Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus: Home Treatments

Garlic

Posted by Donris (Gretna, Louisiana) on 04/16/2018
★★★★★

I had read on Facebook, a cure which is fantastic. You mince or press one garlic toe, to 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. You mix well & apply to clean feet. Be sure to put under toe nail & cover down to toe bed. Try to use the whole mixture. Then wrap the entire toes in Handi Wrap. Be sure the toes are cover tight. Then wrap with heavy foil around the toes, be sure to cover all the Handi Wrap to about almost have the foot. I use duct tape to keep it nice & tight. Then put on a loose socks & then a tight pair second over the foot. This will create heat. Leave on for 24 hr. Then remove & dig under the toe nail & clean it up. You will be in shock how much it loosed up. Then if possible do a second day again. During the breaks soak feet in Organic raw apple cider vinegar with (The Mother). Put about1/2 a cup of the vinegar. Then warm water to cover all the toes. Soak for at least 1/2 an hour. Like to watch T.V. Later on after shower, spray toes with a straight vinegar & air dry. really easy you only have to do the garlic treatment for extra boots. It won't take long to see a huge difference. I promise you will love the results.

Application Hints

Posted by Toe (New York ) on 04/30/2017
★★★★★

For fungus, Press'n Seal is absolutely great to wrap a toe with for during the day or a bedtime. You will be sealing it from the air. But, whatever you apply it will still be there twelve hours later. Just a 4 inch by 6 inch piece.

Hydrogen Peroxide, Iodine

Posted by Paul (Tulsa, Ok) on 01/17/2014
★★★★★

I found the best way to cure nail fungus:

1) start by trimming your nails back and filing

2) pour hydrogen peroxide over the infected area and tiny bubbles will start appearing

3) wait a minute or two for the hydrogen peroxide to start working, then put iodine on the nails and under the nails. The peroxide will pull the iodine under the nails and kill all fungus.

4) after 5 minutes or so wash your feet and nails with antibacterial soap.

Afterwards, my nails never felt good or looked this good. It was almost instantaneous.

Paul

Castor Oil

Posted by Gregory (Dfw, Tx) on 05/17/2012
★★★★★

For nail fungus, smother it out with cold pressed castor oil (just protect your linens and clothes, it can turn them yellow. Very large bandaids work to sleep in.

I have used this for everything from lacerations, dog bites - dog to dog, dog to human, face discolorations, interal for immune boosting, cosmetic oil, etc. Palma Di Christi is another name for it. Bacteria and fungus cannot grow in it because it is so viscous. And it's soothing.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Anthony (Albuquerque, New Mexico, Usa) on 12/10/2012
★★★★★

Tip: If you warm the hydrogen peroxide it will be more effective. Warming it allows the the skin to expand and absorb it better, especially if the fungus infection is in the root of the nail. Do not overheat hydrogen peroxide when warming, cause you might burn your skin.

3% hydrogen peroxide does work, but the big toe will take more soakings than the smaller ones. Do not use if you have cuts on skin as the peroxide will burn the skin. A mix of 2 parts 3% hydrogen peroxide to one part water also works.

Distilled Vinegar

Posted by Marilyn (Buena Park, CA) on 12/21/2008
★★★★★

Vinegar soaks (two hours) for nail fungus : I tried soaking my toenails in vinegar and water 50:50 for fifteen minutes at a time after a shower and nothing seemed to be happening. One day while sitting at my computer I decided to soak then rather than take time to soak when I was ready for bed. Two hours went by before I remembered I was soaking my feet, and they were all "pruny". I did it for two hours again two more times in that week, but not on consecutive days, and never again. It has now been about three months, and I now have about 1/8 inch of normal nail growing in. If fifteen minute soaks aren't working, try two-hour soaks! I only did it those three days. Who knows? It may take only one two-hour soak! I don't think the kind of vinegar matters. It's the acid in vinegar that destroys the fungus and all store vinegar is about the same.

