Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus & Thickened Nails

Vicks

Posted by Beth (Memphis, TN) on 03/05/2009
★☆☆☆☆

I've read through the nail fungus posts and have heard previously about Vick's working; however, I've been using it for quite a while now on my nail (big toe toenail) (applied at night before bed, put on a sock), and nothing is happening. My problem is that the fungus is at the base of my nail. How do I get to it?? It seems that a large portion of the nail is dead and detatched from the skin towards the top of the nail, so I'm hoping whatever I apply will soak through that opening. I don't think it's working, though. Should I try and cut away what looks like the dead portion of the nail and go from there? Will anything soak through the nail to get to the base?

Sea Salt

Posted by Antonious (West Cov, CALI USA) on 02/21/2009

how do you use it? would soaking the feet in water with salt work?

Grain Alcohol

Posted by Dara (Key Largo, Florida) on 02/12/2009
★★★★★

Fungus /Mold/ Skin Conditions: In regards to the fungus. I have tried grain alcohol (everclare) works great for internal and external fungus. If you have it on your nails, soak 2 times a day for 5 days for approx. 10 to 15 minutes. Gone! Do NOT have any open flames around the alcohol. Works great for jock itch as well. May sting a little. Grain alcohol kills parasites as well. Regular Isopropyl alcohol stimulates parasites to multiply they are called media-redia and ascaria. For more information get Dr. Hilda Clarks book on "Cure for all Cancers"

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.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Tom Winegar (Hakalau, HI) on 02/02/2009
★★★★★

hydrogen peroxide for toenail fungus -YEA

i tried Lamisil but it was too expensive.

i tried Vinegar, and it made the skin on my feet feel great (baby smooth), so no more foot fungus - but it didnt help my toenails.

I tried Vapor Rub but it was stinky and sticky and didnt work well, but maybe helped a bit.

Then i tried Hyrogen Peroxide. It worked! I went on daily foot baths with Hyrogen Peroxide and I am winning the fungus battle. I was diluting too much. Now I use straight 3% and soak as long as I can.

There is no increasing infection, there is only spreading PINK nail health. My 'good' nails look great. My bad nails are improving slowly.

I highly recommend Hydrogen Peroxide for toenail fungus.

I was so happy to find something that worked, the doctors had no good solution.

I want to have pink toenails by the time I am 50!

Vicks, Garlic

Posted by K.Lynn (Mt Healthy, Ohio) on 01/13/2009
★★★★★

Not too long ago I found a remedy for toenail fungus-storebrand vapo rub-. My whole toenail was black/purple and when I cut back the toenail as far as I could and squeezed the toe alot of pus came out at first. Then I put the vapo-rub (idea from this site) and the pus stopped, idid this every night and it slowly got lighter and smaller. But after parusing (spellugh) this site I decided to kick it up a notch and add crushed (in a bowl with a spoon) fresh garlic w/ vapo rub. I put it on my toenail(big glob) and wrapped it w/ loose gauze and first aid tape(hypoallergenic) the fungus was gone in 2 days! NEEDS FRESH APPLICATION EVERY NIGHT BEFORE BED. thankyou earthclinic, God Bless you.

Honey

Posted by Pineshi (Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada) on 01/07/2009
★★★★★

New Topic - For Toe Nail Fungus

I used honey to get rid of my toenail fungus that I had for two years. I tried Vicks, ACV and water washes and one day, I used unpasteurized honey just to be different. I had read that honey is antimicrobial, antifungal and antibacterial. My fungus was disappearing right away when I used honey. What I did was wash my feet every day with ACV water wash, hot and applied honey to toes and gauzed up with tape to keep covered for over time to keep from reinfecting self with shoes and socks. The skin and nail tissue was coming off in swathes and eventually the fungus has gone. I keep the wash and gauze for another few months until the nail is all grown in new again. I plan on microwaving the shoes to kill any fungus that might be alive there.

Unpasteurized honey has worked for me.

Cornmeal

Posted by Gina (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) on 12/30/2008
★★★★★

After trying for nearly three years to get rid of a fungus on my toenails, using every home cure and even prescriptions, I read an article in a gardening magazine. Cornmeal cures fungus on your rose garden. Why not use it to cure fungus elsewhere? I sprinkled cornmeal on a wet toenail a few times per week and left it caked on the nail for a while and just walked carefully, barefooted, before wiping it off. It totally cured it. The nail is strong and clear. WooHoo!

Iodine

Posted by Lee (Garland, Texas) on 12/26/2008

Amonia added to iodine will decolor it. It will also remove iodine stains from surfaces etc.

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!!

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Richard (Santa Ana, California) on 11/21/2008

WARNING! I tried using the Dremel tool on my thick odd looking toe nail (didn't realize it was a fungus problem). In doing so I released the fungus in a cloud of dust while grinding away at the toe nail. Within a week I had the problem in every toe and in every finger nail! It's now been three years of trying all kinds of remedies without much success. I have learned that this is extremely contagious. It will jump from one finger/toe to another quickly. Do not use the same clippers, file, etc on more that one nail. Thanks for this site. I plan to try several new remedies that I have found here.

Lemongrass Essential Oil

Posted by Carolyn (Northwest, OH) on 11/14/2008
★☆☆☆☆

WARNING!

There seems to be a lot of confusion about using Lemongrass oil for nail fungus. I too decided to try it last summer. I had never used essential oils before and was ignorant about proper dilutions. I applied the oil straight out of the bottle to all my nails on both fingers and toes. I applied it twice a day for less than a month. Then I started to have a reaction: I got a very bad rash and had degloving of my fingertips. I was very discouraged because I saw my nails growing out healthy. I stopped that treatment and am now using a diluted blend of different oils (will report back if this new blend works--so far so good).

