After receiving an inquiry from a radio show listener about how to cure fingernail fungus, I decided to do some medical research and ask one of the best dermatologists I know. Fingernail fungus is not uncommon, and it is important to deal with this problem quickly and correctly to prevent it from spreading. For expert advice on this topic I called upon Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist in NYC and contributing guest on my weekly radio show, “Beauty Talk”. She was kind enough to provide us with the following…

“The first thing that needs to be done is to see a dermatologist who can take a clipping of the nail and send it out for culture to see if there is truly a fungal infection. There are several conditions that can cause changes in the nails that are not fungal and each have their own treatments. There can be forms of psoriasis that affect only the nails, or it can be due to certain types of repetitive trauma from work done with the hands, or chemicals used.
The bottom line is that not all changes of the nail are fungal. Most commonly, fungus of the nail is either from a manicure, or from someone who has a fungal infection of the foot that spreads to the hands. I had a patient who got nail fungus from giving her husband foot massages - that took a bit of “detective” work to figure out, but we were able to get the culture and then I could offer her proper treatment in the form of pills, which solved the problem within a few months.”
- Doris Day, MD

Since nail fungus is often spread in nail salons I recommend buying your own manicure tools. Make sure you are sterilizing your cuticle nippers with a drop of alcohol and a q-tip (Note: they can not be submerged in liquid or they will rust). Keep in mind that alcohol only sanitizes the tool, and in order to to actually steralize you must use a solution called Barbicide. This product can be purchased at your local beauty supply store. When cleaning your tools make sure to thoroughly dry them to prevent rust.