On with the show

Still going with the procedure, my ring finger is now 100 % and looks like it was never infected. When the infection is so bad that the nail is not attached to the nail bed it tends to become elevated and rise from the nail bed. I thought maybe it would stay mis-shaped even after being cured but it is really completely symmetrical. So bear that in mind, the naisl do remember how to grow normally!

On the other 3 fingers I noticed the fungus was getting hold once more at the tips, so I filed that away. It kinda sucks when you are so close to the end but there is no way but the hard way, take away the bad, or it will keep infecting the good. What is a few more weeks when you have had the problem for years? And although the lamisil gel (NOT the cream) is expensive it really last for a long time, 14 nails I have been able to treat for over a month with 1 tube which is about 25 USD.

My toenails I filed down completely once more as the treatment was not as successful there. I could not bring myself to take them away completely. It is damn hard work to file down all the way to the nail bed since you want to be careful not to hurt yourself, and it is a time-consuming procedure as it is. But they are thin, thin now, and I treat my right foot twice a day now with the Lamisil. On my loeft foot I use Amorolfine nail laquer, mostly because I still have half a bottle left and I should use it up since it cost a fortune. When it is all out I will evaluate which foot has had the most progress.


In my next post I will post before- and afterpictures of the filing process and some pointers on how to go about it.

My procedure

So this is what finally got me progress, after using it in a creative and not doctor-recommended way. It is late and I will only make a quick update here by pasting some of what I have written in the awesome information source that is Lee's blog at http://lee.org/blog/2009/05/14/nonyx-nail-gel-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-291999 . Forgive me if this post seems like a cut and paste job....

For years the look of my horrible nails have made me feel bad about myself. A couple of months ago I did something radical: I took my microdrill, put a sand tip on it (for marking tools and stuff) and slowly but surely, for hours and hours, wore all my toenails down to nothing, and also my thumbnail. This nail was horrific at the time as it had rapidly gotten worse and was more or less loose all the way back to the base. With drills, knives and the motor drill with different tips I methodically wore it down till I was on bare skin. A few times it hurt and there was some minor bloodshed when I got overexcited but it is really possible if you take the time!

On the bare nail bed I have since then applied 2-3 times a day Lamisil single dose, the FOOT fungus solution that contains terbinafine and is supposed to only be used once and not to be repeated. =) My toenails I cannot judge yet (though the nail bed looks nice) but my thumb IS ALMOST COMPLETELY GROWN OUT ALL HEALTHY. After all these years!

I firmly believe the lamisil is responsible for the improvement I see. I have not used itraconazole for over a month (although I must say the itraconazole seemed to have some independent success with the other nails as I tried this out only on the thumb to start with. As my success with the thumbnail was instantaneous and obvious I went on with the other nails in the same way) but the nails keep getting better. The stuff works like a charm now that I expose the nail bed to it.

The stuff is expensive by weight, but it lasts for a long time…. I have now used less than 1,5 tubes in the last 2 months, and I applied it on 10 toenails pretty much every day and on 4 fingernails 2 times every day. The tubes are about 25 USD a piece, and 4 grams. You could make a tube last 2 months which by this price would cost you maybe 13 bucks a month, surely you can spend that?

After a while the layer can turn a shiny greyish colour, especially on small depressions in the nail, but that is no problem, it only shows that you have a nice and thick layer of the stuff working constantly.

From time to time, maybe every 2 weeks I scrape the rubbery grey stuff off and clean the nail, this only takes seconds, then I just stick with the process.

There you go. =)

New pictures