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.
Iodine
Posted by Brenda (Bear, DE) on 01/18/2006
★★★★★
Iodine is excellent for toenail fungus, ringworm, fever blisters, moles and skin tags, hangnails, etc. Just a few drops on a q-tip is all it takes. Use daily until the "boo-boo" is gone.
Iodine
Posted by Marilyn (Grand Rapids, MI) on 02/26/2007
★★★★★
I have recommended white or clear iodine for 23 years for the treatment of nail fungus. Iodine increases nail growth while treating the fungus at the same time. Adding a few drops of vitamin e along with the iodine to the underside of the nail is helpful in keeping the area from becoming too dry. Iodine can be used on healthy nails to increase growth. In that case I wouldn't apply more than once a week.Until recently colorless iodine was hard to find in Michigan. There are expensive over the counter treatments for nail fungus which usually don't work.If purchasing these check the label to see if iodine is an ingredient.prescriptions for nail fungus,(lamisil) can be damaging to the liver and it's very expensive, often not covered by insurance. It usually takes 6 months and lots of blood work to have a healthy nail back. Try the iodine first! marilyn-the digithelper-manicurist
Iodine
Posted by Laurie (East MeadowN, New York) on 04/25/2007
★★★★★
decolorized iodine has cured a fungus I Had under my nails. It works wonders, but it is very hard to find
Vicks
Posted by Eric (Houston) on 10/10/2006
★☆☆☆☆
Vics = nothing, but bleach toenail fungus if it could penetrate the nail (See below). I have fungus -- 3 toes on one foot, and two on another and I tried the vapor rub fairly diligently with no success for several months. I gave up and wasn't putting anything on it for a while then the big toe nail got bumped on a couch and came completely off, so I tried some bleach on all toes for several months. The big toe is about 80% grown in looking healthy, while the others nails don't look any better. I concluded that the bleach absolutely works, but doesn't penetrate the nails well. So I think the next step will be to file off as much of the other nails as I possibly can and see what that does.
Vicks
Posted by Don (Lakeland, FL) on 01/13/2008
★☆☆☆☆
Vicks on finernail fungus. About a year ago I shoved a wooden splinter up my left index finger, about 1/2 way down. It never healed and my wife thought I had a fungus under it. I read that Vicks would cure this. Here's what I did, which didn't work!! I bought finger cots, put Vicks in it and rolled it onto the index finger every night for the last couple of months. It didn't change anything with respect to the nail growth or fungus removal. I'm going to try your vinegar/hydro peroxide treatment. I clipped my nail 1/2 way down, getting rid of most all of the fungus part of the nail.
Vicks
Posted by Becky (San Diego, CA) on 11/15/2006
My Dr. (at a very well know medical organization), he asked that I not tell anyone that he told me to try this instead of the prescription he could have given. Apparently the prescription stuff takes just as long to work approx. 3mos and cost a lot more and has bad side effects on other organs in your body. The Vicks Vapor Rub every night before bed rubbed on toes, covered with socks and WOW! What a find... Renewed my faith in my Doctor as well.
EC: We have long suspected that many of these emails are from the manufacturer (or their PR firm). We post them here for your reading enjoyment.
Cinnamon Oil
Posted by Amanda (Vernon, BC) on 09/01/2006
★★★★★
I had read somewhere that fungus could not grow in the presence of cinnamon oil (found in any aromatherapy store), so instead of going to the doctor for an expensive and harmful prescription I decided to try it. I applied it to the cuticle of my nail morning and night and the nail grew out perfectly healthy. My mom had the same problem and when she saw my results she decided to try it too and got the same results.
Garlic
Posted by GG (Houston, TX) on 01/14/2007
★★★★★
I've cured toenail fungus with pure garlic oil, also i take it internally to kill fungus inside which the fungus does start inside plus it has so many other cures, But also I want to note that toenail and foot fungus is from your bath tub and getting pedicures and wearing items that are used, it is contagious! Just wanted to share... thanx guys love the website.
Honey and Garlic
Posted by Nadine (NY) on 09/01/2006
★★★★★
i read this in a book at the health store so i tried it take honey and garlic use them alternately on your toenail. start out with either honey or garlic and put it on your toenail and bandage the next time you change the bandage put the opposite on so if you start with garlic, the next time put just the honey and keep alternating it till the fungus is gone. do not mix the honey and garlic together. yes the honey is a little gooey, but it has some very nice properties in it that work.
