Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Onychomycosis: A Systematic Review of the Clinical Evidence

Antifungal Selection for the Treatment of Onychomycosis: Patient Considerations and Outcomes

Onychomycosis, a common fungal nail infection, affects >20% of adults over age 60 and >50% of people over age 70. Onychomycosis may cause pain, psychosocial problems, and secondary infections, therefore meriting treatment. This review describes the range of treatment modalities, including FDA-approved systemic drugs and topical therapies. Additionally, new and emerging oral and topical therapies are discussed. We emphasize the importance of tailoring onychomycosis therapy to individual patient characteristics, comorbidities, preferences, extent of nail involvement, and fungal species, such that physicians may optimize treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction, and safety.

Truth or Trend - Misinformation Spreading Fast on TikTok: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Onychomycosis Content

Background

Onychomycosis is the most frequently diagnosed nail condition in clinical practice. With the growing popularity of TikTok and online health information-seeking behavior, it is imperative to understand onychomycosis-related content on this platform.

Objective

Our objective was to assess content and quality of the most popular onychomycosis-related content on TikTok.

Methods

We queried TikTok for videos using the search terms "onychomycosis" and "nail fungus" for the top 100 videos by view count, with DISCERN scoring used to rate videos for quality.

Results

Average DISCERN score was 1.77 and dermatologists posted videos with the highest mean score (2.56). Most of the videos were educational (72%) and/or related to treatment (69%). Home remedies were recommended more often (58%) than FDA-approved therapies (7%). Physician versus nonphysician posted videos had higher mean DISCERN score (2.28 vs. 1.44) (p < 0.001), greater view number (1,209,953 vs. 343,993) (p < 0.05), and more often discussed medical therapy (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

While social media is a valuable resource for providing medical information to an interminable audience, there are significant shortcomings. Therefore, we recommend that dermatologists advise patients against relying on social media for medical information and consider using social media to provide accessible evidence-based health education on onychomycosis.