Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus: Home Treatments

Coconut Oil and Crushed Garlic

Posted by Jimc160 (Cardiff) on 03/24/2017
★★★★★

Have noticed a significant improvement over the last few weeks from using coconut oil and a crushed garlic clove mixed together, this was recommended to me by a friend who used the same treatment successfully on nail fungus.

Ozonated Hemp Oil, Tamanu Drops

Posted by Smith (Los Angeles) on 03/18/2017
★★★★★

I have finally found a cure for toenail fungus. I have tried many, many things including oral pills, lasers, ACV soaks, garlic, etc.

I decided to try ozonated oils after reading about them on this site. I bought some ozonated hemp oil and watched my toes turn black. This was a good thing, as it killed the bacteria. I used a different toothbrush for each of the 4 toes affected, and used day and night. It took some time, and although I thought it was effective, I decided to add tamanu oil to the small container of ozonated oil. I mixed them together (half to half approx), and this has made all the difference. It's taken awhile, but they are finally clear. Well, the big toe that started it all, is almost done. There is still a tiny bit of black that needs to come to the top of the toe.

I am super excited that this worked, and wanted to share it. By the way, I'm using ozonated olive oil, but I don't think it really matters. I experimented with several and results were the same. And perhaps tamanu by itself might work. I didn't want to take the chance, since what I was using was working.

Good luck everyone, and I hope this helps someone.

Bleach

Posted by Dibro (North Ms) on 02/16/2017
★★★★★

Bleach kills everything but sin. Looking back I remember when they advertised medicinal uses on the back of the label. But good Ole FDA made em stop. This nail fungus cure really worked for me! Pain in toe nails totally gone in less than a week. In my case nail bed healthy & pink in three weeks time.

Everyone has their own degree of nail fungus & also sensitivity to the mixture. So I experimented with my skin type. Started with less bleach and worked up from there. After each soak I let feet air dry. For the faint of heart. Soaking feet in bleach & water is really no different than dipping your toes in a chlorinated swimming pool. I soaked both feet in pan of hot water just deep enough to completely cover them. Using 2 parts hot water one part unscented bleach. 1x day for 20-30 minutes. For faster results I could have soaked am & pm. Every few days Trimmed carefully.

The soreness gone was the first mile marker. Then next a healthy color returned. Thank God for tender mercies!

Alkalize

Posted by Ck (California ) on 12/27/2016

What is ACV?

EC: ACV = Apple Cider Vinegar

Listerine

Posted by Jill (California) on 12/15/2016

I've read that rubbing alcohol is damaging to the liver, I use cheap vodka instead.

Baking Soda

Posted by Elsa (Corpus Christi, Texas) on 12/08/2016

Thank you. I'm going to try it myself and I'll have my mother try it. She's a cancer (non-curable according to western medicine) carrier. I'll be ever so grateful for your insight if the cancer dies.

Listerine

Posted by Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 08/27/2016

HI U KAREN,,,,,,,,,,, listerine is a weak sister compared to Dr Tichenor's liniment that he developed in the War Between the States. He treated all wounds with this. It is made in New Orleans and few stores carry it, so I now buy mine via the internet. It is too strong to be used directly and must be diluted. Here is the URL.

https://www.drtichenor.com

It will cure all the things you are addressing.

=======ORH============

Listerine

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 08/27/2016

Dear Karen,

My guess is that this could take a while to heal. I would try soaking once or twice a day for a month for 20 minutes and see if there is any improvement. If there is, continue on. It could take 6 months.

A solution that is 1/2 vinegar (white distilled) and 1/2 water is also good for fungus. Or a gallon of water with 1/4 cup borax as a soak.

You could also try putting a mixture of castor oil and coconut oil (1/2 and 1/2) on his callouses and covering them with socks at night. Castor oil and coconut oil are healing and softening. This would also protect the sheets.

~Mama to Many~

Listerine

Posted by Karen (Maryland Hts, Mo) on 08/27/2016

How many days do is the Listerine soak needed to cure athletes foot fungus? How many times a day did you soak? What about the type of fungus that causes the really thick, cracked heels that hurt very badly? My husband has this problem and his terribly rough feet wear holes in our fitted bed sheets. I have to replace or repair the sheets every 6 months or less. His heel callouses are about 1-1&1/2" thick. Please advise.

