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.
Vicks
Posted by Suzy (Hemel, Hempstead ) on 01/02/2018
★★★★★
My daughter had nail fungus on her toes. The doctors said they don't describe it on prescription anymore for children so it was nearly £20 for a small tiny bottle that would last a month and would need more each month for 7/8 months Dr said.
I came on here and choose to give Vicks a go and within a couple of weeks of putting Vicks on each day it has totally cleared up, so a big saving. thank you :)
How to Self-Test for Internal Fungus
Posted by Robert Henry (Ten Mile , Tn) on 11/06/2017
HOLLY,,,,,,, you seal the sterile jar, so only your saliva is involved. That's the way my doctor does it.
======ORH======
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 2041 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.
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.
Iodine
Posted by Hippocrates (Odin, Missouri, USA) on 04/29/2012 9 posts
★★★★★
Hello all, Many years ago, I went to Hawaii. I walked on the beach barefoot, it was fun. I am unsure if this was the cause but, I came back home, and one toe nail started to get thick and brittle a few months later. It got so thick, toe nail clippers won't go over it to cut it, so I have to hack away at it to get it cut. The others have been totally unaffected.
One day, I decided to cut it, but then went outside and sanded it down to a slightly less-than-normal thickness out of frustration. I noticed that the outside looked normal-ish, but inside it was pithy, like old dead wood, small hollow pockets with brown streaks.
So, I mixed up some iodine I had, some hydrogen peroxide, and some 500 ppm colloidial silver. It was 60% iodine, 20% hydrogen peroxide, 20% colloidial silver. I would paint it on in the morning a few times so that it soaked in nicely, then put on a bandage over the nail or a "finger cot" (like a condom for your finger), then take it off in a few hours. Then, when I got home, I would paint it on several times again, but let it air dry.
The nail started to grow back normally from the base of it, but I moved and was unable to continue to the current living arrangement for a year. It reverted back to the old thick nail by the end.
I am now able to continue my earlier treatments, but didnt figure that you would want to wait a year or two to find out how it goes. It takes about a year for a nail ripped off to grow completely back in (dont ask me how I know ;), so if you do this, I would continue for 2 years to make sure that it was completely gone, then a periodic treatment, once a week or twice a month or so, to make sure that it doesnt come back. If it is thick, even possibly not, make sure to sand it down quite a bit, so that it can absorb down into the nail bed better, since nails arent the most porous of substances. The key is to get it into the nail, as if you put it on and then put on socks that absorb the liquid, it wont go into the nail. That is why I used something to keep the solution from drying out and not soaking in.
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!!
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.
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.
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!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Towanda (Philadelphia, PA) on 02/27/2007
★★★★★
My toenails were turning brown and was very dry to the point that the nail was lifting and chipping all over. It was disgusting. The doctor put me on Lamisil which had to be taken for up to two years and even then, you weren't guaranteed results. I stopped taking the Lamisil after about 6 months because I saw no results, and it could have possibly damaged my liver. I decided to try Peroxide. For the past month, after showering, I pour HP on my toes and let it dry. I then put Tea Tree Oil on my toenails. My nails are absolutely beautiful now. The brown is practically gone, the nail itself is healthy and smooth.
Iodine
Posted by Sachsesenior (Sachse, Tx, USA) on 08/27/2012
Liquid drugstore Iodine and grocery store clear ammonia are harmless when added together. Clear Iodine sold in drugstores is Ammonium Iodide, Potassium Iodide, and 45% alcohol. The fireworks compound referred to is made with products only available from chem-lab suppliers.
Adding ammonia to chlorine bleach is very dangerous as it releases chlorine gas which is very poisonous and regularly sends housewifes to emergency rooms.
I have tried white vinegar without luck and tea tree also without results. Now trying de-colored Iodine I got at a Walmart. Iodine is a potent bio-cide and would work if it can be delivered to the source of the fungus infection which is under the nail - that is why it is so hard to treat with topical solutions, the nail is hard to penetrate with any liquid.
Alkalize
Posted by Carol (Cambridge, Mn) on 07/14/2011
I have struggled with toenail fungus, but have suspected an underlying candida problem. I also would like to know how to check PH balance. Any other diet tips would be welcome, as well.
