Toe nail infection and nail removal (onychomycosis)

For a while on one foot 2 smallest nails were infected...Then a third. So I went down the path of topical treatment, then oral (terbinafine) but that made me sick, so I went down the mechanical debridement and laser treatment. That made things slightly better, but not a cure.

Then it spread to my big toe...Went down the laser route again, this time it's done about nothing that I can tell.

I gather if you get nails removed they just grow back infected.

Has anyone had their nails removed and the nail matrix destroyed? I wish I'd had that done on the 2 smallest nails, before it spread to the others.
Has anyone had their big toe nail permanently removed? How's that working out? Any problems with climbing shoes, or long distance walks?

I figure no nail is probably better than the severely f***ed nail that's a pain to take care off, often hurts, and poses a risk to all my other nails by harboring an infection.

I have, the procedure is not for pansies but worth it for me. I lost several toe nails back when I ice climbed and backcountry skied a lot and they never grew back right. When I inquired about it, some said there was no way I was going to find a Podiatrist to remove all of them at once. Because my thinking was, if I was going to lose time for a few, why not get rid of all of them at once. Got 10 for the price of 2, $500 total, just local anesthetic and a scalpel and syringe for the acid stuff. I watched him closely, looked like easy stuff to me...I will do it for half if you want to save money.

If you want fancy pain free surgery, it is several grand. The acid stuff seeps for about a week whilst it is dissolving the quicks. That being said, I was running within the first week and climbing by two and half. The doc will tell you to let them be for 6 weeks. Now I just use a sander to sand the rough parts (nail bed gets rough) out about every two months.

I studied it well in advance of making the decision. We only ever used our toe nails to help open up the guts of prey, etc. We have no practical use for them today. Enduro runners end up doing their big toes a lot, they all had positive experiences. Google it, you will find them talking about the pros and cons/alternatives. Good luck with it.

I had both big toenails removed years ago. Climbing again in about 2 weeks. Not that painful a procedure. Careful about infection post op. They will likely grow back with the fungus but easy enough to manage.

My dad had his big toenail removed because of fungus earlier this year. It was at least two months before he could do sports again and he had to wear sandals during most of that time because it was so tender. I have fungus on several nails on my right foot that I have been treating with tea tree oil. It worked on several nails before but I got lazy and never finished treatment on others and now it's spread. I'm considering nail removal in the future but after seeing what my Dad went through I'm in no hurry!

Thinking about it...And looking at way too many pictures and reading too many descriptions I've got a preference to paying a bit more and going under general.

The nail beds are severally f*cked, the nail itself has a hard surface that's warped but mostly intact, but underneath is all broken up, to the extent that sometimes a bit of a cavity forms under the nail that you stick a match stick into.

If I do continue to live with this, I suspect I'll stop trying to cut the nails and just try using a cutting disk on a dremel to remove as much nail as possible. I was surprised to see a podiatrist about a third of my big toe nail all the way to the way down to the nail bed, with minimal bleeding and pain.
(It's been growing back infected again, but at least I haven't had to cut it in ages)

Several folks tried to convince me that the toe nail somehow protected the toe. That is just not the case for me whatsoever. When a 1600lb horse would step on the end of my toe on concrete before= sore if not blackened toe nail. After, nothing. Now if it is higher on the toe, it might break the toe, but that has nothing to do with the end the toe. Post toe nails, the tissue just absorbs the pressure and flattens out. A toe nail is not near as flexible as the tissue underneath. There is zero sensitivity in climbing shoes, ice boots, if you jumped up and down on the top of my toe, whatever.

Yes, going under was an option, but of course several grand xtra and in my case this was elective surgery for sure because I had them all done at once. Ins was only going to cover it but only one toe nail at a time. If you have two bad toe nails, make sure they don't try and trip you up on that. Kind of like getting one wisdom tooth out at a time, would make little sense.

Dow ... that looks rad..... I have been thinking about getting that done... one of my Doctor friends says he will do it for free, just to watch me squirm/scream and cry...

1/2 price ???? do you make house calls???

Guy Keesee wrote:Dow ... that looks rad..... I have been thinking about getting that done... one of my Doctor friends says he will do it for free, just to watch me squirm/scream and cry... 1/2 price ???? do you make house calls???