Cayenne

Posted by Vince (Philadelphia, PA) on 09/21/2006
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I cured the fungus by applying cayenne in salt water under the nail. I applied it and cleared any dead skin, and applied it again. working it under. I only applied it once, and it hasn't been back in 3 yrs. VF

All I do is mix a little cayenne with salt in water. Maybe 1/8tsp of each in about 3oz, and just soak the nail or skin for athlete's foot. For nail fungus I try to clean out any debris and reapply it, to make sure it gets in. I only had to treat mine once. I have a thumbnail that looks like it is separating in one spot. Maybe I caused it by cleaning my nails with a penknife a few times, but I treated it anyway. VF

Fenbendazole

Posted by Tyler (Canada) on 02/23/2024
★★★★★

For the toe nail fungus. Use fenbendazole with a drop or two of Liquid dmso. You don't have to overdo it. Just rub this around and under the nail and a little on the toe. Put a little on the other nails too for good measure. Fenbendazole in the tube found at feed lots and typically given to horses is what I used. One tube should do the trick. Just a little bit twice a day till it clears up. I usually put a drop on a q tip of dmso then a pinch of the fenbendazole paste and rub it around.

Iodine

Posted by Rae (Pasadena, CA) on 01/26/2021
★★★★★

I tried many remedies, for my nail fungus (both thumbs and an index finger) but what actually worked was filing down the nails with fungus (about once a week) and then putting a layer of decolorized iodine on my nails followed by a bit of petroleum jelly to moisturize.

I did this every night before bed until the nails grew out a beautiful pink color. I'm so happy to get my nails back! And this remedy is do cheap!

Bentonite Clay + Vaseline

Posted by Gary (Kitchener On) on 07/20/2020
★★★★★

Hi, I had toe nail fungus, mixed 50 - 50 Bentonite Clay & regular vaseline to make a paste.

Applied daily and once or twice a week. I also put 1/2 cup of baking soda in a foot bath to soak 20 minutes and found it was gone in 2 weeks..

Hope this helps.

DIY Hand Sanitizer

Posted by Redj (Cuba) on 07/23/2020

An update:

I have switched my application method to using a finger cot (cut a finger off a disposable glove to achieve the same thing) and a piece of cotton wool soaked in 0.1% Benzalkonium Chloride.

I apply the soaked cotton wool to my infected toenail, put the cot over my toe, and leave it for somewhere between 1-4 hours depending on what I'm doing and how forgetful I am on the day. (Even 1 hour is probably overkill if I'm being completely honest.)

This works really well to get the solution to soak right through the nail, I have been having good success with only one application a day, and the only caveat is this:

I no longer use crushed aspirin because that caused some minor irritation to my nail bed but it's unnecessary anyway as I am definitely getting a thorough application penetrating right through my nail this way. (Likewise, there is no need for soap as the solution has nowhere to run off to.)

I would recommend this new application method wholeheartedly.

I reuse the cotton wool and the finger cot until they look bad, then I replace them. I have little concern about reinfecting my nail by doing this because both get absolutely soaked in the solution which kills the fungus so I don't see it being a problem however if you are not seeing progress you should switch over to a strip of tissue folded up appropriately before soaking and applying and then disposing of it after each application, and likewise for the finger cot. (This is where cutting a finger off a disposable glove would be ideal because you will get 5 day's application from a single glove so it will be quite economical this way.)

How to Self-Test for Internal Fungus

Posted by Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 11/06/2017

HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN,,,,,,,, as all know ISJS. Anyways, on reflecting how the sight of my fungus shook me, I think you can test yourself at home.

Take two Q tips and swab one side of your mouth and the other side with the second Q tip. Store in a sterile glass jar and observe weekly for a month. If you have growth, the amount should tell you how severe your problem is. If you have no growth, I don't think you can say that you have no fungus. I am going to use the technique to ascertain my treatment progress.

My natural doctor told me the VF of my fungus and I was not impressed, but when he showed me the growth on my two swabs, it scared my mule. I think the visual result will tell you something too.

======ORH======

Macadamia Nut Oil

Posted by William (New York, New York ) on 08/13/2023
★★★★★

My toenail, also, dropped off on left big toe and right peeled off like butter. I'm looking at very much healthier and getting better toes.

Hydrogen Peroxide, Tea Tree Oil

Posted by Jen (Or) on 05/14/2016
★★★★★

3% Hydrogen Peroxide OTC + a cuticle pusher + Tea Tree essential oil = MEANINGFUL RESULTS are in, FINALLY! (*after 20+ years of struggling with embarrassing black toe nails) Blessings and peace to everyone. This is my first post. I am sharing with you guys and gals (my fellow sufferers) what has finally made a difference in my 25+ year struggle with black striped toe nails. I have posted a photo of the stripes (now only on my right pinky toe) that have "haunted" me ever since my tween years (I am 41 now).

