1 / Not treating
This is an option if the infection is mild or causing no symptoms. For example, a single small toenail may be infected and remain painless. Also, some people may prefer not to take medication as, although rare, there is a small chance of serious side-effects from antifungal medication. The option to treat can be reviewed at a later date if the infection becomes worse.

2 / Medication
Antifungal tablets will often clear a fungal nail infection. However, you need to take the tablets for six weeks for fingernail infections, and for 12 weeks for toenail infections, sometimes longer. The medication will also clear any associated fungal skin infection such as athlete's foot.

Studies suggest that in about 5 in 10 cases the nail will look fully normal again after treatment. In about a further 2 in 10 cases the fungus will be cleared from the nail after treatment, but the nail does not look fully normal again. Fingernails tend to respond better to treatment than toenails. One reason for treatment to fail is because some people stop their medication too early.

3 / Antifungal nail paint
This is an alternative, but tends not to work as well as medication taken by mouth. It may be useful if the infection is just towards the end of the nail. This treatment does not tend to work so well if the infection is near the skin, or involves the skin around the nail. The nail paint has to be put on exactly as prescribed for the best chance of success. You may need six months of nail paint treatment for fingernails, and up to a year for toenails.

4 / Nail removal
If other treatments have failed an option is to have the nail removed by a small operation done under local anaesthetic. This is combined with treatment with antifungal medication.