The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Baking Soda
Posted by Deborah (Michigan) on 08/10/2017
★★★★★
I have suffered from toenail fungus on a toe that got injured, years back, and I have erratically tried the medication from the drugstore, and a doctor prescribed some for me that can damage your liver, et cetera. I will not take anything like that that hurts my liver, so I had to find alternative ways to do it. For a while I soaked my feet in warm water and dish soap to soften the nails and then I purchased one of the battery operated nail files and filed the diseased nail down. Eventually I got rid of most of the unsightly nail, and change my socks twice a day. It was amazing how much the filing took care of it, and then air was able to get it the rest of the nail bed and the healthier nails. I have noticed that is a little tiny bit in the one corner that I don't want to encourage to go on so I purchased a heavy duty nail file and keep it filed down, and now I put a paste of baking soda on it and let it sit on it. It looks better! So I'm pretty excited about that. I'm thinking I'll also try the apple cider vinegar. Thank you for your great article I've been looking for this help for a long time. It's encouraging to know I'm not alone in this.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Kitchenwitch (New York) on 06/12/2017
★★★★★
I've been reading this forum and using the curse to no avail. I realized that under my sink I now had tea tree oil, vicks, oregano oil, lugol's iodine, white iodine and coconut oil. I figured maybe if one didn't help I would bombard my nails until I used everything under my sink. I started with filing the nail down and whenever I got out of the shower I put a drop of iodine on the nail bed. Sure it turned my nail and ugly brown but I was tired of twenty yeas of fungus on each of my pinkie toenails. For the next three months, whenever I walked into the bathroom I applied and alternated between cures basting my nails up to five times a day. I also took a nail brush and used some coal tar dried scalp shampoo taking up space in my shower. Before I put on socks I applied either one of the several oils or vicks and changed my socks daily. Shock and Awe worked. I am fungus free for the first time. These natural solutions work but maybe you just haven't found the right combination.
Borax
Posted by Valdoria (Jacksonville, Fl) on 04/12/2017
★★★★★
I have been using borax in water 5 days on/2 days off - for about 3 weeks... I feel rather tired which I attribute to possible detox.
However, my skin looks better and I can tell my feet appear to be shedding a bit of old fungal skin which is nice. I take 1/8 tsp in water a day and usually make a match tea with it in the morning. I sometimes will take a hot bath with 1 cup of epsom salt and 1 tblsp of borax and it does make my skin feel good, yet a bit dry... it does seem to be helping with healing.
Vicks
Posted by Gman (Alabama) on 03/28/2017 6 posts
★★★★★
I've tried many things for nail fungus and my toenails just kept getting thicker and didn't seem to be getting better. But just a couple of weeks of the vapor rub showed definite improvement. I think I will finally cure my toenail problem and finally enjoy healthy toes with no ugly fungus.
Iodine
Posted by Cindy Mick (Ohio) on 05/15/2016
★★★★★
I also used iodine and it was very successful in curing the toe nail fungus. Every morning and night for about 4 months.
Bleach
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 08/14/2017 2042 posts
Try using Povidone Iodine 10% from local market or drugstore/pharmacy. You can apply directly or add to a warm water foot-bath.
You will also need to do an internal Candida Cleanse which may also include other cleanses like heavy metal, parasite, gallbladder, and colon, as fungal infections are most times opportunistic meaning you have chronic immune suppression.
Check out Bill's book Killing So Sweetly here on E.C.
Bee Pollen
Posted by Tiffany (Philadelphia, Pa) on 05/02/2013
★★★★★
I started taking bee pollen for allergies and noticed that my toenail fungus cleared up! I take one teaspoon of local granules a day after a meal. It does help with seasonal allergies as well. It works best for allergies when combined with quercetin. I noticed nail fungus clearance after a month of use. Thank you Earth Clinic for allowing us to share this type of information.
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Posted by Renee (Utah) on 07/10/2015
★★★★★
I started with grapefruit seed extract and take 10 drops internally 3 x day in water. I also rub it on my toenail 2-3 times a day. The next day the hard stuff behind my nail started to soften and I could remove some. Each day I am seeing improvement. It is just amazing.
Listerine
Posted by Nichole (Washington, DC) on 02/02/2013
★★★★★
On both of my feet, the second toe from the big toe were discolored, as well as the other three small toes on my left foot, and two of the other toes on my right foot. This has been very distressing! I tried tea tree oil by itself with no results. After seeing that some people had used hydrogen peroxide, I planned to get that. Since I was desperate to start immediately, I used my generic whitening mouthwash listerine, which has hydrogen peroxide as its second ingredient, because I already had that. I used a cotton ball and applied it liberally on all of my toes taking care to get as much as possible below the cuticle and under the toe nail. Then I applied tea tree oil. I did this twice a day (morning at night) and followed up with vicks vapo rub at night before putting on socks. I am one week into my routine and three of my darkest nails have gone from black to 95% normal! They are pink. I am so happy. I will continue until I have totally nice and fungus free toes. I also cut off as much of the dark toe nail as I can each night or every other night as well as any surrounding flaking skin that needed to go.
