My three year old son has what looks to be a fungal infection on 2 of his toenails on his right foot. He doens't have Athletes foot, the toenails don't bother him, but they are gross. They look like they are lifting, and are very thick. We went to the doctor a couple months ago, and the doc said it was rare that 3 year olds get fungus and it was hightly unlikely that it was , that the nails were just damaged. He apparently has flat toesnails which tend to be thinner and are prone to being damage. Its his second and fourth toes.
I am going to take him back to the doctor about it, but I am curious if anyone has experience with this. I know what they do for adults. I am assuming the process is the same for children, which has me a little worried.
Everyone's advice was great. The most responses were about treating the affected toes with tea tree oil or vapor rub. Because I had the Vapor rub on hand, I have been putting that on him every day, and ITS WORKING!!! Thanks so much for all the responses, all of you are great. But I did find that using Lamisil did not work. The Vapor rub, is a noticable difference in an extremely short amount of time. The fungal medicine, did not show ANY improvements what so ever. I think it just takes a LONG time. Thanks again...
Dear C......
I hope this doesn't sound weird, but after he's been bathed and his feet and toenails are completely dried, rub some Vick's Vapo-Rub on his toenails.
I don't know if it is the eucalyptus or the camphor or whatever, but it does work and it also oils up the nail beds.
Give it a try.
Hi, C. my name is A.. Fungal infections settle in moist spots,try to keep it clean and dry,but weak immune sistem is the problem,I use to have east infection often, I am free now.
My 3 mo. old daughter started to have exima, I gave her the same thing I used to clean up and boost the immune sistem.
916 944 46 75.
The safest thing to do is to smother it with Vick's Vapor rub. This is what my family practice doctor told my husband to do because he is on Lipitor...which can be damaging to the Liver or Kidneys...I don't know which she said...but Vick's is now in the medical books as being something that helps with fungus. Get it in there under the toe nails as best as possible...do it twice a day at least. Hope that helps!
M....Mother of Four!
Hi both my Mom and my Husband get fungal infections with their toenails, and both had been told by their doctors to try rubbing Vics Vapor Rub on it twice daily and it has worked great for both of them. My mom's infection does come back occationally but it totally cleared up my husband's toenails. I have herd that for many people the nail will turn very dark showing that the Vics Vapor Rub is killing the fungus, but it didn't for either my mom or my husband and like I siad it still worked. I hope this helps.... figure it can't hurt to try it on your little one.
try tea tree oil. my husband used it on something with his toenails and it worked great.i don't know if it's the same problem but it's worth a try. he applied twice a day... good luck!
Well, this may sound a little weird, but several months ago I went to the doctor because I had white spots on my toe nails and on of the toe nails was getting thick. She said it was a fungus that I had probably picked up while getting a pedicure. She had me put Vick's Menthol rub on the toe nails in the morning and at night. I would put the rub just on the toe nails and then put on white socks to sleep it and in the morning I would do it again. After about a week of this the spots disappeared and the other toe nail that was thickening started to go flat again. I continued the treatment for about 5-6 weeks. I haven't had any reoccurance. I don't know if you want to try this on a three year old. But, it worked for me. Good Luck
Not sure if this will help because I didn't see my dad's toenails before he treated them. He said he had a fungus and used Vick's Vapor Rub ointment on them at night after cleaning them and drying them thoroughly and then put cotton socks on. Within a month the nail was still discolored, but had grown out smooth and after a secon month the nail was back to normal.
Check out this webite, which has of tips and natural remedies www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Toe-nail-fungus.html
Good luck!
My Question is similar to yours, except that all the toes on my 3 year olds foot are black and pealing away from the toe at the part that connects to the toe. They are very thin and seem to curve. There are some on the left foot that are turning black. My son has Autism and because he has Sensory Intergration with his Autism he dosnt let me touch them awhole lot. I took him in to the doctor she said wasnt fungal or infecction of any kind. I was told to not cut or scrape them to just let them be. It dosnt seem to bother my son but he dosnt feelpain on a "normal" scale. If anyone has any ideas or knows anything i can do I am all ears. I am a bit woried.
