nail fungus treatment and prevention

by Sue
(PA)

On the foot: when I get superficial fungus on a nail, the OTC brush-on treatments alternated with tea tree oil have worked. I don't wear polish for 2 months, and apply one treatment or the other (after drying carefully) after every shower, and again before bed.

On the hands: I used to get a fungus-y nail when I wore articial nails over my own. (I think moisture got trapped between them.) A quick (2 minutes) nightly soak in hydrogen peroxide kept the problem from happening.

Hi Sue,
Thanks for your response. Many women who wear nail polish for long periods of time will develop superficial fungus on their nails. If left untreated the fungus can burrow through the nail and create the unsightly fungus shown on my website.
I usually have my patients take an emory board and sand away the superficial fungus, then apply topical anti-fungal medication to the nails.
There is nail polish now being manufactured that has anti-fungal medication mixed in with it, but at this point I think it is a big leap of faith to assume that will prevent fungus as there has not been any real studies done on its effectiveness.
Marc Mitnick DPM