The most effective treatment for toenail fungus is medication prescribed by a doctor. These medications include terbinafine, itraconazole, and fluconazole. They work by attacking the fungus from the inside out, and it can take up to a year for the fungus to fully eradicate. These drugs are often the first choice. These medications help a new nail grow without infection, slowly replacing the infected part.
JUBLIA topical solution (efinaconazole), 10%, is a prescription medication used to treat fungal toenail infections. Oral and topical antifungals are the two main methods of treating fungal nail infection. Oral antifungals tend to be more effective. Effective products include efinaconazole (Jublia), tavaborol (Kerydin) and ciclopirox (Penlac).
All require daily applications, and it may take up to a year to see a noticeable improvement. These products may work to treat early superficial fungal infections because they remove fungus from the surface of the nail. Filing the surface of the nail may allow them to penetrate deeper into the nail or nail bed. In the studies, their cure rate averaged around 35%. Itraconazole (Sporanox) and terbinafine (Lamisil) eliminated the fungus in 10 months over a period of 55 to 70% of people who participated in the studies that required FDA approval, but in the case of 15 to 20% of patients, the fungus reappeared within a few months.
Treatment with itraconazole involves taking one 200 mg capsule daily for 12 weeks in people with toenail infections. Only a laboratory test with a toenail scrape can show with certainty that fungi are responsible for the distortion of the nails. Misdiagnosing toenail fungus can cost you time and money when trying over-the-counter products that won't have any effect.
