Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus

Two years ago, at the start of summer, the big toe of my left foot became red, swollen and began throbbing. It was so painful, and I had no idea what the deal was. Then I noticed the toenail was getting yellow, crusty and thick. About a week later the two next to it began doing the same thing. Along with the ugly, disfigured nails came the horrible throbbing pain.

I tried: bleach soaks, vinegar soaks, 4 OTC medicines, prescription penlac (that one helped one toe), peroxide, mouthwash, urine (pure desperation), powders, yeast infection medication, tea tree oil, rubbing alcohol, epsom salts and vicks vapor rub. The middle toe of the three got better. The fungus on the other two laughed and made my toes throb with pain to show me who was boss.

Then I read about laser treatment, but the cost was ridiculous and many people complained it didn't work. So, understanding light was what I really needed, I ordered 36 watt, UV nail light off Amazon for less than $30-the kind salons use to dry finger nail polish. When it arrived I filed my nails down with emery boards as much as possible. Two of the nails were already 3/4 gone. Every day while I was on the computer I put my foot in the nail light for 10 min. - 45 min. I didn't really have a schedule, just daily, whenever I remembered. Also, every time I bathed, I made sure to clip/dig out as much of the crumbly nail as I could.

Within a week the throbbing was gone. A month later my big toe is pink and half grown out, with no fungus, the toe that was getting better is pink and just a tad short, and the other toe is about 1/3 grown out, and also has no sign of fungus. And didn't even bother using any kind remedy after the first two weeks. The only drawback is my left foot has a nice tan, while my right is kind of pale. Now I make sure both feet take a turn under the nail light. Also, I go barefoot or wear sandals as much as possible to expose my feet to as much light as possible.

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 :)

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.

I had a nail fungus since 1971 and I was reading this page and found the salve. Vicks salve and yellow root. It's gone, all gone now. But I did something different. I cut a lot of strips of plastic bags out so they would be handy. Then when I would put the salve one my toe nail I'd wrap it with the plastic strip so it holds it on the nail and don't soak in the sock. Change it every morning. You can feel it working. Tingling. I tell all my friends about this page.

I started out using bleach in an effort to cure the fungus under my thumb finger nail about 6 months ago. I had very little results if any. Then, I got a list via my email for home cures and it listed VICKS as a cure for fungus under the nails.

I've been using it now for about a week, and my nail looks much better. I purchased some of those "finger ballons or condoms" at the pharmacy and put that on after applying the vicks. This keeps the vicks in place, and the finger dry.

My wife has had a toe nail fungus for over 40 years. She has tried several nail solution cures purchased over the internet including the prescription penlac. None of them worked.

Finally I accessed your web site and tried almost all the remedies you have posted including Ted's remedy, tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, full strength bleach painted on carefully, viniger soaks, etc. Along the way I noticed several observations: All of the above work to some extent because they provide a hostile enviroment for yeast and fungus and initially kill or appear to kill it. They also however kill the skin cells and all irritate the area under the nail and even inflame it after prolonged use and the fungus loves the weakened cells. Most also have water in them which the fungus and yeast love! Finally we settled on a cure which is neither acidic nor basic, which is not an irritant, and which has no water in it and which is on your list of cures and the fungus is gone on one foot and almost completely gone on the other, and the nails are clear and white. Vick's! Vicks! and more Vicks!

Sam's cure: Gob it on each toe at night and cover with a thin cotton half sock or footie. Before showering gob it on, dry and gob more on cover with a clean cotton sock. If time permits gob on during the day and change socks. Stop taking baths, shower only unless you can keep your foot out of the water and keep it gobbed with vicks. The idea is to keep water away from the toe nail and the vick's works the best. The camphor and lack of water will kill it and allow the toe nail to heal. It will take several months but it does work and it works the best. After 40 years it will finally be gone!

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?

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.

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.

