Health Advice

Fungal nail infections are common. They're not serious but they can take a long time to treat.

Check if it's a fungal nail infection

Fungal nail infections usually affect your toenails, but you can get them on your fingernails, too.

Diabetes advice

If you have diabetes, you should see a foot specialist (podiatrist) because any foot injury or infection can lead to complications of diabetes.

A pharmacist can help with fungal nail infections

Speak to a pharmacist if the look of your nail bothers you or it's painful.

They may suggest:

• antifungal nail cream - it can take up to 12 months to cure the infection and does not always work
• nail-softening cream - it's used for 2 weeks to soften the nail so the infected part can be scraped off

The infection is cured when you see healthy nail growing back at the base.

Find a pharmacy

See a GP:

Treatment for a fungal nail infection from a GP

A GP can prescribe antifungal tablets. But before they give you tablets they should take a sample of your nail and have it tested, to find out what type of infection you have.

You may need to take antifungal tablets for up to 6 months.

The tablets can have side effects, including:

• headaches
• itching
• loss of taste
• feeling sick and diarrhoea

You cannot take antifungal tablets if you're pregnant or have certain conditions. They can damage your liver.

Badly infected nails sometimes need to be removed. It's a small procedure done while the area is numbed (under local anaesthetic).

Other treatment

Laser treatment uses laser to destroy the fungus.

You'll have to pay for it as it's not covered by the NHS. It can be expensive.

There's little evidence to show it's a long-term cure as most studies only follow patients for 3 months.

Preventing fungal nail infections

Fungal nail infections develop when your feet are constantly warm and damp.

You're more likely to get an infection if you wear trainers for a long time and have hot, sweaty feet.

To prevent fungal nail infections: