so frustrated with toenails! help - Nail Problems Message Board

myboysmom · 08-10-2007, 05:39 PM

I just wanted to know if anyone could tell me what is going on or give encouragement? I have been treating 3 fungus nails for 3 months twice a day. It just seems so discouraging. My big toe was the worst. There has been great improvement in color and thickness but it looks as though there has only been about a little less than 1/4 of inch clear nail grown in at the cutcle in the middle of the nail and about 1/8 an inch at the corners a little less in one corner than the other.There is also this darker pink sortive line at the top of the new growth but now it looks like the line is fading in places. It's so hard to tell. I'm so afraid the bad part of the nail is going to spread down onto the good part again. I'm always checking them. Is there anything else I should be doing to help my nails grow out the rest of the way clear. One of my other toes that I'm also treating was looking good and now has a black spot on the nail at the cuticlethat goes horizontal. Marti advised me that this was from being too harsh with cuticles. I am so frustrated with all of this. When if ever will my nails be normal? Why is the middle of my big toe grown in more than the corners? Somoone please help! Has anyone else had these black spots come on there toes like I desribed. I know what you told me Marti but I guess I'm just a worrier. I hate that. Well thanks for listening. Please respond.

Marti · 08-11-2007, 07:58 AM

Yes, you a worrier

I dropped a heavy table on my right big toe last summer about April or May. I got a bad hematoma and lost the nail plate on the outside - it separated, so I cut it away to prevent snagging on my socks/nylons. It is now August - over a year later and I still have a small portion of one side missing. I have treated it with Dr. G's just to make sure that no fungal spores get in there. It looks good, however; it has taken over a year for it to grow to this point. Toe nails grow VERY slow! They don't grow at the same speed as fingernails. A finger nail can replace itself from cuticle to free edge in about 6 months. Toenails can take over a year to complete the same process. Killing fungus can also take over a year. Don't try to rush things and take it easy on your nails. The portion at the cuticle area are new cells that are round, soft, plump and filled with an inner material. As they grow forward, they lose this inner material and become flat and hard. If you apply even just a little too muchpressure when you push back the cuticles, you can damage the new cells and cause a 'bruise' to the nail bed. This is why there is a dark line at the cuticle.