Robert's Fungus Saga'-- Vicks Update

Part One: Feet

Q. Do the ingredients (camphor, eucalyptus, thymol, menthol) work?

A. I've applied the solution on my nails as well as to my entire foot to get rid of all the fungus that might eventually cause a reoccurrence. The results were obvious after 4-5 days: first, the athlete's foot symptoms between my toes rapidly got better and were healed in about a week. Then, at the seven-day point lots of skin started sloughing off all over my feet where the fungus was obviously in hiding -- including the heal callus. I was surprised to see so much sloughing of the skin around the base, sides and top of the toe nails -- this area apparently had been deeply affected by the fungus, but just looked like tough skin that I had become accustomed to expect. Within 2-3 weeks the unaffected new toe nails could be seen at the cuticle. Now, several months later, there is a clear line of demarcation between the old fungal nail, and the new clear nail. I expect that it will be 3-4 more months before all the old nail has grown out and gone.

Q. Is the formulation the right one?

A. After much research and playing kitchen chemist, I learned that coconut oil is a good anti-fungal as well as a great emollient. DMSO doesn't need to be at 25% concentration. 10-15% is sufficient. Oregano Oil is composed of Thymol and University of Western Australia research proved tea tree oil's anti-fungal capability, so I added it as well. The essential oil amounts are at least or a little more than what bio-chemists call the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). The formulation I like and use now is:

Revised Formula
1 part Menthol oil
1 part Thymol oil or Oregano oil
1 part Camphor oil
1 part Lemon Eucalyptus oil
2 parts Tea Tree Oil
2 parts DMSO
12 parts Virgin Coconut Oil

There is probably a synergistic (i.e. harmonious working together) effect of anti-fungal herbs, which has been demonstrated in several studies. In one test of ten plant species whose oils were anti-fungal, researchers noted that "combinations of the anti-fungal essential oils increased their activity remarkably." In a similar study, researchers stated that "in all the oil combinations, the anti-fungal potency was found to increase over individual oils."

Part Two: Adult "Acne"

This is where the "saga" starts to get interesting. After my adolescent acne should have cleared up 35 years ago, it got slowly worse. All over the bearded part of my face, what appeared to be sacs of hardened oil under the surface of the skin had been forming nodules. These didn't get infected, each just grew larger. Over the years I've seen dermatologists who said, because of my otherwise great health, "you're just a middle aged adolescent," blaming it on high testosterone, etc. The apparent acne problem continued and worsened.

I've seen doctors, dermatologists, pharmacists, herbalists, laser specialists, and spiritual healers. I've bought every acne ointment known to man. I took pills, vitamins, and herbs. I changed diet. I get plenty of exercise. Nothing worked. I had extensive surgery to correct the problem three years ago, and within 18 months it looked just as bad as before. As a public speaker and author in my profession, the skin condition was emotionally upsetting and stressful.
Having conquered toe nails, I started researching down the path that maybe the acne was caused by a fungus (although the symptoms didn't look like my feet). Was I surprised when I found:

"Tinea barbae is a superficial dermatophyte infection that is limited to the bearded areas of the face and neck and occurs almost exclusively in older adolescent and adult males. Symptoms include inflammatory, deep, kerion-like plaques and noninflammatory superficial patches and lumps resembling bacterial folliculitis. The hair breaks off below the skin surface. It is caused by several dermatophytes. Trichophyton species are most common. Infection of bearded skin may be the result of autoinoculation from tinea pedis or onychomycosis."

In other words, the mess on my face that had caused me so much grief and been misdiagnosed for decades was caused by the same fungus that gave my feet a problem. Apparently the dermatophytes enter the hair follicle (nails and hair are similar biological structures), then attack the sebaceous gland, feeding off the body oil; then the body's immune system reacts with scaring and hardening the facial oil, leaving an oil nodule. The dermatophytes then migrate to the next follicle, and eventually dozens of affected follicles link as a nodule the size of a pea.

Now it became obvious what had happened: The athlete's foot I got as a teenager went to my toe nails, and, because I was ignorant of the relationship of using a towel on my face that might have been used on my feet or crotch, the fungus got transferred.

