Wellness

[Mindy D]

I know EXACTLY how I acquired toenail fungus. I live in Florida. I usually wore sandals most of the time and wore breathable leather shoes. I never had fungus on my toenails. I only polished them myself occasionally. About twenty years ago (Im guessing here),  my mom had passed away and my dad had a stroke, so I was working at their house trying to get it ready for selling. My husband came by the house to pick me up to take me home. I locked the front door from inside and exited the house by way of a side door. Unbeknownst to me, my dad had piled the raked leaves from our giant oak tree right under the door step. The leaves were soggy wet and had been sitting there while my dad was in the hospital. I had on leather slip on shoes. I stepped into the pile of leaves nd my shoes and feet were soaked. I sat in the car in the soggy shoes while my husband made a quick stop and then drove me home, a twenty minute ride. When I got inside the house, I dride my feet and left the shoes outside to dry. About an hour later I showered and washed, rinsed and dried my feet. I didn’t notice anything that night. Next morning my toe nails were discolored. They were darker. They progressed getting darker and yellower. I went to the dermatologist. I had fungus. I had prescription Lamisil (it wasn’t over the counter Lamisil. The doctor said that taking the oral version of Lamisil could cause liver damage and wasn’t very effective). I still have that fungus and I’ve tried more things to cure it than I can count. 

[haddon9]

Proud to say that I get regular manicures throught the year and pedicures in the summer.  I have great looking feet & toes (now my legs are another matter) so I like to play them up with pretty polish and cute sandals. Might as well put my best feature forward! It makes me feel good about myself. 

I've never had a problem with fungus or any other issue with nails.  My manicurist is very hygienic and I enjoy going since I see the regulars there and we get caught up on what's going on around the town.

[Mindy D]

Toe nail polish can prevent moisture from evaporating from the nail. This can provide a moist breeding ground for fungi in the nail bed.

[juperier]

@SilleeMee Can I be snoopy and ask what type of polish? Regular, UV/LED cured gel, "no-light" gel? Can you wear the same polish on your fingernails without issue? Any other products used during the pedicures?

[SilleeMee]

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@juperier wrote:

@SilleeMee Can I be snoopy and ask what type of polish? Regular, UV/LED cured gel, "no-light" gel? Can you wear the same polish on your fingernails without issue? Any other products used during the pedicures?

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It was regular polish from the drugstore. Revlon and Sally Hansen mostly. I always used to do my own toenails...nothing special, just polish and remover. I never wore it on my fingernails because of where I worked. @juperier

[Vivian]

I’ve had just a few manicures in my lifetime, but no pedicures. I always feared bacterial or fungal infection. I’ve never had a problem with my nails. I will add, though, when I spent ten days in Italy, I noticed my nails never looked so good. I’ll bet it was all that fantastic olive oil I had.

[juperier]

@SilleeMee Sorry you had to give up your pedicures. Hopefully you don't miss them too much. Since you haven't had any further issues, it does make sense that an ingredient in the polish was the culprit.

I noticed that you stated "probably an allergy to polish" in your original post. Sounds like an honest answer to me. Now if you consistently used the same polish on your nails with no issues (or if a salon pedicure, use of other products, etc was involved) I'd at least be wondering if your doctor might be blaming polish simply due to lack of awareness regarding detailed aspects of what can be involved in a pedicure. (No disrespect intended. It's simply impossible for any doctor to know the nitty gritty details of everything.)

[Nightowlz]

Never had a mani or pedi. I take care of my nails/toes myself.

I don't wear nail polish either. It does not stay on so what's the purpose. One I start washing my hands which is all the time the nail polish peels off so I don't bother.

[shoppersince1989]

I live in Arizona, and am constantly fighting the fungus fight.

The 1st time, I had it (also the last time I wore polish), was when I was about to have knee surgery.

I put the polish on so I didn't gross the surgery staff.

A couple of weeks later, was when I found out I had fungus.  Had the nail removed.

The podiatrist said the polish did not cause it.

He said if I wanted to wear polish, just don't keep it on for very long.

That way I can tell when the "white" shows up.

[MomCat]

I've always understood that the only problem with leaving polish on too long is the inability to spot issues happening on the nails.  Not that the polish itself causes problems.  However, I am in total agreement with being careful in choosing the salons.  I actually prefer to do my own.