Natural Remedies for Nail Fungus: Home Treatments

Vicks

Posted by Sam (Toledo, Ohio) on 04/19/2009
★★★★★

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!

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Anthony (Albuquerque, New Mexico, Usa) on 12/10/2012
★★★★★

Tip: If you warm the hydrogen peroxide it will be more effective. Warming it allows the the skin to expand and absorb it better, especially if the fungus infection is in the root of the nail. Do not overheat hydrogen peroxide when warming, cause you might burn your skin.

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

Posted by Marilyn (Buena Park, CA) on 12/21/2008
★★★★★

Vinegar soaks (two hours) for nail fungus : I tried soaking my toenails in vinegar and water 50:50 for fifteen minutes at a time after a shower and nothing seemed to be happening. One day while sitting at my computer I decided to soak then rather than take time to soak when I was ready for bed. Two hours went by before I remembered I was soaking my feet, and they were all "pruny". I did it for two hours again two more times in that week, but not on consecutive days, and never again. It has now been about three months, and I now have about 1/8 inch of normal nail growing in. If fifteen minute soaks aren't working, try two-hour soaks! I only did it those three days. Who knows? It may take only one two-hour soak! I don't think the kind of vinegar matters. It's the acid in vinegar that destroys the fungus and all store vinegar is about the same.

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.

Listerine

Posted by Skye (Kansas City, Missouri) on 05/09/2013

One of the main ingredients of Listerine is thyme oil, which is known to be anti fungal.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Richard (Santa Ana, California) on 11/21/2008

WARNING! I tried using the Dremel tool on my thick odd looking toe nail (didn't realize it was a fungus problem). In doing so I released the fungus in a cloud of dust while grinding away at the toe nail. Within a week I had the problem in every toe and in every finger nail! It's now been three years of trying all kinds of remedies without much success. I have learned that this is extremely contagious. It will jump from one finger/toe to another quickly. Do not use the same clippers, file, etc on more that one nail. Thanks for this site. I plan to try several new remedies that I have found here.

Application Hints

Posted by Philip (Thunder Bay, Canada) on 02/20/2007
★★★★★

I have one foot cured and the other almost done with this new approach. I dip my toes in scalding hot water (one at a time) long enough that I can't take the pain anymore. I dry them off with a hair dryer and then apply antifungal ointment. I trim the nails as short as possible. I have been doing this for two weeks at bedtime and in the morning. It's working for me so far. I make their home small, hot, and poisonous. If they still want to live there, they will be uncomfortable

Cayenne

Posted by Vince (Philadelphia, PA) on 09/21/2006
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I cured the fungus by applying cayenne in salt water under the nail. I applied it and cleared any dead skin, and applied it again. working it under. I only applied it once, and it hasn't been back in 3 yrs. VF

All I do is mix a little cayenne with salt in water. Maybe 1/8tsp of each in about 3oz, and just soak the nail or skin for athlete's foot. For nail fungus I try to clean out any debris and reapply it, to make sure it gets in. I only had to treat mine once. I have a thumbnail that looks like it is separating in one spot. Maybe I caused it by cleaning my nails with a penknife a few times, but I treated it anyway. VF

Cayenne

Posted by Rob (Kentucky) on 11/21/2022
★★★★★

Applying a capsaicin-containing liniment to toenails will eliminated nail fungus. I've been using Watkins “Red” liniment on my feet and legs for temporary relief of my RA and minor aches and pains. Red liniment uses the counter-irritant camphor in a 3.5% solution and Capsaicin “red peppers”.

A few months ago, I started using this liniment with capsaicin for sore muscles and joints, but I thought I'd try it on my toenails and nail folds. I applied it twice a day, after my morning shower and before bed. After four weeks and less than $25, the fungus was undetectable on my toe nails.

Baking Soda

Posted by Craig (Albany, Oregon) on 02/21/2018
★★★★★

For nail fungus, I found that making a baking soda paste and letting it sit on your toes for 10 minutes each day does the trick. Make sure that you clean your toes afterward.

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

Posted by Cathy (Adelaide, Sa) on 09/26/2017
★★★★★

After trying over the counter options and some other natural remedies I finally gave wild oregano oil a go. My big toe nail was an awful yellow-white colour and almost all of it had lifted away from the nail bed. I started rubbing in a tiny amount of the oil onto the cuticle and nail and a drop under the nail ( where it had lifted) each day. It takes at least a month to notice but you will start to notice the nail near the cuticle improve. My nail is about 75% there, just the tip needs to grow out. I now have a nice pink nail growing that is attached to the nail bed. HAPPY DAYS!!! I haven't used nail polish the whole winter either, so looking forward too lovely painted nails during summer. Thanks for sharing this cheap and easy remedy.

Caprylic Acid

Posted by Suzanne (Norman, Ok) on 09/21/2017
★★★★★

I went to the health food store and found a product containing caprylic acid that was supposed to cleanse yeast from the body. I took half the dose recommended on the bottle daily and the nail fungus was gone in a week.

