Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Magic Elixir

I went to the podiatrist's office to seek professional help with the ongoing saga of the Evil Twins which I'm hoping to resolve before getting too far into my training schedule. After looking at my feet and confirming that the Twins are indeed acting up as a result of nail fungus, he offered me four treatment options.

Option 1: The nails could be removed (oh now, that sounds fun!) however there's every chance the fungus would return. Nix that.

Option 2: The oral medication Lamisil could be prescribed however a side effect can be liver damage so monthly blood tests would be required and there's only a 40% success rate. I'm gonna say "no thanks."

Option 3: Penlac Nail Lacquer, the first FDA-approved topical treatment for nail fungus could be applied but again the success rate isn't that high and the cost is 300.00 for an extended treatment. Better but try again Doc.

Option 4: A nightly application of Vicks VapoRub. This home remedy is affordable, pain-free, liver-friendly, and if you check around the internet, apparently highly effective. So it's off to Long's Drug Store for me.

3 comments:

Run Momma Run said...

I have nail fungus too (oh, what we reveal to our Internet friends!) and straight up Australian tea tree oil is pretty effective too and doesn't have any nasty side effects. I'm guessing Vicks works because of the eucalptyus, eh? Maybe if we move to Australia, that will cure our nail troubles forever? :-)

Anita said...

The doctor suggested it probably was the eucalptyus...apparently no living organisms can survive under the eucalptyus tree because it's sap is so strong. Apparently stronger than our foot sweat after a long distance walk/run. At least that's something to be grateful for :)

jeanne said...

i just put vick's under my nose.