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.
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?
Sea Salt
Posted by Daisy (USA) on 11/23/2006
★★★★★
You can go to any Whole Foods Store and buy Himalayan Salt, like I did. It works! Bleach and Vicks are not natural remedies. Please do not do these remedies you will harm your liver and kidneys not to mention bleach is also a skin irritant. Read the warning labels and you will see that they are completely toxic. Rule of thumb, if you can't eat it don't put it on your skin. Also, Monostat is not a natural remedy either. It is a fungicide. After a while it will not work. Your fungus will grow immune and will need stronger stuff. You can create a super fungus that can eat your skin away. Don't do it.
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Posted by Danette (San Jose, California) on 04/23/2007
★★★☆☆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?
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Posted by Suzanne (San Jose, CA) on 04/21/2007
★★★★★
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.
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Posted by Maddi (USA) on 12/28/2006
★★★★★
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.
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Posted by AJ (Los Angeles, CA) on 01/09/2007
★★★★★
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
Posted by Joan (Stony Brook, US) on 03/24/2007
★★★★★
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.
Lemongrass Essential Oil
Posted by Melissa (Staten Island, New York) on 04/25/2007
★★★★★
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.
Natural Mineral Springs
Posted by Jim (San Matero, CA) on 01/24/2007
★★★★★
Best cure I found for toenail fungus was camping on a river with a very hot natural mineral Springs that I walked in each day cured fungus I had been trying to cure for a year with over the counter. My Dr. says do not use the prescription on tv for any reason as only works on 60%, and causes liver damage in about 1/4 of healthy individuals using the products...said it was very risky even with blood tests.
Rubbing Alcohol
Posted by Rebecca (Victoria, BC, Canada) on 03/15/2007
★★★★★
I had a severe fungal infection under my big toenail. My doctor prescribed antibiotics that I would need to take for a year (lamisil?); this drug had a risk of serious side effects and also required completely giving up drinking alcohol for a year! Before taking the antibiotic, I decided to try just applying rubbing alcohol (50% alcohol readily available and cheap at any pharmacy) twice a day.
I put the alcohol in an eye-dropper and was careful to get as much under the nail as possible; I also cleaned out dead skin if necessary. I did this twice a day, and also at any time when my feet got wet. I saw progress very soon, and the fungus was completely clear in 6 months. I did not lose the nail as had been predicted. I did not change my diet, stop drinking, or take any special supplements - just the external rubbing alcohol directly on/under the infected toenail.
Worth a try for a month; if you are diligent you will see progress and this has to be the cheapest, easiest way to handle the problem.
Cornmeal
Posted by Ellen (Redwood Shores, California) on 03/26/2007
★★★★☆
To Allen regarding Cornmeal: For several months last summer, I used the same cornmeal treatment. I made progress and got lazy. I probably used it about 10 times. 7-10 days apart. Now I am doing it once again. I started a month ago and have used it 3 times. My toenails never fell off. You used it only 3 times??? I have a 35 year old infection. I do know it works, it's just keeping up with the weekly soaks-- it takes so much time!
Cornmeal
Posted by Allen (Fort Worth, Texas) on 03/24/2007
★★★★★
Toe nail fungus that I experienced was cured by soaking my feet in a yellow cormeal solution. you need a footbath and a small bag of yellow corn meal. Empty bag into footbath and add enough water to cover cornmel. Let cornmeal soak for i hour. after one hour add about one and a half inches of water and soak your feet for two hours..I had yellow nails and nails fell off with fungus. I was cured after three treatments two weeks apart..good luck
Alkalize
Posted by John (Perth, Australia) on 02/08/2007
★★★★★
I think that alkalizing had the biggest affect on curing my nail fungus. I undertook a number of means to alkalize. That included virgin coconut oil, olive leaf extract, alkalized water, alkaline foods, zeolite, heavy metal detox, etc. I also found that wearing a poultice of zeolite powder and cayenne pepper also has good healing properties. I would often soak my feed in zeolite and acidic water. And after I put my socks on, I would soak some coconut oil and essential oils into the sock just above the nail. But I think the ultimate cause is being too acidic (I had candida too). I have now raised my pH to over 7.0 - up from less than 5.0 a few months ago. My ORP has changed from -ve 20 mV to close to -ve 200 mV. From what I have read, fungus can't exist in an alkaline body.
Garlic
Posted by Sharon (Chicago, Illinois, USA) on 07/06/2007
★★★★★
To treat my tonenail fungus, I followed J. Riley from Honolulu's advice to first trim back all the dead nail with a cuticle trimmer. Then I applied fresh garlic (I read recently that it has antifungal qualities). I chopped the garlic finely and added a little coarse salt to help grind it into a paste. Sensation is returning and all the skin appears to be tightening up and becoming healthy. The chopped garlic keeps well covered in the refrigerator and I apply it once or twice daily when I can walk around barefoot for an hour or two.
