Oral Anti-Fungals Efficacy againt Fungal Nails

October 1, 2008 by: ToddieM

As a Chino Hills foot doctor, you can rest assured I see many thick, yellow, and crumbly nails.  Yes, I’m talking about fungal nails.

One question that I’ve heard enough to say “if I had a nickel for everytime….” is definitely, “how do I get rid of these fungal nails”?

I have a previous post that talks about vinegar treating fungal nails, and this entry is going to be concerned with the use of oral anti-fungals such as Lamisil and Sporonox to treat this condition.

When a patient starts out determined to rid themselves of their fungal nails, I give them the following disclosures:

  1. These pills are expensive. Even at the cheaper pharmacies, you’re looking at $10 a pill plus!
  2. The expected time frame for clinical cure is 3-6 months.  This is no overnight cure.
  3. Once you stop taking the pill, you run the risk of having the fungus come back and be right back where you started.
  4. You run the risk of liver damage and something called blood dyscrasias (serious problems) in order to treat what is essentially a cosmetic problem.

I will not write the prescription until you get a blood test which gives me a baseline indication of what condition your liver is in.  Particularly the drug Sporonox has been linked to liver damage.  Lamisil is more the culprit in blood dyscrasias which essentially means your not making enough of the different types of blood cells to run things properly.

Once I go through all of this, the patient is apt to look at me sheepishly and say something along the lines of “I think I’ll live with this”!

If you must do something, use something that is topical like a cream or ointment.  They are not as effective, but certainly do not carry with them the myriad of side effects mentioned earlier.

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2 Responses to “Oral Anti-Fungals Efficacy againt Fungal Nails”

  1. Luna Reese Says:
    October 2nd, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    It seems like just living with the nail fungus is your safest bet. Right? Do you think they will ever have a “cure” for fungus nails? I have an odd question can someone with fungal nails get a pedicure? Like at a salon?

  2. Todd Schafer Says:
    October 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Well, technically they already have a “cure”, but what would really be needed is a vaccine. You can cure a fungal infection, but if you have a tendency to pick it up (fungus is everywhere), you’re just going to get re-infected.
    If the salon will have you, I suppose you could. I can’t really speak to their policies. What I can say, is many people feel they GOT their fungal infection from the salon.

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