warts, large jagged; bleed. Ulcers bleed easily, sensitive; splinter-like pains; zigzag, irregular edges; base looks like raw flesh. Exuberant granulations. Black pores on face, papules worse on forehead.

Sulpher

Dry, scaly, unhealthy; every little injury suppurates. Freckles. Itching, burning; worse scratching and washing. Pimply eruption, pustules, rhagades, hangnails, toenail fungus. Excoriation, especially in folds. Skin affections after allopathic medication. Pruritus, especially from warmth, in evening, in damp weather.

Lycopodium Clavatum

Ulcerates. Abscesses beneath skin. Toenail fungus. Hives; worse warmth. Violent itching; fissured eruptions. Acne. Chronic eczema associated with urinary, gastric and hepatic disorders, bleeds easily. Skin – thick, indurated, dry and shrunken. Brown spots, freckles. Dropsies. Offensive secretions; viscid and offensive perspiration, especially of feet and axilla. Psoriasis.

Hepar Sulphuricum

Finger-joints swollen; tendency to easy dislocation. Toenail fungus – nail painful on slight pressure. Abscesses. Unhealthy skin: every little injury suppurates. Chapped skin, with deep cracks on hands, nails and feet. Ulcers, with bloody suppuration, foul smelling, very sensitive to contact, burning, stinging, easily bleeding. Sweats day and night. “Cold sores” very sensitive. Herpes circinate. Constant offensive exhalation from the body.

Silicia Tera

Felons, abscesses, boils, old fistulous ulcers. Toenail fungus. Cracks at end of fingers. Painless swelling of glands. Rose-colored blotches. Scars suddenly become painful. Pus offensive. Long lasting suppuration and fistulous tracts. Dry fingertips. Eruptions itch only in daytime and evening. Crippled nails. Indurated tumors. Abscesses of joints. Side effects of vaccination. Bursa. Lepra, nodes, and coppery spots. Keloid growths.

Graphite

Toenail fungus – finger-nails thick, black, and rough, matrix inflamed. Toenails crippled. Stiffness and contraction of toes. Nails brittle and crumbling. Nails deformed, painful, sore, thick, and crippled. Cracks or fissures in ends of fingers. Offensive perspiration of feet.

Skin rough, hard, persistent dryness of portions of skin unaffected by eczema. Early stage of keloid and fibroma. Pimples and acne. Eruptions, oozing out a sticky exudation. Rawness in bends of limbs, groins, neck, behind ears. Swelling of feet.

Floricum Acidum

Inflammation of joints, fingers. Feeling as of a splinter under nail. Nails crumble – toenail fungus, caries and necrosis. Coccygodynia. Ulcer over tibia. Ulcers; red edges and vesicles. Decubitus; worse, warmth. Syphilitic rupia. Nails grow rapidly. Periosteal abscess. Profuse, sour, offensive perspiration. Syphilitic tubercles. Atony of capillary and venous system. Tissues bloated.

Psorinum

Eruption around fingernails. Toenail fungus. Fetid foot-sweats. Skin dirty, dingy look. Dry, lusterless, rough hair. Intolerable itching. Herpetic eruptions. Eczema. Crusty eruptions all over. Urticaria after every exertion. Pustules near fingernails.

Phosphorus

Wounds bleed very much, even if small; they heal and break out again. Jaundice. Little ulcer outside of large ones. Petechiae. Ecchymosis. Purpura hemorrhagic. Scurvy. Toenail fungus nematodes and excrescences.

Petroleum

Fetid sweat in axillae. Tips of fingers rough, cracked, fissured, toenail fungus. Itching at night. Chilblains, moist, itch and burn. Bed-sores. Skin dry, constricted, very sensitive, rough and cracked, leathery. Herpes. Psoriasis of hands, nails. Thick, greenish crusts, burning and itching; redness, raw; cracks bleed easily. Eczema.

Thuja occidentalis

Tips of fingers swollen, red, feel read. Toenail fungus. Nails crippled; brittle and soft. Eruptions only on covered parts; worse after scratching. Very sensitive to touch. In growing toenail. Polypi, tubercles, warts epithelioma, naevi, carbuncles, ulcers. Freckles and blotches. Perspiration sweetish, and strong. Dry skin, with brown spots. Zona; herpetic eruptions.

Natrium Sulphuricum

Swelling of axillary glands. Inflammation around root of nails, toenail fungus. Edema of feet; itching between toes, worse in damp cold weather. Itching while undressing. Jaundiced, watery blisters. Sycotic excrescences; wart-like red lumps all over body.

Sarsaparilla Oficianalis

Skin emaciated, shriveled, lies in folds, dry, hard, indurated, cracked, flabby. Herpetic eruptions; ulcers. Rash from exposure to open air; dry, itching; comes on in spring; becomes crusty. Toenail fungus. Burning on sides of fingers and toes. Onychia, ulceration around ends of fingers, cutting sensation under nails. Deep rhagades on fingers and toes; burn under nails. Tetter on hands; ulceration around ends of fingers. Cutting sensation under nails.

Natrium Muriaticum

Palms hot and perspiring. Hangnails. Dryness and cracking about fingernails. Toenail fungus. Numbness and tingling in fingers and lower extremities. Crusty eruptions. Warts on palms of hands, around nails. Eczema; raw, red, and inflamed. Greasy skin.

Alumina

Chapped and dry tottery. Brittle nails. Toenail fungus. Intolerable itching when getting warm, must scratch until it bleeds; then becomes painful. Brittle skin on fingers.

P. S: This article is only for doctors having good knowledge about Homeopathy and allopathy, for learning purpose(s).

For proper consultation and treatment, please visit our clinic.

None of above-mentioned medicine(s) is/are the full/complete treatment, but just hints for treatment; every patient has his/her own constitutional medicine.

To order medicine by courier, please send your details at WhatsApp– +923119884588

Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.

  Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.

Location:  Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.

Find more about Dr Sayed Qaisar Ahmed at:

https://www.youtube.com/Dr Qaisar Ahmed

https://www.facebook.com/ahmed drqaisar

https://www.drqaisarahmed.com