A Great Toe-Fungus Cover-Up

Daily treatment, over many months, is required to cure toe-fungus. You must wash and dry your feet thoroughly and then apply a topical solution such as tavaborole (Kerydin) to the surface of the affected nail. The medication does its work by penetrating through the nail plate. 

I do water-aerobics in public pools several times a week and was concerned that exposure of the affected area to the pool and shower environment might cause re-infection. My wife suggested that I could cover the affected area using a finger cut from a disposable glove.  A great idea, but I found that the cover-up would often work its way off the toe, even when covered by a pool shoe.

The image below shows my creative solution.

(1)  Make two cuts in the disposable glove. Cut directly across to separate a finger "A", and diagonally to separate the thumb and wrist area "B". Note that "B" includes part of the glove area between the thumb and the first finger.
(2) Fold about 1/4" of "A" over as shown to strengthen the edge, improve the seal, and reduce chances of tearing.
(3) Stretch "A" and pull it completely over the affected toe.
(4) Stretch "B" and pull it completely over "A" and secure the end around your heel. (5) Side view of final result.

I use latex gloves because they are more stretchy and less likely to tear than other disposable glove materials.

You may reuse the Great Toe-Fungus Cover-Up several times. Since latex has a tendency to stick to itself, you should drape "A" and "B" over a plastic knife or other suitable material between uses.

Enjoy! And please comment about how this idea works for you.

Ira Glickstein