Like many of you, my unsightly, discolored and funkified toe nail issue has been part of my identity for far longer than I would like to remember. To make matters worse, I wore toe nail polish to hide behind. For most of the time. Until the past couple of years. I finally had had enough of the ordeal. Or I got lazy. Or got smart. Who knows. With few exceptions (e.g., occasional sandal wear), I started going barefoot natural. I had tried many of the popular remedies, including 70% Isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar, apple cider (ACV), OTC fungus targeting oils and creams, essential oils like oregano and tea tree... even household disinfectant bleach solution for mold and mildew (not my wisest or safest decision ever made, so not recommending you try this one). Until one day. One day it dawned on me that I might combine two approaches combined - the everyday household 3% hydrogen peroxide plus diligent nail hygiene using this one beauty product tool my niece gave to me years ago: a professional quality heavy duty cuticle pusher.

Technique: 1. Use the cuticle tool!

*When my toenails were still soft from my bath/shower, or even many times when I was in the process of taking my bath/shower, I would push my cuticles back and scrape away any excess skin surrounding the nail bed. I always exercised extreme caution bc it was all too easy to get carried away (thus, accidentally scraping so deeply that my toe nail would start to bleed). I read in another person's post about sanding the top layers of the nail bed to get rid of the fungus stuff. I think this is the same type of idea, only I used a professional manicurists tool.

2. Spray the 3% hydrogen peroxide onto the effected nails and let dry without ever rinsing it off.

*I discovered a small spray bottle version of the peroxide that cost like $2 at the supermarket. This helped with aseptic technique, plus was just downright quicker than unscrewing a cap and having to fiddle with a qtip or cotton ball or the like. 3. Apply an essential oil (appropriate to my particular pathogen blasting plan) onto the sprayed nail(s). I tried a few different ones, but ended up settling on tea tree (or melaleuca) because of its multi purpose fullness.

*I repeated this as often as I could remember to, like whenever I showered. Three? Four? Five times per week? (though ideally would have been daily, even if it meant foot bathing on non shower days, since this probably would have speeded up the results, I would imagine). Last year at least 4 other nails (in addition to my pinky toe seen in the photos) were partially black, if I remember correctly. Now my only discolored nail of concern is that right pinky toe (which was always the worst, though my left pinky toe was about as bad).

Please don't give up, everyone. Have hope!

Listerine

Posted by Jolene (San Diego, Ca) on 03/19/2013

My husband been suffering with embarrassment from disfigured thick distorted fungal nails for over ten years even though he faithfully applies over the counter creams every night with no results. We came across this post two days ago as a final attempt to treat it before resorting to dangerous oral medication. After reading your encouraging posts we hurried to the drug store to get supplies and try listerine and vicks for fungus ourselves. We took a nail file and filed down the thickest parts of the toenails to make it smoother and thin as possible then filled two Sandwhich baggies with a little bit of the yellow listerine and submerged his toes in it. We duct taped the bags to his feet so they can stay soaked during the duration of a movie. Took them off and let them airdry. For good measure we rubbed Vicks vapor rub in all the nails applied with q-tips before going to bed. To our disbelief the nails showed significant clarity to them the next morning!!!! Day 2 we repeated the above and saw even more improvement! His worse nails (the big toe ones) are about 70% clearer. We are on just our third day now and really excited to continue the treatment until he has clear nails. I'm too excited after the results of just two days that I had to share now! I hope everyone else will see results that we are experiencing. Thank you earth clinic for an amazing website and to everyone who shares!!!

Sugar-Free Diet

Posted by Tee (Chicago, Il, Usa) on 09/25/2012
★★★★★

I had fungus in one of my big toes for about 15 years. During that time I tried strict regimens of both OTC and prescribed topical medications, as well as tea tree oil. Had the nail removed twice so I could get whatever medication onto the infection site, which was at the base of the nail.

Twice the infection appreared to be gone, but later my heart sank as I saw the fungus returning.