Vinegar, H202, OTC

Posted by Ms. M (California ) on 08/27/2016

I too have toenail fungus. I saw what you are using to treat yours, I'm going to do the same for a month and see if I get results like yours. I've never tried vinegar before, but I'm sure it's better than having liver failure d/t the poison these doctors try to push down your throat.

I'll keep you all posted. Fingers crossed.

Ted's Remedies

Posted by Angeles Barros (Bronx, Ny) on 06/19/2016
★★★★★

YEA!! I can't stop admiring my toes! :>) I want to report that I tried Ted's remedy for fungus on my toes and it worked!! I accepted that my pinkie toes were black but when it spread to the edges of my nails on big toes...it was war!! I followed the instructions: equal parts of ACV and Hydrogen Peroxide on cotton balls for half an hour, then followed with equal parts of Clorox and water (used Qtip), then poured generous amounts of Peppermint and Tea Tree oils. I don't remember when was the last time I saw my pinkie toe nail white but that's what happened within 2 weeks and the edges of my big toes are clear as well. My hubby is convinced and today began the treatment on his toe. Thanks and God bless!!

Macadamia Nut Oil

Posted by Tom (Livingston, Tx) on 05/22/2016 64 posts
★★★★★

Years ago, I had a lifelong fungal toenail, the left big toe. I started taking macadamia oil, two tablespoons after each meal.

Two months and two 16 oz bottles later, the toenail dropped off and grew in healthy over the next year.

I now take 1 tablespoon daily because Macadamia oil also takes the sting out of my candida pain, making the pain livable and hardly noticeable.

Macadamia oil has 18% palmitoleic acid, an antimicrobial.

I also began having intermittent numbness and tingling in my toes which went away sometime during the same 2 months of taking macadamia oil, causing my fungal toenail to drop off and regrow healthy and pink during the next year.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Kristina (Evergreen, Co) on 05/19/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I've had toenail fungus for years but was slow on the uptake. At first my last two nails on each foot grew in deformed and separated from the nailbed, growing upward. Eventually my big toenails grew in ribbed and discolored. They also began to separate from the nailbed and developed white patches. I also developed my first Ingrown nail. After a lot of research I began using tea tree oil along with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and ACV. Two months in my nails are growing in clear and smooth!

Here's the regimen that works for me: (I keep the nails trimmed very short. I clean my tools regularly as well. ) In my morning shower I scrub my nails with a designated toothbrush and Dr. Bronners peppermint oil soap. Before I step out of the tub, I spray my toes with hydrogen peroxide. ( It comes in spray bottles at my local drug store)

Next, I swab my nails with alcohol on a cotton ball, then with ACV on a cotton ball, then I paint my nails and cuticles with a qtip and tea tree oil. I follow the same regimen at night. From other posts I've learned I've got to keep this up long after it appears the fungus is gone. I use this regimen because it's easy, cheap and I can sustain it over time. And it's working! It took only a few days for the white patches to disappear and of course the whole nail needs to grow in to see results.

I also have begun drinking lemon water to alkalize. Don't know which is helping the most but I suspect it's the tea tree oil given that's what I use the most of. These items are inexpensive and I'm grateful I didn't try medication as my friend did. Her fungus has cleared up but she's concerned about liver problems.

As an added bonus... My feet are always clean and I feel I am nurturing myself every time I take care of them.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Kristina (Evergreen, Co) on 05/19/2016
★★★★★

As an added bonus... My feet are always clean and I feel I am nurturing myself every time I take care of them.

Iodine

Posted by Cindy Mick (Ohio) on 05/15/2016
★★★★★

I also used iodine and it was very successful in curing the toe nail fungus. Every morning and night for about 4 months.

White Vinegar

Posted by Joy (Greer, Sc) on 05/14/2016
★★★★★

I, too, have had success with vinegar for toenail fungus, even after previously battling a very advanced case for 10 years, although I still have it in one stubborn toenail. I used white vinegar. It was recommended to me to spray it on twice a day, which I think is the fastest and easiest thing to do. I used a 2 oz sprayer found in the travel toiletries section. Wasn't told to soak, but it occurred to me just a few weeks ago that maybe I should soak and saturate that nail, and it is now much improved. Hasn't come back in the other nails, either. Am so happy about this safe, easy and inexpensive treatment.