I don't really have advice on fungal toenails, but if you don't get satisfactory information from your pedi, I would take him to a podiatrist. I found out when my daughter had ingrown toe nails, that normal oral antibiotics won't do the trick.
Hi,
I have used tea tree oil for fungus and that has worked. It is a nice alternative, at least to try it, before going with medication. Good luck.
I buy online products from the Melaleuca company. Their products are mostly based around the tea tree oil that another respondent mentioned. I also suffer with fungus in the toenails and have been using their anti-fungal cream with success. Pure tea tree oil works well, and I use that too but am concerned that it might be a little strong and sting a young child's skin... not to mention it has a strong medicinal smell that might make him resist it. Probably any good anti-fungal cream will work, but I really like this particular brand. You mention his toenails being more prone to damage. I've found that any bump or trauma to my toes tends to set the fungus activity off more, so that may be what is happening with your son too. I believe it is actually a life-long process keeping it at bay once a person has it.
Someone else mentioned it, but the dr. really should order lab tests, happened to my daughter. She was four and dr.said we shouldn't worry about it. She lost her toe nail and it's been two years without one coming back. Functionally it's fine but we all like to wear sandals and I think it could have been prevented.
I'd like to see a dr. ask a parent what they think is in the best interest of their child, not make the decision for them.
Best of luck!
Get oil of oregano form your local herb store or buy it online. It might be a bit spendy, but it will take care of the fungus plus a lot of other things as well.
M. *~
My 4-year old got it, too. We used Lamisil cream (check the box to make sure it's approved for use with children). It cleared up in about a week.
Good luck!
L. Pettersen
Hi C.,
If I were you, I'd look for a second opinion and search the internet for more info.
All the Best
I agree with the Vick's Vapo Rub advice. It really works, and if it's safe enough to smear all over a child's chest, it's safe enough for their feet! A little on the affected toes every day for a few weeks should do the trick. Good luck!
I'm surprised the dr. didn't order a lab test. He simply needs to cut a piece of the nail and send it off. Then you'll know for sure and you can decide what to do from there.
Hello C.,
I don't know how to treat fungi in babies, so there is not much I can tell you about that. But what allot of people do not realize is that finger nail and toe fungi can be spread by using nail clippers that someone with nail fungi used. My sister has bad toenail fungi; and without thinking, one day I used her nail clippers; (even after she told me not to) Anyways, I ended up getting the fungi, but only on two of my toenails, (my second and fourth toenails) My husband, our daughter, and I have separate nail clippers, that I labeled with our names so there is no confusion on who's who's. Just thought I would share that info with you. Good luck.
A. Z.
Hi C.-
I rub tea tree oil on ours. We don't ever seem to get foot fungus, but our nails sometimes get a little funky- don't know why that is since we are pretty diligent about our feet. But you can get it at walmart, target, a health food store, etc., and one little bottle lasts for a while and costs about 6 dollars. Take your child to the doctor, but in the mean time, TEA TREE OIL. I swear by it.
Hope this helps you out and the little toes heal up!
-E. M.
My son had the same thing. The doctor gave me some cream for fungus and also told me to keep clipping his toe nails often. After a few months his toe nails got better. To be honest, we used the cream but we often would forget to put it on right before we put his socks and shoes on. I think clipping the ones that had the thickness often is what really helped in the end.
hi C. - sounds like you've gotten a lot of feedback already. my husband is in the health/nutrition and fitness industry and practices with a holistic approach. he is actually somewhat knowledgable about ridding the body of fungus through nutrition. you'd would want to test your son first, which could be done through a home lab test. if you are interested, contact me and i can put you in touch with my husband who can give you more details. best of luck!
