It does sound like a fungal infection. Do dermatologists do toenails? I really don't know, usually podiatrists do feet. I guess any doc can diagnose a toenail fungus, though, and either he's a really good doc who doesn't pretend to know what he doesn't know and docs in general don't know or he's a bad doc and missed the obvious, but I think with a fungus there would have been a precursor period where the toenail turned black or started to look odd and kept getting worse. If it just happened suddenly it's probably different. But you know, what topical cream did he suggest? I mean, creams are for making us feel better, but they only do that by what's in them and what they're intended to treat, and so what is it he said a cream would treat? That in effect is a kind of diagnosis. Peace.