Vitamin E Oil

Posted by Jamberry (NC) on 10/17/2021
★★★★★

Update to my original post:

The nails cleared up. I persisted in using Vit. E oil for two years, once a day, then stopped. The fungus has NEVER returned!

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!

Eliminating Sugar

Posted by Michigan_gal (Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA) on 09/23/2012
★★★★★

Thank you Ted, Earthclinic and all of the people who sat down and took the time to share your stories. I'd like to share so that I can help someone too.

I'm a 41 year old white female. I stay active and I'm a healthy ideal weight (5Ft - 108lbs) Approx. 65% of my diet is organic foods and I do my best to avoid processed foods. I don't drink soda or consume artificial sweeteners. I avoid foods that contain High Fructose Corn syrup and Hydrogenated oils. However, I have come to discover my healthy diet wasn't as healthy as I thought.

For the last 3 years I have had recurring scabs near the back/crown of my head, sometimes infected. Like a bad habit, I've picked them for years not knowing what they were exactly. This summer's heat triggered the worst ever of my smelly scalp problem which would subside and get bad again. I wash my hair every morning but in the past few months I would notice my head got stinky before lunchtime. I would be sitting in my chair at work and could smell my own head just sitting there. It's smelled like a dirty cheesy rotten sock. If I rubbed my fingers on my scalp they smelled bad. I just started dating this summer and would rush home to wash my hair before going out on dates. I began researching and discovered other people with the same exact story as me. I was shocked and saddened to read it was a fungus and how it was so hard to get rid of. I'm against taking oral drugs as I've read they hurt your liver and never seem to work anyway. I found EarthClinic and I fully believe in natural remedies and that food is medicine.

I've tried many different topical scalp approaches listed on EarthClinic. They made my hair look great and lessened the smell a bit but never cured it. I read a few posts where people said they were cured from cutting sugar completely out of their diet. I wasn't ready to go that extreme and kept trying various topical treatments. As months passed and my dating relationship failed due to my avoidance of my partner, I knew I had to do the extreme and starve the fungus from the inside out.

I have cut out sugar completely. No sugar/honey, no ketchup, or mustard, (nothing with vinegar in it) no salad dressings, no flour, no white potatoes, no wheat, no fruit, no dairy, *although I do allow myself 2 tablespoons of cream in my coffee with stevia extract powder. My diet consists mostly of fish, chicken, eggs, beans of all kinds, tahini, spinach, zucchini, veggies, olive oil, seasonings, lots of quinoa.. For dessert I mix almond butter cocoa powder coconut oil together, it's delicious. I bought Ted's Alkaline ebook and in the morning and evening I drink the formula of lemon juice, water and baking soda. I also take probiotics in pill form since I can't eat yogurt right now.

I have been washing my hair for 2 months using a mild non SLS tea tree botanical shampoo and conditioner found in a local health food grocery store.

At night, I apply a mixture of lemon juice and a drop of pure tea tree oil to my scalp using a cotton swab or sometimes I drizzle it on. A few days a week I do a borax rinse in the shower. I go about shaving and let it sit for a few minutes then rinse it out. These seem to be working along with my new diet.

NO SUGAR- Day 1 - the worst that happened was I had a mild headache all day. I was a bit emotional but not irritable.

Day 3 of No Sugar - my head did NOT smell by lunch time! It did have a faint odor in the evening but only because I was rubbing my scalp to see if any smell rubbed off. It has been easier than I thought possible to do this diet and I feel very good so far. I am amazed and finding it hard to believe my head doesn't stink! This is a first.

Day 5 - I felt kind of weak and had foot cramps that woke me. Overall, doing very well and not craving sugar at all. My tongue is actually pink, not the regular whitish. Oh and I've lost 4lbs so far but I'm never hungry because I eat as much as I want.

Day 7 - It's gone, the smell is gone. I am in the practice of washing my scalp morning and night to keep it clean and so the fungus have nothing to feed on.

Day 14 - which is today the day I'm writing this. I am certain No Sugar is the CURE for scalp fungus. I plan on staying on this diet for a full 21 days. I'm a little nervous about going off it. I dont want to scoop sugar in my coffee anymore and I don't plan on it. I feel like all those foods I gave up are just useless filler foods with no nutrients. It doesn't mean I don't want those delicious cupcakes or chocolate chip cookies I smell baking in the store but I'm certainly not going back to my old ways of eating. I feel brand new now. This is a wonderful thing.

P.S. I think because my diet was pretty healthy to begin with that I didn't suffer from a lot of the sugar withdrawal symptoms people encounter.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Mary (Thedford, Ne, Usa) on 07/10/2012

As a science teacher, I would STRONGLY urge you to avoid using any concentrations of Hydrgen Peroxide higher than 20%. At 30% concentrations, skin can be severely burned. Even something as common as hydrogen peroxide can be very dangerous if not used properly.