Finally I ended up getting a prescription for an antifungal to be taken orally for 90 days. Expensive stuff, about $1000 USD. It did the trick... for three months! I decided to go it again. I got a second prescription, same stuff, thinking it might finish off the fungus 100% this time since it was a smaller infection than the first time. Well it worked... For three years. When I saw the infection returning, I almost cried.

I got online and started searching madly for causes of the fungus. That's when I first learned of the concept of candida, and intuitively felt there was something to it for me. I adhered to a strict diet (Google Candida diet), most importantly NO SUGAR. Worked like a charm; I saw results with my toe in a couple of months.

Over the following ten years fungus reappeared three more times... But at the top of the toenail, whereas before it was the base of the nail. The good news about that was that now I could get a topical medication to it without removing my nail.

The medication I used was bleach. I used the bleach pen, applying a line of it twice a day under the toenail. All three times this killed the fungus within a week. I realize this would not be a popular remedy with naturalists, but stubborn infections call for desperate measures.

Everytime it had appeared I had realized my sugar consumption had gradually increased over time, resulting in another fungus outbreak. So along with the bleach, I also cut out sugar during the treatment phase.

Finally I accepted that I am more sensitive to sugar than most people, and adopted a low sugar diet as a lifestyle.

I have been fungi-free for four years now! My toenail looks normal, as if it had never suffered 15 years of infection.

Hang in there! You have no choice but to be patient with the process, and you too will soon be fungi-free.

Apple Cider Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Tammy (London, Uk) on 05/31/2012
★★★★★

I have had left big toe nail fungus for over 20 years and not keen on surgery I soldiered on. While browsing through the posts I cam across the ACV with the 'mother' and hydrogen peroxide (I had 6% in the house diluted it to 3%). Soaked the toe for three days while trimming and filing afterwards. 3/4 of this very thick unsightly nail just amazingly painlessly came off after all these years. I am mighty ecstatic cant stop looking at my, emerging new nail will continue to soak and file until the whole nail is pink and healthy.

Thank you All for the very helpful contributions, there make a big and cheap difference in enhancing we stay health and keep up the good work. I feel blessed since the day I stumbled on to this site.

Distilled Vinegar, Borax Soak

Posted by Chiangmaisue (Chiang Mai, Thailand) on 03/08/2012
★★★★★

I wanted to share something that has worked great for my toenail fungus. I tried many remedies that helped but just didn't seem to be making a real dent in the problem. Then I read of one lady who after years of fighting the same problem, used a solution of distilled white vinegar and borax 10 minutes a day. I tried it and I am amazed at the results. I put about 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar in a narrow rectangular plastic food storage-type container, then put about 1-2 T borax into it. I heated the mixture up so it was quite warm, laid the container on a rolled small towel at an angle so that the liquid was gathered at the bottom and would cover my toes when I placed my foot in it. I soaked my toes in it 1-2 times a day, for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. For me, this solution brought the fastest and most dramatic results. I will continue using it for awhile to be sure the fungus is taken care of. I also have done other things to help, like keeping my toes aired out, dry, used a topical antifungal solution at night, etc. I also gently filed the nail surface a couple of times to help the solution soak in.

I don't think there is a need for exact measurements of the vinegar and borax - just as long as you have a good solution of both ingredients. The lady of whom I read used a plastic tray and put enough vinegar in it to cover her feet, and used 2 t. Of borax, and she got great results. I hope this will help someone out there.

Iodine

Posted by Westsound (Vancouver, Bc) on 12/18/2011
★★★★★

Hi, haven't been here for awhile but really want to share my new success story of battling toenail fungus. I have fungus on both feet, especially bad for the big toes. I believe I got that from a damaged toenail. Have tried everything non-precription for the last 6 years - alcohol, bleach, soaking in apple cider vineger, hydrogen peroxide etc. but to no avail. In July 2011 I tried decolourized iodine. I had a hard time finding it, but finally found it in CVS when I was in Chicago. I stocked up a few. I wipe all my toenails with a cotton pad soak with that, once morning and once at night, and put Vicks on it afterwards. That's all. The bad nails are shedding and showing new nails.

Finally, after so many years I see the light of getting new healthy nails. I will continue this routine for a few more months until the new nails are all strong and healthy. I should be able to wear sandles next summer. Using Vicks is important because without it my nails have these white spots, brittle and weak. I believe iodine is quite harsh for nails and strips them dry. Good luck. :)