Listerine
Posted by Big Joe (Chicago, Il) on 10/23/2012
★★★★★
I had these ugly yellow toe nails. I hated them. I would gargle with Listerine and then afterwards put my bare feet into the sink, one at a time, and spit the Listerine on them. Then I would just let it dry on them. They went away in about 10 days.
I guess you could apply Listerine directly or tape a cotton bandage to your toes, but this is what I did and it worked. I used just the standard yellow Listerine.
Listerine
Posted by Beth (Kirkland, Wa) on 03/24/2012
★★★★★
I've had fungus on 5 of my toenails for over 20 years. It started with injuries to my nails from running many miles and then subsequent infection. The affected nails were yellow and at least 5 times as thick as normal nails and deformed in shape. I would have to file the surfaces with a very abrasive file to get the nail thin enough to be able to hide with nail polish.
I did not want to subject my body to long treatments of meds that might harm my liver, so I decided to use Listerine at night and Vicks during the day. Be aware that this treatment can take a couple of months, but it does work!! Be patient. I had an especially stubborn fungus. The first thing I did was file nails down as thin as possible without pain, as to remove as much damaged nail as possible. Every other night before bed I would put band aids around toes with the "non-sticky/white" part facing/touching the nail. I then used a syringe to squirt some Listerine inside the bandage - this way nails would be "soaking" all night. During the treatment time remember to keep nails extra short and filed thin so that there is not as much bio burden for Listerine to work through. In the am, take bandages off and let nails dry a bit before putting a dab of Vicks Vapor Rub on the toenails - no band aids, just socks. I did this every other day for about two months. Fungus is gone and I have normal pink flat nails again!!
Distilled Vinegar
Posted by Moi (V Ville, Ca) on 12/19/2009
★★★★★
I had a very bad nail fungus for 23 or so years. I practically had no healthy nail left on my big toe. It was very ugly and was just a crumbly mess. I tried a lot of otc meds (before I got wise), none worked. Also tried a lot of natural cures, vicks, h2o2 etc, and none of them did anything to help. I had pretty much resigned myself to funky toe for life, when I decided to give it one last go with White Vinegar, just the ordinary cheap as chips stuff.
After my shower I would soak a cotton ball with vinegar and put it on my nail with a plaster over it. Nothing else. Did it for 2 or so months. Total cure. My nail (and my partner cannot believe it) is normal again, as in I do not hide it anymore and am rather proud of the little fellow now. I have nice feet and am really happy at last to have nice healthy feet.
One thing, the vinegar does smell a bit early in the day, but for me it was worth it. Every now and again I do a vinegar day just to keep the fungus away.
Garlic
Posted by Dinks (Sydney, Nsw, Australia) on 11/12/2009
★★★★★
I have Fungus on my 5 toes, it originally started on my big toe. A Chinese Medicine Man told me to use Garlic and Boiling Water.
So I minced garlic put boiling water to it, and let it cool down so as not to burn myself (but try to have it as hot as you can handle it) and leave toes in until the water cools right down. Have been doing this everyday and I am seeing results, I can see the pink of my toe nails and moon, the fungus itself is growing up and vanishing.
Garlic, OTC, Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Dean (Jacksonville, Florida) on 03/12/2009
★★★★★
Odorless garlic orally, minimum high MG. once a day for a month.
Apply 'Camphophenique' oil (green bottle) after mixing= 1/3 apple cider vinegar to 2/3 Campho. Or same mixture using pure tea tree oil & ACV. apply to nail making sure there is a potential for it to soak under the edges. Discontinue any nail polish! Polishes seal the fungus in and make applications very difficult to penetrate needed areas.
Dean, (Retired Derm, Army Medical Dept)
Oregano Oil
Posted by Cheryl (Manteca, California) on 02/11/2009
★★★★★
Oil of Oregano cure for fungus rash: Oil of Oregano (Oreganoworld.com has the undiluted, pure oil for $19 oz-I bought this one-very inexpensive) cured what seemed to be fungus-possibly Candida type rash. I suffered with the rash for 14 months, no prescription creams, powders or otc creams helped me. I was at my wits end-the dermatologist took a biopsy-said it was 'like athletes foot/fungus type rash' and prescribed Lamisil pills and cream for 2 months-this did not work. I heard about Oil of Oregano from a radio talk show-Coast to Coast-and, gave it a try. It worked in 3 days-I took it internally and mixed it with extra virgin coconut oil on the skin-it went away. Amazing miracle to me.