Bleach
Posted by Eric (Houston) on 10/10/2006
★★★★★
Vics = nothing, but bleach toenail fungus if it could penetrate the nail (See below). I have fungus -- 3 toes on one foot, and two on another and I tried the vapor rub fairly diligently with no success for several months. I gave up and wasn't putting anything on it for a while then the big toe nail got bumped on a couch and came completely off, so I tried some bleach on all toes for several months. The big toe is about 80% grown in looking healthy, while the others nails don't look any better. I concluded that the bleach absolutely works, but doesn't penetrate the nails well. So I think the next step will be to file off as much of the other nails as I possibly can and see what that does
Cayenne
Posted by Alice (Sierra Vista, AZ) on 12/11/2006
★★★★★
I was hoping Vince, or someone would explain the concentration of cayenne/salt/ and water. Not knowing, I made a paste where the cayenne and salt were approximately equal, and added enough water to make a paste. I pressed that beneath the nail as best as possible and rubbed it on the top. I have been using Store Brand mouthwash which is identical to Listerine, for the past 3-4 weeks. This has made a huge and fast improvement in my toenails, almost immediately. It was amazing! But I wanted to know more about the cayenne, because I have learned a remedy can be way way way better than I might have imagined! Plus I did not want to give the fungus any opportunity to become resistant to one treatment or the other.
Cayenne
Posted by Vince (Philadelphia, PA) on 09/21/2006
★★★★★
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
Cayenne
Posted by Thomas (Los Angeles, CA) on 06/17/2007
★★★★★
Guaranteed to clear nail fungus a lot faster than other methods. Mix cayenne pepper with water and spread on THICK like paste. Pull on socks without disturbing paste. Will clear nails in 4 - 7 weeks.
Mouthwash
Posted by Willard (Wapwallopen, PA) on 11/19/2006
★★★★★
I have been using Listerine on toe nails with good results. I tried many other things for the fungus. It is going to side 3/4 of fungus is gone now It be all gone but forget to put on every day. I would like people to try it and would like to know if it helped anyone else. Both of my big toe nails are 3/4 clear from the side not from the bottom.
Mouthwash
Posted by Charlette (Plano, TX) on 11/16/2006
★★★★★
Soak feet once a week in an antibacterial wash. Found cure on Diva's Home Remedies. I purchased a large cheap bottle of mouthwash mixed half with water in foot tub. After a couple of weeks the fungus will disappear. Do not purchase dark colored mouthwash as this puts a tinted color on skin. I'm sure if you had a fingernail fungus you can put mouthwash in a cup and soak finger once a week and be cured.
Mouthwash
Posted by Alice (Sierra Vista, AZ) on 12/07/2006
★★★★★
I have used vinegar and monostat plus a wide range of expensive over the counter "cures" for toenail fungus. I'm thinking of using the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Most of these things "sort of worked" but only mildly and slowly. I'd get a patch of clear nail at the base, and a lessening of the under-nail build up, only to have the fungus rush in and take over the whole nail again if I missed any treatments. I used Listerine-type mouthwash only by accident, because both big toes and one smaller toe became infected and I was too poor to visit the doctor. I was only hoping to control the infection long enough to be able to get medical help. Imagine my amazement when I found not only the infection cured in just a day or so, but also the fungus problem both in the nail and beneath the nail make dramatic improvements. I am angry because the medical establishment should be aware of this and other cures which are readily available to the public at a cost which almost every person in this nation CAN afford. I am angry because I would not have had the nail fungus get to the point it has, except due to the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry, I have been deliberately led to believe nail fungus was almost impossible to cure, and therefore any "home remedies" would have next to no effect in curing fungus, so I did not even try try until I accidentally got monostat on a "mole" and saw it instantly begin to "cure" the mole. I reasoned it might also help fungus. It did help, but nothing like the dramatic effect I've had with the mouthwash. Because of the misleading by our medical and pharmaceutical industry, I thought the progress I saw was the best I could hope for. The medical and pharmaceutical industry expect and demand to be paid immense amounts of money, so they can live like kings. To do this they apparently are either willing to lie or at best incredibly negligent, at a huge cost to the rest of us, in life and in health, as well as in money. My mother died with feet so badly infected with fungus and the subsequent infection, it was horrible. Had she known she could have cured the fungus problem with something as cheap and simple as mouthwash, she might be alive today. I know she believed toenail fungus to be extremely difficult or impossible to cure. It would have been nice to cure mine before my big toenail was totally destroyed. I'm hoping it will come back, but at least I have a real CURE. Plus I bet the other cures given here will also work. Meanwhile doctors collect vast sums of money to give people pills which destroy livers and cost a fortune. When they could simply advise them to use mouthwash! Isn't that what quacks are supposed to be guilty of?