Hydrogen Peroxide, Tea Tree Oil

Posted by Jen (Or) on 05/14/2016
★★★★★

3% Hydrogen Peroxide OTC + a cuticle pusher + Tea Tree essential oil = MEANINGFUL RESULTS are in, FINALLY! (*after 20+ years of struggling with embarrassing black toe nails) Blessings and peace to everyone. This is my first post. I am sharing with you guys and gals (my fellow sufferers) what has finally made a difference in my 25+ year struggle with black striped toe nails. I have posted a photo of the stripes (now only on my right pinky toe) that have "haunted" me ever since my tween years (I am 41 now).

Like many of you, my unsightly, discolored and funkified toe nail issue has been part of my identity for far longer than I would like to remember. To make matters worse, I wore toe nail polish to hide behind. For most of the time. Until the past couple of years. I finally had had enough of the ordeal. Or I got lazy. Or got smart. Who knows. With few exceptions (e.g., occasional sandal wear), I started going barefoot natural. I had tried many of the popular remedies, including 70% Isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar, apple cider (ACV), OTC fungus targeting oils and creams, essential oils like oregano and tea tree... even household disinfectant bleach solution for mold and mildew (not my wisest or safest decision ever made, so not recommending you try this one). Until one day. One day it dawned on me that I might combine two approaches combined - the everyday household 3% hydrogen peroxide plus diligent nail hygiene using this one beauty product tool my niece gave to me years ago: a professional quality heavy duty cuticle pusher.

Technique: 1. Use the cuticle tool!

*When my toenails were still soft from my bath/shower, or even many times when I was in the process of taking my bath/shower, I would push my cuticles back and scrape away any excess skin surrounding the nail bed. I always exercised extreme caution bc it was all too easy to get carried away (thus, accidentally scraping so deeply that my toe nail would start to bleed). I read in another person's post about sanding the top layers of the nail bed to get rid of the fungus stuff. I think this is the same type of idea, only I used a professional manicurists tool.

2. Spray the 3% hydrogen peroxide onto the effected nails and let dry without ever rinsing it off.

*I discovered a small spray bottle version of the peroxide that cost like $2 at the supermarket. This helped with aseptic technique, plus was just downright quicker than unscrewing a cap and having to fiddle with a qtip or cotton ball or the like. 3. Apply an essential oil (appropriate to my particular pathogen blasting plan) onto the sprayed nail(s). I tried a few different ones, but ended up settling on tea tree (or melaleuca) because of its multi purpose fullness.

*I repeated this as often as I could remember to, like whenever I showered. Three? Four? Five times per week? (though ideally would have been daily, even if it meant foot bathing on non shower days, since this probably would have speeded up the results, I would imagine). Last year at least 4 other nails (in addition to my pinky toe seen in the photos) were partially black, if I remember correctly. Now my only discolored nail of concern is that right pinky toe (which was always the worst, though my left pinky toe was about as bad).

Please don't give up, everyone. Have hope!

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Suzy (Indiana) on 03/29/2016

I sure understand your frustration with toe nail fungus. I suffered from it for years. Raised, discolored thick and painful nails that nothing would fix until I started taking apple cider vinegar daily, a decent size shot in water in the morning and another at night. I did it for weight loss and my nails grew out beautiful. I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't taking the ACV for that reason. I had no idea it would clear up the fungus but it makes sense when you think about it. I kept the bad part of my nails cut short because they hurt if I hit my toe on something. When I realized they were growing out clean and pink, I kept them well trimmed as They grew out new. They reattached to the nail bed. I can't tell you how happy I am with this. It's the absolute only thing that worked. They are still as pretty as can be. Thank God. I hope you give it a try and stick with it. They take awhile to grow. Trash your old shoes too.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Sbs3915 (Louisiana) on 03/28/2016
★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

Hi, I've had toenail fungus for the last six years. It bothers me aesthetically, but also causes concern that I have fungus in the rest of my body causing aflatoxins.

I've tried Listerine, Vicks, Potassium Iodide, Oregano Oil, and pretty much every other common OTC "cure" including methylene blue topically and orally.

The only time my nails mostly healed I was drinking a gallon of milk a day and heavily supplementing zinc. This led to other problems such as IBS and lower libido so I stopped that regimen.

The other sensitive "cause" is once I start supplementing selenomethionine or even eating more Brazil nuts, the nails start getting more yellow and brittle.

Just looking for any other advice? Or does anyone have luck with internal pharmaceutical antifungals?

UV Light

Posted by John (California) on 03/25/2016

I have been thinking about this idea for sometime now. I'm glad someone did it before I order the lights.

