Any ideas for curing toe nail fungus?

[Suzie]

This is so embarrassing. :boggle: But....does anyone have a good cure for toenail fungus? Yes, that nasty, yellow, gunky nail stuff. I've tried tea tree oil, and it seems to help, but takes soo long, and if I forget I'm back where I started. I love to wear sandals, and would really like nice toe nails. Last summer I just painted over it. That works okay. Now this year I wanted to get rid of it, so I cut as much of the yucky nail off and put the tea tree oil on. So, now I have a half grown nail that still looks disgusting. :grim:

[justgreen]

My MIL swears by Vicks Vapo Rub. She puts it on her toes after every shower. It takes a while and you have to be vigilant, but she says it got rid of the fungus.:eureka:

[kimberlily]

My DH cured his fungus completely by using plain white vinegar. He soaked his feet every week, and kept a medicine syringe (we've got lots of them for giving teething medicines to the baby) in the bathroom so he could drop it on the affected areas every day.

Don't skip days though, because you have to make sure that the new, healthy nail doesn't become infected. I can't remember where I found the instructions for doing this, but it was on a naturopath's website. He recommended to do it daily with a dropper, but DH decided to add the weekly soak as well, and it works :)

[hairbrain]

a few years back I had it and it was fixed
by taking the prescription Lamisil.
Then it came back so I figured I'd just try the
Lamisil again and I got such a bad case of
intestinal distress that I had to stop.
I was given a topical liquid: Fungoid Tincture, that you add
a few crushed up Lamisil tabs to and brush it on like
nail polish- but I didnt see much result from that.

Now Im using Tea Tree Oil daily and that helps. Its just
going to take time to grow out.

I would also second the vinegar...I was trying to find a link
on my computer that had an article re: tea tree oil and vinegar.
Ill keep looking...

[SunCat]

Grapefruit seed extract will kill toenail fungus. Orgainc Apple Cider Vinegar will also work. You can mix the two together and use an eye dropper and apply to your affected nails daily and you could add some tea tree oil to it also. I use the professional strength Grapefruit Seed Extract (from mountainroseherbs.com) and Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Start with 1 drop of Grapeseed Extract in 1 Teaspoon of ACV. I have also used GSE in water and sprayed it on my toes I used 2 drop of GSE per 1 ounce of water.

[Suzie]

Thank you all. I'll have to try those ideas. My biggest problem is that I have a hard time sticking with anything long enough. :whyme:

[eiyela]

Most things sour will kill the fungus, like ACV and yoghurt. Yoghurt mixed with water also makes a very soothing foot bath for tired feet. And it's summer, so maybe you could combine the two? Foot baths are always good.:whoohoo:

[kimberlily]

Aha! Here it is... http://askwaltstollmd.com/archives/toe.html

[unaspenser]

Tea tree oil totally worked for me. I just posted about it here: http://chatter.thebeautybottle.com/showthread.php?p=2918&posted=1#post2918

The thing about any fungus treatment is that it's going to take as long as it takes for the fungus to totally grow out, and if you don't stick with it the fungus will come back. Painting the nail, or buffing the surface, can actually make the fungus worse. I know it's a pain to not be able to do it (believe me, I haven't been able to paint my fingernails in a year), but it's the only way to get it to heal.

Best of luck! My secret is just to keep the TTO next to my bed and put some on when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night.

[Shell]

Great advice so far, just let me add to be sure to put whatever you use under the nail as well as completely saturating the top. As far as hiding and painting the nail goes, I am currently using henna on my toe nails and I am noticing a great improvement in condition and shine--so if you don't mind or actually like, brownish/cinnamonish nails try henna.

[kimberlily]

unaspenser is right. DH squirts the vinegar under the nails, around the sides & between his toes twice a day, and soaks once a week :)

Basically, since your nails are always growing, and the fungus is in the nail bed, it will just reinfect the new nail growth if you don't treat it every day, so you will never get rid of it.

[Kitty]

Suzie are you 100% sure that what you have is fungus? My mom thought for the longest time that she had that, but she went to a specialist who took a sample of her toenail and apparently it is not fungus, but a form of psorasis. (i'm pretty sure the fungus is more common though).
He gave her a cream for it, which we have yet to learn if it works because she hasnt been using it religiously. After reading this thread and learning how long it would really take to see any new/better growth, I "lectured" her on using it as prescribed. :lol:
So hopefully we'll learn in a few months if it actually works!

[Suzie]

Well, it looks like I just need to be more consistent with treating the fungus.:evileye: Thank you all for your help. You've helped me get more determination to kick this stuff. I just soaked my foot in vinegar and then put tea tree oil on it. Maybe if I give it a double whammy it will work.

[Lady Godiva]

One time I thought I had this problem, but when I asked my doctor about it, I was told it wasn't that, but it was just discoloration due to wearing toenail polish a lot. I've since backed off from that, and the nail color has mostly returned.

[Wind Dragon]

Mine was definitely fungus, on both big toenails. I took two months of the three month round of pills way back when (Lamisil? maybe. probably,) and got it backed off enough that it stopped being painful, but was still stubbornly entrenched up under one toenail. Couldn't see it as well on the other one, but the nail continued to grow out thick, and soft and weird looking on the underside.

I've watched it ever-so-slowly grow out over the last couple of years, and the only thing I can think of that I've been doing different all that time involves Apple Cider Vinegar in the shower. ETA: Oh, also a switch to veggie-fatted soaps instead of tallowate, but since there isn't even anecdotal evidence to support that having anything to do with anything, it probably doesn't.

[FeetR2C]

Yoghurt mixed with water also makes a very soothing foot bath for tired feet.
And you can drink it after you're done with your pedicure!:drool:

You might want to see my post in THIS THREAD (http://chatter.thebeautybottle.com/showthread.php?t=79&page=3)