I might be late to the gruesome party, but if anyone is searching and stumbles across this I'd ether they are informed. I have been having problems with a fungus infection for about 12 years, the normal stuff where the toe nail gets thicker and looks like wood got shoved under it. Anyway about 3 years ago my toe nail became real sensitive to trauma. Running, hiking, playing basketball would all cause it to fill up with blood and detach from the nail bed but it never fell off. It grew back in and reattached itself via the fungus. Well this time it happened again, it filled up with blood but it was worse, my toe swelled like a ballon and was painful so I took a regular brand new wood drill bit and cleaned and sanitized it. Then rolled it between my winder applying pressure to the nail until it drilled s hole and blood rushed out. That relieved the pressure and reduced the swelling. I kept stubb No my toe and hurting my nail and peeling it back little by little, and today I decided to just rip it off. I filled s bucket with ice and water, cleaned and sanitized a pair of pliers and got to work. No chewing bit, no anesthetic, just s really cold foot and my pliers. A minute of pulling and one side was out. Couldn't stop there so I dipped my foot again, pulled on it some more and nail popped right off. Saved 170 dollars, afterwards I soaked my food with rubbing alcohol. No blood, little pain and does not look infected so far. Worth every second of pain if it doesn't come back.

I did have my left big toe nail permanently trimmed down when I was in my late teens. (Forgot the name of the surgery.) Nothing to do with climbing, just bad genes I guess. It’s worked like a charm and that toenail is now more perfectly formed than my natural ones. 

Even after treating with laser treatment, you have noticed that you have fungal infection on your big toe then you can also try some other home remedies with the help of which you will be able to cure your toenail fungus. 

Wow Ocuevas, I've thought of just tearing the whole nail off but haven't been brave enough.

Managed to make some progress on my big toe, an area that was infected has been growing out clean, I've been every now and again grinding away as much infected nail as possible with a dremel, and applying a ciclopirox solution daily. (Ciclopirox alone wasn't effective for me, it does seem to make infected nails marginally better - though not curing them).

I've looked into the various home remedies, might give it a go once i get all of my big toe nail back with this dremel+antifungal approach. The problem with nail treatments is it takes months to see if there's a difference, and a year or more to know if you're cured.

Alice Jolly wrote:

Even after treating with laser treatment, you have noticed that you have fungal infection on your big toe then you can also try some other home remedies with the help of which you will be able to cure your toenail fungus. 

Exactly what home remedies have actually cured toenail fungus?

This is one of the gnarlier threads I've run into on MP.

I have had one toenail permanently removed and I would never do it again. I was lucky enough to be one of the rare people who have permanent numbness in that same toe as a result of having had this surgery. 

I have been using Jublia for about a year and half with decent results.

It is expensive, although the price varies hugely.  It takes a long time to sorta work.  Probably not for everyone, but for me it's been worth it.

pfwein wrote:

I have been using Jublia for about a year and half with decent results.

It is expensive, although the price varies hugely.  It takes a long time to sorta work.  Probably not for everyone, but for me it's been worth it.

Is there an aroma to Jublia? I've been trying the tea tree oil route - perhaps marginal improvement on my big toe, but it smells like I stuck my foot in a bucket of turpentine.

Marc801 C wrote:

Is there an aroma to Jublia? I've been trying the tea tree oil route - perhaps marginal improvement on my big toe, but it smells like I stuck my foot in a bucket of turpentine.

No.  It's thinnish, clear liquid.  If someone replaced Jublia with water, i don't know that I could tell the difference.

By the way, I tried tea tree oil for quite sometime, and I don't know that it made any difference (it may have, but if so, it was subtle).

With Jublia, on the other hand, there is an obvious improvement.  Still, it takes a long time, and my nails are far from perfect after after about 16 months.

Even after trying various treatments, if you have still not cured your nail fungus. In this case I would like to suggest the following remedies:

• Use Vicks VappoRub on the fungal infection
• Use snakeroot extract on the infected area
• Use olive leaves extracts and capsules
• Oregano oil can be used on the infected areas with a cotton swap twice a day
• Apply tea tree oil on the infected area with a cotton swap twice a day.

Andy Roberts wrote: Even after trying various treatments, if you have still not cured your nail fungus. In this case I would like to suggest the following remedies:

• Use Vicks VappoRub on the fungal infection
• Use snakeroot extract on the infected area
• Use olive leaves extracts and capsules
• Oregano oil can be used on the infected areas with a cotton swap twice a day
• Apply tea tree oil on the infected area with a cotton swap twice a day.

Andy Roberts wrote: Even after trying various treatments, if you have still not cured your nail fungus. In this case I would like to suggest the following remedies:

• Use Vicks VappoRub on the fungal infection
• Apply tea tree oil on the infected area with a cotton swap twice a day.

Tried both of those.  Tea tree oil for a year and a half (really).  Didn't work.  Toes smelled nice though.