The consumption of prescription medications can be a very effective method to cure nail fungal infection. There are many anti-fungal medications that can either be consumed or applied topically (rub-on). These oral medications are quite expensive and the consumption of these medicines may always cause some kind of side-effects. The treatment process with the majority of prescription medicines is usually long, from at least 3 months for tonenail fungus and 6 weeks for fingernail fungus.
Toenail fungal infections are known to be extremely hard to treat. After you have identified fungal infection in the nails, tt is suggested that you consult a doctor before deciding to consume any type of medicine. The consumption of any drugs can be very risky to your health, especially if you are taking other over-the-counter or prescription medications to treat other medical conditions at the same time. It is very important that you follow the advice of your doctor to avoid any clash between different kind of medicines.
One of the most well-known oral medication against nail fungus is Lamisil. Lamisil is mainly effective on the dermatophytes group of fungi which are the common cause of nail fungal infection. Also referred to as Terbinafine hydrochloride, a 250 mg Lamisil tablet can be consumed orally on a daily basis. Although it is very effective against fungal nail infection, especially against those found deep under the nail in the cuticle to which topical treatments are not able to reach, Lamisil can be dangerous for patients with lupus erythematosus (a connective tissue disease) and can cause chemical-driven liver damage (hepatotoxicity). A person who take Lamisil should be monitored with liver function tests. The whole treatment process can therefore be very costly because of not only the Lamisil tablets, but also the liver function therapies.
Other medications to cure nail fungal infections are for example Diflucan, itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral) and griseofulvin. Diflucan is especially effective against fungal infections in the nails due to yeast and is easily available over-the-counter at many pharmacies nationwide such as Wal-Mart and Target. Itraconazole is very similiar to Lamisil while ketoconazole is a risky medicine as it can lead to hepatotoxicity easily. Griseofulvin is not widely used because of the lack of ineffectiveness.
If you don’t want to take risk of the prescribed medications, you may want to consider trying out these safe and effective treatments:
In addition, you can also use ciclopirox (Penlac) which is a topical nail polish. Penlac is suitable for early treatment of nail fungal infection and it can be applied topically on the infected nails. Your doctor will usually recommend you use Penlac in the early stages to see if there is any improvement. For persistant infection, the consumption of prescription medications as described above is unavoidable.
It’s totally up to you to choose for any kind of medications, as long as they bring efficacious effects and you have a discussion about it with your doctor. Always keep in mind that prevention and early treatment is the key to cure toenail fungal infections. Practice good personal hygiene and consume the medications prescribed by your doctor. In less than 3 months you will restore healthy nails that you have always wanted!
