Pioneers found a powerful cleaner called potash in their fires. Fungi can also be cultured on agar plates, some are diagnosed by their glow under ultraviolet light. The organism can be found on locker room floors or showers. Topical agents applied twice daily for a month usually cure it, but it can recur. If severe, oral medicines are added.
Antifungal medicines come in three forms.
Onychomycosis means fungi in your nails. Fingernails take six months to grow and toenails 18, so treatment must be long. The nail may dissolve or be white or brown. Toenails are infected four times more often than fingernails, particularly in the elderly. Some fungi make the nail white at the cuticle, others at the growing edge.