I caught my finger in a music stand...

[BassMan]

Yuck! A month ago, while loading in for a show, I caught the end of my finger in one of the folding braces on a

music stand. It hurt like blazes for a minute or so (lots of concerned people asking - are you going to be able to

play??) then the pain went away and I didn't think anything about it.

The nail started growing in funny, but I

figured I just smashed it up.

Now it's growing in all white and funky, and the physician's assistant tells me

I got fungus...

$50 a month for three months for the oral stuff, and they have to test my liver every month,

it's that toxic.

The alternative is $50 a month for three months for the fingernail polish that has fungus

poison in it. It's not supposed to be as effective, but it leaves my poor liver alone...

Anyone been through

this? Is there anything that works that's not going to cost me $150 and take three months?

I have five shows to

play at a festival this weekend, and this finger aches...

-Bass

[bjf]

Why don't you harvest the fungus and

see if it has any pheromonal properties? Throw it in some everclear!

[DrSmellThis]

Try undiluted tea tree

essential oil. Oregano oil should also work, and you could use one for two weeks followed by the other. Lavender can

also be used. You could also mix the three, or apply them at different times of the day. I'd start with tea tree.

I'd forget the liver-bashing stuff if I were you.

[BassMan]

Try undiluted

tea tree essential oil. Oregano oil should also work, and you could use one for two weeks followed by the other.

Lavender can also be used. You could also mix the three, or apply them at different times of the day. I'd start

with tea tree. I'd forget the liver-bashing stuff if I were you.

Thanks, Doc. A quick web search turned up

the same two - tea tree and oil of oregano. I have tea tree. I'll start there and go find some oregano.

-Bass

[belgareth]

Anyone been

through this? Is there anything that works that's not going to cost me $150 and take three months?

I have five

shows to play at a festival this weekend, and this finger aches...

-Bass

Yup, two of my toes. It's a

type of ringworm. If it's bad the doctor can trim part of the nail out. He had to on mine because it kept getting

infections. The nails never did grow back out right either. On the feet it doesn't matter but on the hands would be

a drag.

[DrSmellThis]

Thanks, Doc. A

quick web search turned up the same two - tea tree and oil of oregano. I have tea tree. I'll start there and go

find some oregano.

-Bass

Yep, I'd just keep a constant coating on there and underneath the nail a bit as

well. Trying a course of each oil allows for the possibility of a stubborn strain or multiple strains. I'd be

suprised if it didn't help if you keep it up for weeks. But don't skip days. Use it a few times a day every day,

so the stuff can't mutate. At the same time you might want to take collagen and MSM, or a supplement for nails just

to encourage regrowth and healing. A multimineral would seem important too (You can see mineral deficiencies in

your nails.) . You could even rotate in the prescription topical stuff that doesn't screw up the liver, at some

point.

[Bruce]

The teatree oil is a great idea.

Some other natural treatments you could alternate in are:
1. Clay packs (leave on until dry, wash off and apply

the tea tree oil)
2. Salve or wet herbal pack of golden seal and myrrh
3. Soaking for a half hour in dilute

H2O2 solution; start with 35% *food grade* H2O2 and be *very* careful with the stuff; it is caustic straight. The

standard dilution for full body soaks is only one cup to an entire bath tub full! So, be careful. The normal H2O2

you get in a pharmacy is only about 3% I think.

My wife gets very nasty boils whenever she is pregnant (like

now). She just got over one last week btw. They get out of control very quickly if they are not treated, and the

Dr. ends up prescribing antibiotics. If she keeps at it with the natural stuff (as above), she can take care of it

naturally. It just takes a lot of work.

Good luck,
Bruce

[surfs_up]

Got a bad nail fungus in both great toes, toughest bastard I ever saw. Sporonaox damned near killed me,

so the oral meds were out of the question. Tried Penlac, on me it sorta halfway worked at best and was laughably

expensive. Tea Tree oil didn't work, olive leaf extract orally sort of worked for a while then quit when the fungus

mutated around it... there was one product that actually was effective, and mysteriously vanished from the market,

although I can't find any health or recall warnings about it on the net. It was a formula based on tin flouride

(the same as in old anti cavity toothpaste) and zinc gluconate. First you need to put on a coating of Carmol40 (a

40% urea solution that makes the nail porous so the medicine can get through) then a little of the old fluoride

gel.... nothing else worked, and the market is saturated with bullshitters with guaranteed proprietary formulas....

my favorite contains "ethanoic acid". Sounds like hight tech ? Ethanoic acid is also acetic acid which is also the

acid ingredient in vinagar

[BassMan]

I went with the Penlac, since I'd

already bought it. It looks like that little bottle will last a while. If it doesn't get rid of the fungus, I'll

try some other stuff. The application of something to make the nail more permeable makes a lot of sense.

Thanks,

folks. It's great knowing you are all here.

-Bass