Nail Rot - A Review of Options for Treating Onychomycosis
Treatments for toenail rot (nail rot, rotting nails, nail fungus or onychomycosis) include both natural and pharmaceutical and both topical and systemic approaches (topical refers to something you apply to the outside of your body and systemic refers to something you take internally by injection or by swallowing pills).
Here is a run-down of your options as of 2008: Pharmaceutical Treatment - Systemic There are two main products available by prescription that are taken orally, Lamisil and Sporanox.
Lamisil (chemical name, terbinafine; chemical class, allylamine) is made by the pharmaceutical company, Novartis.
Sporanox (chemical name, itraconazole; chemical class, triazole) is made by the Janssen-Ortho Inc.
subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson.
These two products are direct competitors, and the medical literature is not clear on which one is superior.
Neither of them works all the time, and for many people they will not work at all, so it is good to be aware that you have choices.
Very importantly, both prescription medications can cause serious side effects.
The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory on Lamisil and Sporanox on May 9, 2001.
That document is available on our website (see link below).
If you have heart problems or liver problems you should be especially careful with these drugs and make sure both you and your doctor fully understand the risks of using them.
You may find it interesting, if you are somewhat technically inclined, to read the position statement of the insurance company, CIGNA HealthCare, updated near the end of 2007.
You can find a link to it on our website.
In particular, notice the requirements they have for insurance coverage--more than merely a confirmed diagnosis of a fungal nail infection.
They also require that you experience pain associated with the infection.
Perhaps this is not surprising since they are in this business for the money, and the more restrictive their requirements are the less money they will pay out for treatment.
But, you should clearly understand that if you have toenail rot, it makes no sense to wait to start treatment until you are feeling pain.
The infection is there whether it hurts or not, and it won't go away by itself.
In general, the earlier you can begin treatment of an infectious disease, the better your chances of a cure.
Pharmaceutical Treatment - Topical The primary prescription treatment for toenail rot that is used topically is Penlac (chemical name, ciclopirox) made by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis.
This product is a nail lacquer that is applied directly to the affected nail each day.
The main advantage of this treatment over the oral medication is that there are very few side effects and the product is much safer for anyone who has heart or liver problems.
On the other hand, the cure rate is lower.
Some reports suggest that only about 10 percent of people can be cured of toenail rot with topical products, whereas the oral medication has a cure rate of 30 percent and higher.
Natural Products There are many natural products and home remedies promoted for treating nail rot.
Some of these work for some people, but few of them work for serious cases.
Be careful and do your homework carefully before spending money and time on these products, and if you do not see results after a few months of use, consider talking to a doctor about a prescription for stronger medicine.
Here is a run-down of your options as of 2008: Pharmaceutical Treatment - Systemic There are two main products available by prescription that are taken orally, Lamisil and Sporanox.
Lamisil (chemical name, terbinafine; chemical class, allylamine) is made by the pharmaceutical company, Novartis.
Sporanox (chemical name, itraconazole; chemical class, triazole) is made by the Janssen-Ortho Inc.
subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson.
These two products are direct competitors, and the medical literature is not clear on which one is superior.
Neither of them works all the time, and for many people they will not work at all, so it is good to be aware that you have choices.
Very importantly, both prescription medications can cause serious side effects.
The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory on Lamisil and Sporanox on May 9, 2001.
That document is available on our website (see link below).
If you have heart problems or liver problems you should be especially careful with these drugs and make sure both you and your doctor fully understand the risks of using them.
You may find it interesting, if you are somewhat technically inclined, to read the position statement of the insurance company, CIGNA HealthCare, updated near the end of 2007.
You can find a link to it on our website.
In particular, notice the requirements they have for insurance coverage--more than merely a confirmed diagnosis of a fungal nail infection.
They also require that you experience pain associated with the infection.
Perhaps this is not surprising since they are in this business for the money, and the more restrictive their requirements are the less money they will pay out for treatment.
But, you should clearly understand that if you have toenail rot, it makes no sense to wait to start treatment until you are feeling pain.
The infection is there whether it hurts or not, and it won't go away by itself.
In general, the earlier you can begin treatment of an infectious disease, the better your chances of a cure.
Pharmaceutical Treatment - Topical The primary prescription treatment for toenail rot that is used topically is Penlac (chemical name, ciclopirox) made by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis.
This product is a nail lacquer that is applied directly to the affected nail each day.
The main advantage of this treatment over the oral medication is that there are very few side effects and the product is much safer for anyone who has heart or liver problems.
On the other hand, the cure rate is lower.
Some reports suggest that only about 10 percent of people can be cured of toenail rot with topical products, whereas the oral medication has a cure rate of 30 percent and higher.
Natural Products There are many natural products and home remedies promoted for treating nail rot.
Some of these work for some people, but few of them work for serious cases.
Be careful and do your homework carefully before spending money and time on these products, and if you do not see results after a few months of use, consider talking to a doctor about a prescription for stronger medicine.