However, if you wish to try Lemongrass oil, here is how to Properly Dilute the Essential Oil:

Pick a carrier oil such as coconut or grapeseed oil. Measure out one ounce (30 mL) of your carrier oil and add 12 drops only of the essential oil. This will make a 2% dilution.

Never apply undiluted essential oils to the skin until you are sure you will not have a reaction. For nail fungus, it is common to continue applying the oil treatment until the nail is completely grown out: up to a year. So be sure you are not allergic to the oil before you commit to using it!

Vicks

Posted by Mercy (Woodland Hills, Ca) on 10/28/2008
★★★★★

I recently just googled to see what I can do to get rid of some toe nail fungus. I was using bleach and some over the counter cream and it was working slowly. But I made the mistake of getting a pedicure nad painting my toes. Well it just ran wild. So I saw that using vapor rub worked. So I bought a generic brand at Walmart...same active ingredients and I started using it day and night. I would apply it and put socks on for bed and in the morning right after my shower. I already see the difference. I cannot believe it. My feet are also becoming real smooth. So I let my mom know because she has it real bad too and we are both seeing a lot of improvement. the nail seems to already starting to grow out smooth. I wish more people knew about this so they could stop wasting their time buying expensive creams and medication. I have already been using it for over a week and I am already seeing the difference. I will see at the end of the one tub I bought if I really see any changes. I will keep you posted.

Listerine

Posted by Megan (Jacksonville, FL) on 10/24/2008
★★★★★

I tried soaking my feet in Listerine after seeing a posting about toe nail fungus. It not only works on toe nails, but will get rid of athlete's foot issues very quickly. And this is much easier than pressing onion, etc. I love this site! I found it looking for Ted's Mange Cure, which is fabulous. Thanks!

Listerine

Posted by Michelle Fitzpatrick (Jacksonville, Florida-USA) on 07/30/2008
★★★★★

I worked for a spa that used no harsh chemicals in their mani/pedi's. I learned that spraying listerine mouthwash on your feet will disinfect them. Keeps fungus away. I also learned that rubbing alchohol is a good and sanitary cleaner for your tub so you can prevent and kill fungus and bacteria from re-occuring.

p.s. Rubbing alchohol can be used all over house as cleaner & disinfectant!!

Iodine

Posted by Jedidah (Spring, TX) on 07/22/2008
0 out of 5 stars

I purchased decolorized iodine. It is clear out of the bottle but when it comes in contact with the skin it turns orange red immediately. It doesn't wash off and stays that way for days or weeks. I find that strange since the red colored iodine washes off very easily. Using it with Peroxide soaks and my skin around the nail is very dry and cracking and a little red. I'm going to keep using peroxide and not sure what else. There are so many ideas and opinions. In six weeks I have a trip to a lake resort area. Ikes!!!!!!!!!

EC: Not the colorless brand of iodine we use! It stays clear on the skin unless we've used peroxide first, in which case it does dye the skin orange for a while...

Garlic

Posted by AC (West Midlands, England) on 07/21/2008
★★★★★

I read a post on EC that said:
[YEA] Anonymous writes: "I had athletes foot badly between two of my toes. I taped a cut piece of garlic onto the wound in the morning and looked at it the afternoon, and the skin was totally healed and looked like new. I couldn't believe it!"

It took me a long time to follow this advice, but when I did, I took it a few steps further.

1. I took garlic cloves and cut them into smaller pieces lengthwise.
2. I stuck each of the smaller pieces between my toes: the ones that had fungus and even the ones that didn't.
3. I put plastic/non-PVC wrap over the top part of my feet.
4. Put on a pair of thin socks and then another pair of thick socks.
5. Went to sleep.
6. Woke up, took garlic out and washed feet.
7. Fungus between feet was reduced dramatically.

In addition to the fungus problem between my toes, I apparently had some sort of fungus problem with my small toe. My small toenail was hard and black. The blackness reduced significantly, maybe by 40 or 50% overnight.

I smelled the garlic very strongly as I was sleeping but my husband (who hates garlic and won't even touch me if I eat it) says he didn't smell it at all.

I hope this helps someone! Coconut oil has also helped.

Vicks

Posted by Brent (Pine City, Minnesota) on 07/19/2008
★★★★★

I have had toenail fungus for at least 15+ years on my big toe and the one next to it. I had heard that hydrogen peroxide would get rid of it. It did nothing for my toe fungus after using a bottle over a course of three months. I then heard from a couple friends that they cleared their fungus up with vicks vapor rub; so I tried it for two days and I can already see a dramatic improvement. You can get a generic brand also which is a lot cheaper. I bought a chest rub brand made by Target and I compared the active ingredients and percentages to Vicks and it was exactly the same mixture at a way cheaper price. It works great. I can't believe it took me so long to improve my toenails. I was always wearing socks with my sandals because I was so embarrassed of my fungus but not anymore.

Copper Sulfate Spray

Posted by Liz (Stuttgart, Germany) on 07/06/2008
★★★★★

i mix 40 ml of cider vinegar with 20 grams of copper sulphate into a one liter spray bottle..top with water and it makes the most effective wound spray i have ever used (been using on it on my horses for over 20 years) .. it works equally as well on skin conditions .. copper sulphate prevents proud flesh and kills all skin fungus.

EC: Copper Sulphate is used for its blue coloring in fireworks and paints.

List of sources:
Local plant supply shops
Ebay
Science Supply Shops

Alkalize

Posted by Rula (Los Angeles, California) on 06/01/2008

Hi John, I was wondering how you found out about your ph level and how to measure it, keep it in check, so forth. I have nail fungus on my big toe and am prone to candida as well. I've been trying a variety of cures for this and would like to be fungus free! Thanks, Rula