How to Deal With Nail Fungus

At some time in their lives, many people struggle with the question of how to deal with nail fungus (onychomycosis). Today, the puzzle is defined by the vast range of advice available—medical, alternative, and anecdotal. One must choose from prescription drugs, natural remedies, and traditional cures, all of which are surrounded by confusing and contradictory reports of their effectiveness. In addition, treatment of fungal nail infections tends to take so long that many people move on to something else, thinking their first choice has not worked, when in reality they simply didn’t keep at it long enough.

It’s best to take a logical stepwise approach to onychomycosis treatment. First, see your doctor. Nails can be infected by various different organisms, not all of which are fungi, and also by a number of noninfectious diseases. To the untrained eye, many of these conditions look similar, so before researching how to deal with nail fungus, make sure that is what you’re dealing with. If your doctor thinks you do have a fungal nail infection, he or she can collect clippings or scrapings and send them for laboratory analysis and culture. If fungi known to infect nails grow in culture, the diagnosis is virtually certain.

Discuss how to deal with nail fungus with your doctor. Even if you prefer to try alternative or traditional remedies first, before taking prescription drugs, your doctor may be able to tell you what’s worked for other patients, and what to avoid. Weigh this advice carefully and then consult other sources of information about onychomycosis treatment before deciding what to try first. In particular, pay attention to possible side effects or dangers associated with particular remedies. Some traditional remedies use potentially dangerous substances like chlorine bleach. Some prescription drugs come with a slight risk of organ damage.

Once you settle on an onychomycosis treatment, use it properly and be prepared to stick with it over the long term. These infections are difficult to cure and tend to come back: you want to be sure the infection is really gone before you stop using the remedy. Even after the fungi are gone, it takes months for a finger- or toenail to grow back in and look healthy, so be patient and look after the rest of your nails in the meantime. Hopefully in the long run your research on how to deal with nail fungus will pay off.