Listerine
Posted by Ingrid (Ft Lauderdale, FL) on 12/13/2008
★★★★★
I had a toe fungus on my big toe. Went to the foot doctor who had me on an antibiotic for 6 months with no results. I then spent 6 months using tree tea oil 2Xs per day, again no result. Finally soaked a cotton ball 2xS per day for 10 minutes with original Listerine--3 days later NO MORE FUNGUS! ALL GONE!!
Listerine
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 08/27/2016
Dear Karen,
My guess is that this could take a while to heal. I would try soaking once or twice a day for a month for 20 minutes and see if there is any improvement. If there is, continue on. It could take 6 months.
A solution that is 1/2 vinegar (white distilled) and 1/2 water is also good for fungus. Or a gallon of water with 1/4 cup borax as a soak.
You could also try putting a mixture of castor oil and coconut oil (1/2 and 1/2) on his callouses and covering them with socks at night. Castor oil and coconut oil are healing and softening. This would also protect the sheets.
~Mama to Many~
Baking Soda
Posted by Elsa (Corpus Christi, Texas) on 12/08/2016
Thank you. I'm going to try it myself and I'll have my mother try it. She's a cancer (non-curable according to western medicine) carrier. I'll be ever so grateful for your insight if the cancer dies.
Distilled Vinegar
Posted by Harrier (Long Beach, CA) on 12/10/2007
★★★★★
The website where this was original quoted from is
http://askwaltstollmd.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html
Dr Stoll doesn't mind people using his methods and letting others know. I had bad toenails and used that approach and it all cleared up. Using the two drops at the base allows the white distilled vinegar to absorb through the nail and change the PH under the nail. By using only two drops you also prevent excess moisture from remaining under the nail. You need to apply twice a day 12 hours a part. In about six weeks, you should begin to see a thin clear nail at the base. After 6 months, your nail should grow out. Once the nail grows out, you should continue applying for about three more months. The major mistake people make is forgetting to remain consistant and missing a treatment or applying to much. For that reason cotton schwabs are also recommended. One dunk for each foot. This treatment does take a while and is 100% effective if you do it corretly and have virtually no expense. For some it has taken two and a half years, most cases are cured between 9 months and a year. Once your nail is infected, Dr Stoll feels you must grow healthy nail to push out the bad nail. Another recommendation is to drink two Tablespoons of ACV with apple juice or water twice a day. This helps treat fungus. Remember white distilled vinegar on the outside and Apple Cider Vinegar orally. Not the other way around.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Coconut Oil
Posted by Sue (New York) on 02/06/2011
To: 09/17/2007: Suzie from Huntington Beach, CA - You don't say if you did the ACV daily soak - or whether you took it orally. Which was it? And what was your formula either way? You were clear with the coconut oil, which I am grateful for! Great story!
Cut the Nail Down
Posted by J. Riley (Honolulu, Hawaii) on 04/30/2007
★★★★★
I had nail fungus on most of my nails-over half of them. I had a problem years ago with only the thumb nail. This time it was really bad-I'd had artificial nails and I neglected them. When they were removed, my nails were absolutely gone-paper thin with fungus. After removal this continued to spread lower and lower. Over half of my nails had extensive fungus--apparent by the unattached white colored nails. Some were almost unattached all the way down to the "moon". From my other incident years ago I learned there is NO cure other than to cut away COMPLETELY ANY and ALL nail that isn't attached (debriding). I messed around with a thumbnail for over 2 years. Attended a doctor who game me Rx and told me to keep my nail dry-nearly impossible. Finally I got fed up and cut down the thumbnail all the way as far as I could. Knowing this, this time I cut back my nails completly all the way down as far as possible. This involved over half of most of them. Kind of hard on the eyes, but why screw around with all these liver damaging drugs, and soaking, and failures. Amazing! I marked the calendar: by the time 4 weeks had passed all of my nails had reached the point of where the natural quick is--except the 2 thumbnails-they're alot slower! It's been 6 weeks since I trimmed them all the way back. I did have to invest in some special clippers-"cuticle trimmers". Otherwise it would have been impossible to get rid of all the "white"with regular nail clippers. The clippers are about $14.00. Much better than Dr. bills, Rx's soaks, salves; Also much better than fooling around for weeks, months, and years. Generally for me, the smaller the nail, the faster the recovery. I would like to thank the manicurist on this site for her imput. She has been a manicurist for 19 years and her advice includes using clear iodine on your nails. This, she says makes the nails grow fast. I have a slow thyroid so the iodine thing is very intesting to me. The best part aobut ths whole thing is: Not only did my nails fill back in quickly, but now they are the strongest I've ever seen them! Almost every night I put the clear ("blanco") iodine on them. I'm not a doctor, but I would NEVER take any prescription drug that would damage the liver. That to me is unconsiousable. I am not a doctor and cannot advise others. All I wish to do is share how quickly this worked for me and how strong my nails are now! I'm very grateful!
