FUNGAL NAILS

What Is Fungal Nails?: Fungal nails, also called mycotic nails, onychomycosis, and tinea unquim is a very common problem. This condition is recognized by thickening, discoloration (brown, white, yellow, or even black) of the nail plate with loosening and crumbling of the nail tissue on attempts to cut the nail.

What Causes Fungal Nails?: Fungal nails are caused by a variety of yeast-like organisms known as fungi. Most of these fungi are the same microscopic organisms that cause the common condition known as athletes foot. Very often, patients will have both fungal nails and athletes foot.

How Does One Get Fungal Nails?: Some individuals are very prone to fungal infections for the following reasons: 1) wearing shoes or boots that create a lot of heat and moisture, such as rubber boots, steel toed boots, and athletic shoes 2) the tendency to have sweaty feet 3) hereditary reasons such as variations in the pH of the skin. It is a common myth that you catch athletes foot and fungal nails from other individuals. Everyone has the fungi on their skin, but not everyone gets athletes foot and fungal nails.

How Are Fungal Nails Treated?

• The first step in treatment is to identify which fungal organisms are causing the infection.  This involves clipping a portion of the nail and sending it to the lab.  It may take 4-6 weeks to determine the causative organisms. 
• Most cases are treated with oral medication (tablets). Our oral drug of choice is Lamisil. 
• For patients who can't or do not want to take the oral medication, a topical treatment can be compounded by a pharmacist to treat the specific fungi.
•   Patients are seen every three months to debride (cut) the thickened portion of the nails.

How Successful Is The Treatment?: The success of treating fungal nails is related to 1) how much of the nail is involved; the smaller amount of the nail involved, the higher the success rate, and the greater the amount of the nail involved, the lower the success rate and 2) the type of fungi involving the nails. It has been my experience that some types of fungi do not respond to treatment, no matter how diligent the doctor and patient are at treatment.

How Long Does It Take To Get Results: This varies with 1) the amount of the nail involved 2) the type of fungi causing the problem and 3) how fast the individual's nails grow. Sometimes the nail will stop growing or grow very slowly when involved with the fungus. Infections involving the end 1/3 or so of the nail plate will usually respond in 2-4 months. On the other hand, infections involving the entire nail plate may take a year before a new nail replaces the old fungal nail.

To schedule an appointment, please call (405) 751-6152