Distilled Vinegar, Borax Soak

Posted by Chiangmaisue (Chiang Mai, Thailand) on 03/08/2012
★★★★★

I wanted to share something that has worked great for my toenail fungus. I tried many remedies that helped but just didn't seem to be making a real dent in the problem. Then I read of one lady who after years of fighting the same problem, used a solution of distilled white vinegar and borax 10 minutes a day. I tried it and I am amazed at the results. I put about 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar in a narrow rectangular plastic food storage-type container, then put about 1-2 T borax into it. I heated the mixture up so it was quite warm, laid the container on a rolled small towel at an angle so that the liquid was gathered at the bottom and would cover my toes when I placed my foot in it. I soaked my toes in it 1-2 times a day, for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. For me, this solution brought the fastest and most dramatic results. I will continue using it for awhile to be sure the fungus is taken care of. I also have done other things to help, like keeping my toes aired out, dry, used a topical antifungal solution at night, etc. I also gently filed the nail surface a couple of times to help the solution soak in.

I don't think there is a need for exact measurements of the vinegar and borax - just as long as you have a good solution of both ingredients. The lady of whom I read used a plastic tray and put enough vinegar in it to cover her feet, and used 2 t. Of borax, and she got great results. I hope this will help someone out there.

Borax, Clove Oil

Posted by Elly (Topeka, Kansas) on 06/14/2011
★★★★★

Hi folks, clove oil and borax have helped me conisderably with my stubborn foot fungus and eczema. I ingested it and also used it on the foot. I used one drop of clove and a pinch of borax in water to drink and I added one drop of clove and a pinch of the borax to some olive oil and rubbed in on my feet. After a few days of this they feel 100% better so far. Im cutting my sugar down to help this as well. One side effect I noticed is increased libido lol.

Colloidal Silver

Posted by Healthnut (Palm Springs, Ca) on 11/13/2010
★★★★☆

I've tried everything - and I mean everything! - to get rid of the nasty toenail fungus on my big toe. Finally, one day, I decided to spray my toes with colloidal silver. In a few days, the big black streak of fungus started disappearing. I know it's going to take up to a year for my toenail to grow out but, already, I'm about half-way there! I spray my toes twice a day, morning and night.

Iodine

Posted by Ddm (Tampa, Fl) on 09/28/2010

Yep. Regular & decolorized iodine stopped right big toe nail fungus, almost completely grown out nail now. Just keep trimming off as growing out.

Ted's Remedies

Posted by janedoe (Concord, NH) on 01/07/2009
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I was in my first triathlon last August and during my training had damp feet a lot...going from swimming to biking to running. Back in Sept. noticed the fungus. Tried store bought medicine, didn't do a thing. My brother has it on all toes, took oral medicine, didn't work! I found this site in Nov., have been using the acv/hydrogen peroxide, then beach/water soak, then AM teatree oil, PM monastat 7 cream w/bandaid at night, and my nail looks 80% better! I know it takes several months to go away, but I'm convinced this is the best treatment! I give myself a pedicure often, and cut back, and file the nail so that the soaks can get at it. I'm very impressed. Will post again when fungus completely gone! OK, so here's the deal: 50/50 ACV/Hydrogen peroxide, 1capfull of bleach/4 capsful of water, rinse between soaks. Then teatree oil in the AM, and Monastat 7 at night with a bandaid.

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============

Apple Cider Vinegar, Copper Sulfate

Posted by Liz (Stuttgart, Germany) on 07/06/2008
★★★★★

i mix 40 ml of cider vinegar with 20 grams of copper sulphate into a one liter spray bottle..top with water and it makes the most effective wound spray i have ever used (been using on it on my horses for over 20 years) .. it works equally as well on skin conditions .. copper sulphate prevents proud flesh and kills all skin fungus.

EC: Copper Sulphate is used for its blue coloring in fireworks and paints.

List of sources:
Local plant supply shops
Ebay
Science Supply Shops

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Carol (Independence, Missouri) on 01/06/2013
★☆☆☆☆

WARNING!

I agree with Richard. I was grinding my toenails down with a sanding drum on my Flexshaft several years ago, which caused the fungus to spread to more toenails and fingernails, but the really scary part was that I got the fungus in my lungs from breathing that dust. I was hospitalized for two weeks and could have died from the lung fungus. My doctor told me it was dangerous to even file the thickened nail down because that also causes the fungus to become airborn. The only thing you should use are nail clippers. He told me to dip the clippers in a 50/50 solution of bleach and water after clipping each nail to prevent the spread of the fungus. If the nails become painful because they are pinching in at the side, soak them in warm water with ACV or TTO twice a day to soften them. You can also cut out a notch at the curve to relieve the pressure. The nail surface will absorb any remedy you use, so there's really no need to file or grind them down.