Urine Therapy

Posted by Richard B. (Oregon) on 03/10/2016
★★★★★

This may sound bad but it works on fungus between toes. Soak your feet in your fresh urine for about 20 minutes, wash feet. Fresh urine would be urine from that day. Cured mine within a few days. Investigate urine therapy

Sea Salt

Posted by Laura (Lbi) on 02/17/2016
★★★★★

No, you pack the salt under the nail bed.

First, clean it out as much as possible with a nice soak and scrape out any gunk under there. Then cram as much salt under the nail as you can. Use some coconut oil on your skin so the salt doesn't burn it. Repeat each day. Wash, clean out, pack with salt. Within a couple days, you will see new pink nail bed growth. It really works!

Garlic

Posted by Carmel (Uk) on 01/17/2016
★★★★★

Had a very badly fungus nail, very horrible and thick, difficult to cut.

Smear garlic juice on it every day or so and it will grow up perfectly fine. Worked for me anyway.

Baking Soda

Posted by Heather (Los Angeles) on 01/17/2016

What?! You're taking alkaline water to prevent cancer - but you drink Coca-Cola daily???

Coke causes major diseases, possibly even cancer. Please research, you need to drink something different (orange juice?) for your hypo-glycemia.

Aloe

Posted by Pr (Texas, Usa) on 01/07/2016
★★★★★

Had my toe nails done in salon 3 times in a row and ended up with a horrible case of toe nail fungus on both big toes. So of course did my research and was using a combination of essential oils to kill the fungus. It was a very slow kill and turned my toe nails an ugly brown. Oh and I also used Grapefruit seed extract. I will have to say these were not working so well so went to doctor. He prescribed the toxic cream and also recommend getting aloe Vera leaf, real whole leaf, not in a bottle or tube. He said to wrap a piece of it around each toe and sleep with it. I will have to say this worked. I was very amazed at how quickly too. After the first initial sleeping with the leaf on toes I applied the gel from the leaf twice a day a.m. and p.m. It has been a month now and I am still applying the aloe Vera mainly because I have it growing in my yard abundantly and for precaution. Really don't need to. While I am at it I put some on my face and complexion is looking very nice. I hadn't realized how hard it was to get rid of toe nail fungus if it really set in. I had always dealt with it when it was just starting and easy to get rid of with essential oils. So grateful for the aloe Vera leaf and the doctor who recommended it.

Gentian Violet

Posted by Rob (Kentucky) on 12/08/2015
★★★★★

6 year battle with toe nail fungus is finally over! After trying numerous OTC products with no success. Probably because of my lack of daily applications. I finally found a product that worked with only applications once every 3 weeks or so. And it only took 18 months. Starting out my big toe was solid black. Yuk! Now it looks normal again. I'm sure it would have worked faster if I applied it more often but its hard when your busy all the time.

Gentian violet is an antiseptic dye used to treat fungal infections of the skin (e.g., ringworm, athlete's foot). It also has weak antibacterial effects and may be used on minor cuts and scrapes to prevent infection. It will stain our toe nail (and everything else it contacts with...) but that is the working power behind it.

Apply with a Q-tip, allow to dye, put a sock on if you don't want your bed sheet with a purple streek on them from sleeping on them. Give it time, it does work.

Witch Hazel

Posted by Cereluna (Antioch, Ca.) on 07/21/2015
★★★★★

I was a bartender for many years and a common ailment is a fungus developing from handling and scooping ice on your fingernails and skin from the ice. My nails and skin around the nails looked grey-ish black all the time. A friend of mine who did nails suggested I soak my fingers in witch hazel and it worked!! A simple soaking in a bowl with the witch hazel every night for about 10 minutes did the trick. Also works for toenail fungus.

I discovered recently that I have Candida overgrowth, which resulted in a brown motteling of the skin on my arms which is spreading up my upper arms due to candida. I have had this for many years and doctors never knew or cared what it was. After researching, I discovered that it is caused by my candida overgrowth. I started applying witch hazel every day to my arms, followed by sunscreen and then alternating every day with different anti-fungal creams but always using witch hazel first. You have to use different anti-fungals to kill the little creatures because they get resistant if you don't switch up. The zinc in the sunscreen also helps. It's necessary to use a cream after witch hazel because it is drying. In about 3 days I noticed the "rash" getting lighter!! I am so happy that it is working. Mine was so brown and very embarrassing. Don't take pills to destroy fungus! Use witch Hazel!