Finger nail fungus

Hello - Brief history about me.  My entire family has battled some type of nail fungus, some have it worse than others, apparently I have it the worst! I had major toe nail fungus since I was 7 or 8 yrs old. My father had fingernail fungus when younger and now its happening to me.  I will have benefits soon but I am curious to what kind of nail fungus I may have because its pretty extreme.  It started as a small brown spot on the side of my finger close to the cuticle, eventually turned yellow and grew out with the nail.  The fungal outbreaks would normally happen once every 5-6 months.  Now, not only is the fungus attacking from the side, but at the bottom of the nail up from my cuticle. Currently two of my nails on my left hand are infected and 4 of my nails on my right hand are infected. Some are worse than others but the worst effected have pus coming out from the bottom corners when I squeeze the finger at the bottom near my cuticle and the nail is dull, ridgy and almost looks like the fungus is on top of my nail as opposed to underneath it!  Im getting older now and have battled fungus all my life and it seems to just be getting worse.  I understand its contagious and probably why my other nails are being attacked as I am not able to be treated.  What sort of fungus does this sound like and what sort of treatment is available?  

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Nail fungal infections are typically caused by a fungus that belongs to a group of fungi called dermatophytes. But yeasts and molds also can be responsible for nail fungal infections. The effected nails are dull, brittle, thickened and dark colored caused by debris building up under the nail.

Topical and oral antifungals are needed which are available under prescription. My sincere advice would be to consult a dermatologist and get a KOH examination of the nail and skin specimen done to confirm the diagnosis. Also nail fungal infection may take a bit longer to go away. So it is important to use the topical and oral anrifungals as and when prescribed by a dermatologist.


It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.