Not a single dermatologist who examined my face ever bothered to ask the question: "Do you have toe nail fungus or athlete's foot!"

Using the same solution on my facial outbreaks as on my toe nails (the revised formula with coconut oil), the facial condition is clearing up. Just like with my feet, skin is sloughing off and the nodules are beginning to eject. This is the best result I've seen in years. I expect it will take a few months for the problem to be cured, as the fungus is down below the level of the base of the hair follicle in the sebaceous gland.

Part Three: Chronic Sinusitis

For the last 15 years I've had chronic sinusitis, post nasal drip, clogged nose, etc. I was constantly clearing my throat, and sometimes coughing. I snored a lot, which my wife didn't appreciate, and the snoring actually would wake me up in the middle of the night, leaving me tired in the morning. I seemed to catch colds more easily than before, but I attributed this to my very frequent plane travel.

Doctors prescribed antibiotics, but I they did not fully cure the problem and when I stopped the treatment, every symptom returned. (And I just don't like unnatural treatments.) Others said it was allergies.

I wondered: Could my sinusitis be a fungal problem? More exploring on the internet found the answer:

In 1999 Mayo Clinic researchers found the cause of most chronic sinus infections to be an immune system response to fungus, and that this may kick off a secondary bacteriological infection. It is not an allergic reaction, but an immune reaction.
Again, I felt betrayed by the medical profession. Why hadn't anyone told me this?

I went to the health and vitamin store to look for an anti-fungal nasal spray, and nothing met my requirements or budget ($10-15 for a one ounce bottle of ingredients seemed way out of line.) Here's the formula I "invented":

1. Rinse out a 1 ounce nasal spray bottle
2. Add one eye-dropper (approximately 1 ML) of Oregano Juice (NOT Oregano Oil -- it's too strong and will not dissolve in water)
3. Add a pinch of salt (approximately 1 ML) (Iodized salt is OK -- iodine is a good anti-fungal)
4. Fill the rest of the sprayer with distilled water, and shake well until the salt is dissolved.

Spray as frequently as once an hour until symptoms subside. For me, this solution began working within an hour; most symptoms were gone in three days. And the price of the ingredients per bottle is just a few pennies.

If the oregano/saline solution is too strong for you, dilute in half with water. If you want, you can add a drop of eucalyptus oil with 1/2 ML of glycerin, (which will bond the oil to water). I now spray once or twice a day, just to prevent any recurrence.

A very dear friend, who is 75, has had awful sinusitis for years. He heavily cleared his throat every minute or two. I told him of this simple formula, and two days later he called me to say it was working. He then said with amazement: "I don't believe it, we've been talking for over 15 minutes and I haven't had to clear my throat once!"

There are articles and books that claim that some cancers are caused by fungus. If this is true, taking action on fungus early may be very beneficial in the long run. It's time we gave fungus a deeper analysis.

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.

The question of whether Vick's Vapo-Rub works on toenail fungus was the subject of a University of Michigan study about a decade ago. Their conclusion was positive; they isolated the specific ingredients that worked, and received U.S. Patent 6,361,785 (look it up to see the results of the research).

Also note that 90% of toenail fungus is caused by four dermatophytes that are the same culprits in athlete's foot and jock itch. (Therefore, to prevent re-infection, one must get the fungi everywhere -- nails, feet, & crotch. Also change towels regularly, and don't dry your feet first, then transfer the fungus to another place.)

The formula (based on the research study, (which I've adapted for a more natural cure) is:
1 part Menthol oil
1 part Thymol oil
1 part Camphor oil
1 part Lemon Eucalyptus oil
1 part Tea Tree Oil
5 parts DMSO
5 parts Aloe Vera
5 parts Rubbing Alcohol
(the oils can be bought on e-bay, DMSO in a health store)

Apply twice a day to nails and feet. I've suffered from this vexing problem for 40 years, as did my mother and grandmother. It works.

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.

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.

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.