Take two Q tips and swab one side of your mouth and the other side with the second Q tip. Store in a sterile glass jar and observe weekly for a month. If you have growth, the amount should tell you how severe your problem is. If you have no growth, I don't think you can say that you have no fungus. I am going to use the technique to ascertain my treatment progress.
My natural doctor told me the VF of my fungus and I was not impressed, but when he showed me the growth on my two swabs, it scared my mule. I think the visual result will tell you something too.
======ORH======
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide, Tea Tree Oil
★★★★★
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!
Listerine
Sugar-Free Diet
★★★★★
Twice the infection appreared to be gone, but later my heart sank as I saw the fungus returning.
Finally I ended up getting a prescription for an antifungal to be taken orally for 90 days. Expensive stuff, about $1000 USD. It did the trick... for three months! I decided to go it again. I got a second prescription, same stuff, thinking it might finish off the fungus 100% this time since it was a smaller infection than the first time. Well it worked... For three years. When I saw the infection returning, I almost cried.
I got online and started searching madly for causes of the fungus. That's when I first learned of the concept of candida, and intuitively felt there was something to it for me. I adhered to a strict diet (Google Candida diet), most importantly NO SUGAR. Worked like a charm; I saw results with my toe in a couple of months.
Over the following ten years fungus reappeared three more times... But at the top of the toenail, whereas before it was the base of the nail. The good news about that was that now I could get a topical medication to it without removing my nail.
The medication I used was bleach. I used the bleach pen, applying a line of it twice a day under the toenail. All three times this killed the fungus within a week. I realize this would not be a popular remedy with naturalists, but stubborn infections call for desperate measures.
Everytime it had appeared I had realized my sugar consumption had gradually increased over time, resulting in another fungus outbreak. So along with the bleach, I also cut out sugar during the treatment phase.
Finally I accepted that I am more sensitive to sugar than most people, and adopted a low sugar diet as a lifestyle.
I have been fungi-free for four years now! My toenail looks normal, as if it had never suffered 15 years of infection.
Hang in there! You have no choice but to be patient with the process, and you too will soon be fungi-free.
★★★★★
Thank you All for the very helpful contributions, there make a big and cheap difference in enhancing we stay health and keep up the good work. I feel blessed since the day I stumbled on to this site.
★★★★★
Distilled Vinegar
★★★★★
I bought a plastic shoe box, put undiluted white vinegar in it and soaked my foot twice a day for about 3 weeks. (I only change the vinegar solution every few weeks and keep a lid on the plastic box when not being used. ) The vinegar was a bit too strong and started creating a few sores on the top and sides of a few toes. Wanting to continue, I put a salve on those spots while soaking my foot and that cleared up that problem.
After about 3 weeks, I decided to dilute the vinegar, about half white vinegar and half water. That was much more gentle on my foot and no longer have my skin get irritated by the vinegar. I also started soaking my foot only once a day for about 30 minutes each day. I have now been doing this for a little over 3 months. (During this time, I also kept clipping my toenails back as far as I could to expose as much of the fungus under the nails as possible. ) Three of my little toes that had fungus now have been cured and the nails are slowly growing back with no signs of fungus. My big toe is also responding, but because of the size of the nail, is taking much longer to grow out and get rid of the remaining fungus under the nail, but it too seems to be responding. The nail growing from the base seems to be free and clear of any fungus. Hopefully in a few more months, my big toenail will be totally free from the fungus.
I don't know if this works for everyone, but it seems to have worked for me.
ACV, Borax and Peroxide Soak
★★★★☆
Ingredients:
Apple Cider Vinegar
Borax
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hot water
I add 1-2 tablespoons of borax to hot water, wait until it dissolves, then add equal parts of organic apple cider vinegar, water and 3% drug store peroxide (I eyeball this, might be about 1/4 cup of each). Note: it's very important that you find a dish that allows you to soak as much of the top part of the foot as possible. I soak in this concoction for 30 to 45 minutes every day (sometimes more, sometimes less)... I do take a 1 or 2 day break from time to time.
Glad to report that the nail growing in on the big toe looks perfect! I am not touching it this time! (Filing the nail down really set me back last spring)
To Bill from the Philippines... I tried your formula (borax, hydrogen peroxide and milk of magnesia in June when you mentioned it here on EC). After 1 week, the fungus turned from yellow to white, and slowly started to clear from the nail. Then one day the top of my big toe, just below the nail, started to itch like crazy, like poison ivy (but more likely athlete's foot). I must have scratched it in the middle of the night because the next morning it was raw and oozing (yuck)... Shortly after that the fungus returned to the base of my nail. I tried your formula again for another few weeks and didn't seem to be getting very far. I am theorizing that unless you apply these anti-fungal remedies to as much of the foot (and in between the toes) as possible, it is very difficult to get rid of the fungus. Fingers crossed. My nails are growing out so fast (thanks to a daily glass of homemade milk kefir and a partial raw food diet) I think my nails might be clear by December. Will report back with y'all again then.
I found when I first moved to my apartment that if I'd been using the A/C, then there was maybe a week or two where it was cool enough to not use it, when I'd return to it I got massive headaches. I could barely detect a smell in the air that is only there when the A/C is running. I inspected it to find that when I took off the front cover, a (nonremovable) tray at the bottom of the unit collects an inch or so of water.
To make a long story short, it was growing mold, even if the tray had time to dry before I turned it on again. My solution was to purchase bottles of colloidal silver online that are intended for treating hot tub water in place of chlorine or bromine. I only have to put in maybe a dropper full, and this purifies that tray so that the when the A/C is on again, it's not filling my apartment with mold spores.
Vicks
★★★★★
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!
★★★★★
3% hydrogen peroxide does work, but the big toe will take more soakings than the smaller ones. Do not use if you have cuts on skin as the peroxide will burn the skin. A mix of 2 parts 3% hydrogen peroxide to one part water also works.
Distilled Vinegar
★★★★★
Baking Soda
Coke causes major diseases, possibly even cancer. Please research, you need to drink something different (orange juice?) for your hypo-glycemia.
Listerine
Hydrogen Peroxide
Fenbendazole
★★★★★
Baking Soda
★★★★★
I also found that washing your toes before bed each night really speeds up the process.
In the past (per Earth Clinic) I tried vinegar and tee tree oil, but experienced no results.
Oregano Oil
★★★★★
Caprylic Acid
★★★★★
Vitamin E Oil
★★★★★
The nails cleared up. I persisted in using Vit. E oil for two years, once a day, then stopped. The fungus has NEVER returned!
Macadamia Nut Oil
★★★★★
Witch Hazel
★★★★★
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!
