Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus

After my immune system was lowered during recovery from surgery, a fungal infection took off in my big toenail. It started as a white mark and progressed into a nasty condition very quickly. I went to a foot doctor and he thought it was not recoverable and was getting ready to do some surgery. However, I opted first to try the medicated nail varnish. This didn't seem to do very much, so in addition to filing the surface of the nail to make it thinner and using the penlac, I started adding a few drops of lavendar oil on a fabric bandaid and would place this on my toenail every day. Very soon I could clearly see new nail starting to grow. This cured the problem! It took a long time, but the bandaid with lavendar oil was quick to do in the morning, and after the months it took for the nail to grow out, it worked and I now have a healthy toenail again :)

I have has toe nail fungus for about 4 years and it has now destroyed my toe nail on my left foot. I found a natural cure on the internet and have used it for about 3 weeks now. The cure involves adding 1 litter of water, 5 drops of lavender and half a cup of apple cider vinegar. I always soak my feet in this for about 45 minutes, each foot. After this, I put australian tee tree oil to all my nail three times a day, I also NEVER wear shoes around my house. I have noticed that this had decreased my nail growth. It also has cured the itch and softness of my feet, except for the nail fungus on my toe, my feet look great!!! This is a good cure but the main thing we need to have to cure this is PATIENCE!

I used lemongrass oil after beginning a probiotic a month earlier. The lemongrass oil killed the fungus and infected nails. I used it until it irritated the surrounding skin. Two months after taking the probiotics I can see new healthy nail growth at the cuticle, the old dead nails are like scabs. I expect the combination is the answer as I had an appendectomy in 1970 and the fungal symptoms started in the mid 1990's.

Two years ago I tried Lemongrass oil on my toe nail fungus and all it did was to make my nail color go black. It never worked. I had a black nail for months also the nail was curved due to the amount of fungus under the nail.

I finally got it to clear up by using Iodine and Castor Oil applied to the nail and over time the new nail grew in clear and the problem has not come back.

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!

Lemongrass Oil. Wow...Turned Black overnight. However, I am curious, do you keep applying 2x daily and just wait for it to grow out? I'm so happy that it looks like it's dying. It does mean it's dying when it turns black right? I've also adjusted my diet and included flaxseed-Oil and Evening Primose caplets and have been drinking 2 oz Unsweetned (not Sugar free but Knudsens sugar free) Cranberry juice diluted with water. 64 oz a day. I will take your advice Ted and begin to cleanse my bloodstream with the baking soda, Citric Acid and water mix. Just need this to be at least half way gone for Sandal season.

Better But With Side Effects

4/22/07 Maddi, I have been applying the lemongrass oil on my toe nail fungus for about a week now. Yes, it did change color over night, not quite black (mostly brown). When will I see a completely clear nail? I am assuming the nail with fungus has to grown out and be cut off. Is this correct? The nail at the base is white with a tinge of yellow. Any suggestions?

I used lemongrass oil for my toenail fungus. Obviously works but what do I do now? Do I apply daily? Is it better to use at night or is it ok to apply then wear shoes? Any help from successful users would be really appreciated.

I tried lemongrass on my toe fungus, and yes, it turned black overnight. My question is, what next? I used it full strength with no ill effect so far. Do I continue to use it, if so, how often and for how long? Thanks so much.

I have tried three application of lemongrass oil and I am making WONDERFUL progress. I have had serious to moderate toe nail infections for the past 3 years. Nothing I have tried has worked until now. I have applied lemongrass oil to all infected nails. The infected portion of each nail turn black within 24 hours of application. New nail that is healthy looking is just peeking in from the base and I am I very excited. I think this remedy with an essential oil will work for some. Also, the oil smells great!

LEMONGRASS ESSENTIAL OIL CURES TOE FUNGUS. RECOMMENDED BY MY NIECE WHO IS A PODIATRIST. BETTER STILL, MIX IT WITH TEATREE OIL AND DROPPER-APPLY INSIDE THE NAIL. ALSO SCORE THE TOP OF THE NAIL WITH EMERY BOARD AND APPLY DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE BASE OF THE NAIL. THE FUNGUS GOES BLACK IN MINUTES SO IT MUST BE WORKING.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Listerine mouth wash for nail fungus. Actually, I've used the store brand of Listerine and it works great for both nail fungus and athletes foot. Both my big toe nails had a fungus infection for many years. I tried everything, but nothing worked until I tried soaking in a Listerine type mouthwash. I soaked my feet in it for 1 hour, 3 days in a row and the ugly yellow fungus color was gone and hasn't returned for over 25 years. Good luck!

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.

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.

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!!