As a dermatologist, I have seen too many comrades suffering from "fur", in addition to hair loss and acne, nail fungus is a difficult problem.
The scientific name for nail fungus is onychomycosis or onychomycosis, which, as the name suggests, is a fungal infection of the nails/toenails. It is the most common nail problem in adults. The data shows that about 6.5% to 13.8% of people suffer from nail fungus.
Nail fungus can cause nails to change color, thicken, crease or deform, which can easily affect aesthetics and even socialization. However, oral drugs for the treatment of nail fungus may be taboo, so a variety of irregular treatments are emerging in an endless stream.
Search for related keywords on Weibo - "nail fungus spent me". Hundreds of treatment costs at every turn, and it is still a single treatment. The following screenshot is an example:
Image source: Weibo screenshot
Someone even left a message:
So, does it really cost so much money to cure nail fungus? Which treatments are unreliable? How much does regular treatment cost? Here, let's make a clear account.
Tang Jiaoqing
Physician in Lilac
Dermatologist
Go to a street pedicure shop/pedicure shop to deal with?
Image source: Figureworm Creative
➊ Common operations
Usually provide normal services to customers first, halfway will say that some toenails are nail fungus, especially easy to attract the big toes and small toes (because many normal people's big and small toenails look very beautiful).
After saying that the customer is afraid, he begins to carry out treatment - foot soaking, pedicure knife pedicure, medicated, adhesive tape.
➋ Estimated cost
Refer to the typical case mentioned at the beginning of the article - 1 treatment, 7 toenails total 2800 yuan, 1 toenail is 400 yuan.
Lesions of the toenails are generally between 1 and 10 (fingernails are less likely to appear on nail fungus, let alone ignore), so the cost per time is 400 to 4000 yuan.
➌ Effect evaluation
It is not excluded that individual nail fungus with small range and shallow lesion location can achieve certain results through pedicure. But the overall effect is difficult to assess because it is not a standard and recognized treatment.
In fact, there are many types of nail fungus under the nail cover, and it is easy to grow unevenly, and this type of nail fungus cannot achieve the therapeutic effect through manicure.
➍ Risk assessment
The risks are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
● The pedicure shop operates as a "pedicure" and is not qualified to engage in medical diagnosis and treatment services.
● Nearly half of nail problems are not nail fungus and require a professional doctor to diagnose it before treatment.
● Irregular treatment may cause new problems such as contact dermatitis, paronychia, and damage to the nail matrix (the structure of the nail that grows).
If you rate it out of five stars, this value for money is only worth one star.
Search for "nail fungus" special effect products on a treasure?
➊ Common practice
Use unknown "potions", "ointments", "antibacterial liquids" or so-called "secret recipes" products. Their propaganda tactics often preach praise over 10,000, quick results / one-time finish.
Statistics of the first 20 nail fungus products displayed by a treasure, each serving is 48 ~ 298 yuan, the average price is 116 yuan.
Overall, it was difficult to work.
On the one hand, lesions of nail fungus are in the nail cap. The nail cap is very special because it is very tight and thick, and it is difficult for ordinary drugs to penetrate and work, even the antifungal ointment for the regular treatment of athlete's foot (tinea pedis) is difficult to take effect.
On the other hand, the nail cap is renewed and grows very slowly, the nails are 2 to 3 mm long each month, and the toenails are even slower, growing 1 to 2 mm per month. This results in a long time, even for regular treatment, and there is no possibility of quick action/one-time fixation.
The risk focus of topical products is not safety, but no effect. According to the buzzword, this is likely to be an IQ tax.
If you rate it by five stars out of 10, this value for money... Probably a negative star.
What is the standard treatment of medicine?
If nail fungus is suspected, a doctor needs to be evaluated, and if necessary, the doctor will scrape a few lesions and use a microscope to see if there are any fungi.
After the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor will generally assess the severity of nail fungus and understand my expectations for treatment. Different severities of nail fungus are treated differently.
The second is to determine the treatment goals for nail fungus. The goal is usually to reduce the number of fungi, try to cure fungal infections, avoid or reduce recurrence, and ultimately promote healthy nail growth.
In terms of treatment, the choice of drugs will be carried out according to the actual situation.
In terms of topical drugs, the domestic high accessibility is amorofen liniment (note: cream has no effect), and it is not easy to obtain cyclopyrone methyl liniment, ephroconazole solution and Tawapololo solution.
These topical drugs are different from other dosage forms, they will form a specific film on the nail cover after application or the drug content left on the nail cover is relatively high, that is, the dry film-forming effect is good and the drug deck retention is high.
In terms of oral medications, the usual options are terbinafine tablets and itraconazole capsules.
Their risk of side effects is similar, with the most common being a certain degree of gastrointestinal discomfort and headaches. Only about 3% to 4% of people may develop impaired liver function (mainly manifested by liver enzyme abnormalities) and can be recovered after discontinuation, while severe hepatotoxicity is rare.
If liver function can be measured before and during the medication, don't worry too much.
The following are the approximate costs of amorophene liniments, terbinafine tablets, and itraconazole capsules:
● Amorofen liniment: a box of 238 ~ 278 yuan. A box is usually available for several months or even months. Use 1 to 2 times a week and may take 6 months or more. It is expected to cost 238~556 yuan.
● Terbinafine tablets: a box of 33 ~ 115 yuan. A box usually lasts 1 to 2 weeks. The usual usage is taken orally daily for 6 to 12 weeks. Therefore, it is expected that the treatment of nail fungus will cost 198 to 1380 yuan.
● Itraconazole capsules: a box of 25~ 148 yuan. A box is usually available for 3.5 days. One of the common uses is to take the drug orally for 1 week and then stop for 3 weeks, for a total of about 3 repetitions. Therefore, it is expected that the treatment of nail fungus will cost 150 to 888 yuan.
The above is an account we calculated, and it can be seen that the way to save money is formal treatment, not the side door.
More important than saving money, regular treatment is more effective and safer. You see?
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If you want to cure nail fungus
I don't want to go to the hospital for a while or it's inconvenient
Some friends think that going to the hospital is too troublesome and tossing, take leave to go to the hospital, and most of the day's salary will be gone.
Try asking Dr. Lilac, asking the doctor, prescribing medicine, and maybe you can do it at home.
Instead of losing to "next time" and "waiting" and causing you to be bothered by nail fungus again and again, it is better to act now to solve it.
After curing it, there is no need to hide and worry; while improving the image of personal health, there is no need to generate psychological burdens due to the different eyes of others, and there is no need to worry about infection to family and children.
If you have been diagnosed with nail fungus (onychomycosis)
Online medication and guidance on safe medication are required
You can click on the card below and ask your doctor to prescribe medication
Professional pharmacists review prescriptions, and drugs are delivered to home by courier
Worry-free and less rushing
If you're not sure if you have nail fungus (onychomycosis)
See if you can prescribe the drug directly online
You still need to go to the hospital for further examination
Responsible for the monkey pigeon
bibliography
Clinical consultant upToDate. Adam O Goldstein, Neal Bhatia. Epidemiology, clinical features and diagnosis of onychomycosis. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/zh-Hans/onychomycosis-epidemiology-clinical-features-and-diagnosis. (Thematic last updated: Apr 30, 2019)
Clinical consultant upToDate. Adam O Goldstein, Neal Bhatia. Treatment of mycosis. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/zh-Hans/onychomycosis-management. (Thematic last updated feb 27, 2019)
Scientific review by Luo Xiang
Attending physician in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology