Toenail Fungus
Natural Remedies

Natural Nail Fungus Treatments: Effective Home Remedies

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Vicks
Posted by Suzy (Hemel, Hempstead ) on 01/02/2018
★★★★★

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 :)


How to Self-Test for Internal Fungus
Posted by Robert Henry (Ten Mile , Tn) on 11/06/2017

HOLLY,,,,,,, you seal the sterile jar, so only your saliva is involved. That's the way my doctor does it.

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


Baking Soda
Posted by Deborah (Michigan) on 08/10/2017
★★★★★

I have suffered from toenail fungus on a toe that got injured, years back, and I have erratically tried the medication from the drugstore, and a doctor prescribed some for me that can damage your liver, et cetera. I will not take anything like that that hurts my liver, so I had to find alternative ways to do it. For a while I soaked my feet in warm water and dish soap to soften the nails and then I purchased one of the battery operated nail files and filed the diseased nail down. Eventually I got rid of most of the unsightly nail, and change my socks twice a day. It was amazing how much the filing took care of it, and then air was able to get it the rest of the nail bed and the healthier nails. I have noticed that is a little tiny bit in the one corner that I don't want to encourage to go on so I purchased a heavy duty nail file and keep it filed down, and now I put a paste of baking soda on it and let it sit on it. It looks better! So I'm pretty excited about that. I'm thinking I'll also try the apple cider vinegar. Thank you for your great article I've been looking for this help for a long time. It's encouraging to know I'm not alone in this.


Multiple Remedies
Posted by Kitchenwitch (New York) on 06/12/2017
★★★★★

I've been reading this forum and using the curse to no avail. I realized that under my sink I now had tea tree oil, vicks, oregano oil, lugol's iodine, white iodine and coconut oil. I figured maybe if one didn't help I would bombard my nails until I used everything under my sink. I started with filing the nail down and whenever I got out of the shower I put a drop of iodine on the nail bed. Sure it turned my nail and ugly brown but I was tired of twenty yeas of fungus on each of my pinkie toenails. For the next three months, whenever I walked into the bathroom I applied and alternated between cures basting my nails up to five times a day. I also took a nail brush and used some coal tar dried scalp shampoo taking up space in my shower. Before I put on socks I applied either one of the several oils or vicks and changed my socks daily. Shock and Awe worked. I am fungus free for the first time. These natural solutions work but maybe you just haven't found the right combination.


Vicks
Posted by Gman (Alabama) on 03/28/2017 6 posts
★★★★★

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.


Bleach
Posted by PayItForward (PNW) on 11/23/2024 60 posts

An alternative to soaking is simply to paint it on. Only the nail, including the nail bed, like you're painting with nail polish. Take a little (makeup) brush and dip it into the bleach and paint 2-3X daily. That's it. Maybe a total do it 1-2 weeks if done daily. I'm doing it now so I can update later but so far so good and it's been maybe 4 days. I think daily consistency is crucial. So far, I forgot to do it daily. Need to set reminders in my calendar. Some say you can dilute it 50/50 w/ water but straight up works fine in this case. It absorbs and dries quickly. Additionally, if you gently file down some of the fungus - in my case it was white. Filing it down (carefully) left a powder residue you can wipe off with a damp paper towel (you can feel when it becomes sensitive. It's recommended to use disposable paper towels when dealing with fungus to avoid cross contamination elsewhere.


Bleach
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 08/14/2017 2043 posts

Try using Povidone Iodine 10% from local market or drugstore/pharmacy. You can apply directly or add to a warm water foot-bath.

You will also need to do an internal Candida Cleanse which may also include other cleanses like heavy metal, parasite, gallbladder, and colon, as fungal infections are most times opportunistic meaning you have chronic immune suppression.

Check out Bill's book Killing So Sweetly here on E.C.


Apple Cider Vinegar, Peroxide, Vicks, Antibiotic Ointment
Posted by Floridagirl (Sunny, Fl) on 04/21/2013

Apple Cider Vinegar for nail fungus. It worked for me! :)

Background:
I think I had an injury to my thumb nail that caused the nail to lift a little, and well that's when I got nail fungus. It started in the corner and at first was just kind of a dark spot, and then the following couple of days started turning into a white-yellow half circle and was growing. When I would touch the nail or skin around it, it was tender. I thought maybe it was an infection, but it sounded more like a fungus.

Remedy I used:

Apple Cider Vinegar
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
Vapor rub
Antibiotic ointment

What I did:
Clipped my nail back a little just in the affected corner. Just enough to show a little bit of the underlying skin. I did this to relieve a little pressure, because the skin was a little inflamed and was hurting. Also, I thought it would be easier for the medicines to reach the area.

I mixed a cap full of apple cider vinegar & peroxide together. Dipped a q-tip in the mixture and rubbed it on, around, and under the affected area. It will fizz a little, but it does not hurt. You will get some pain relief with in a short time, if your fingernail was hurting before!

I rubbed this mixture on my finger nail 3 times a day.

During the day time, I would rub some antibiotic ointment on the area with NO bandaid. Of course, I had to re-apply frequently when my hands would get wet. At night I put Vick's vapor rub AND a bandaid on my thumb. I made sure the bandaid was not too tight, but also that it would not fall off.

I did all of this for 4 days.

On day two, I noticed that it seemed to start going away (shrinking), and by day 4 it looked like it was completely gone. Just keep applying everything until it is completely gone. I'm so happy it worked!!

Apple Cider Vinegar, Peroxide, Vicks, Antibiotic Ointment
Posted by RB (Somewhere in Europe) on 02/23/2022 84 posts

"I rubbed this mixture on my finger nail 3 times a day."

Comment for everybody:

Please notice Floridagirl applied peroxide to a fingernail. Toenails are a whole different ball game. Many years ago I applied peroxide to a toenail. An ugly, thick nail came off painlessly. However, walking became a pain for many months. Toenails are a lot more sensitive than fingernails.


Grapefruit Seed Extract
Posted by Renee (Utah) on 07/10/2015
★★★★★

I started with grapefruit seed extract and take 10 drops internally 3 x day in water. I also rub it on my toenail 2-3 times a day. The next day the hard stuff behind my nail started to soften and I could remove some. Each day I am seeing improvement. It is just amazing.


Listerine
Posted by Nichole (Washington, DC) on 02/02/2013
★★★★★

On both of my feet, the second toe from the big toe were discolored, as well as the other three small toes on my left foot, and two of the other toes on my right foot. This has been very distressing! I tried tea tree oil by itself with no results. After seeing that some people had used hydrogen peroxide, I planned to get that. Since I was desperate to start immediately, I used my generic whitening mouthwash listerine, which has hydrogen peroxide as its second ingredient, because I already had that. I used a cotton ball and applied it liberally on all of my toes taking care to get as much as possible below the cuticle and under the toe nail. Then I applied tea tree oil. I did this twice a day (morning at night) and followed up with vicks vapo rub at night before putting on socks. I am one week into my routine and three of my darkest nails have gone from black to 95% normal! They are pink. I am so happy. I will continue until I have totally nice and fungus free toes. I also cut off as much of the dark toe nail as I can each night or every other night as well as any surrounding flaking skin that needed to go.


Listerine
Posted by Big Joe (Chicago, Il) on 10/23/2012
★★★★★

I had these ugly yellow toe nails. I hated them. I would gargle with Listerine and then afterwards put my bare feet into the sink, one at a time, and spit the Listerine on them. Then I would just let it dry on them. They went away in about 10 days.

I guess you could apply Listerine directly or tape a cotton bandage to your toes, but this is what I did and it worked. I used just the standard yellow Listerine.

Listerine
Posted by Beth (Kirkland, Wa) on 03/24/2012
★★★★★

I've had fungus on 5 of my toenails for over 20 years. It started with injuries to my nails from running many miles and then subsequent infection. The affected nails were yellow and at least 5 times as thick as normal nails and deformed in shape. I would have to file the surfaces with a very abrasive file to get the nail thin enough to be able to hide with nail polish.

I did not want to subject my body to long treatments of meds that might harm my liver, so I decided to use Listerine at night and Vicks during the day. Be aware that this treatment can take a couple of months, but it does work!! Be patient. I had an especially stubborn fungus. The first thing I did was file nails down as thin as possible without pain, as to remove as much damaged nail as possible. Every other night before bed I would put band aids around toes with the "non-sticky/white" part facing/touching the nail. I then used a syringe to squirt some Listerine inside the bandage - this way nails would be "soaking" all night. During the treatment time remember to keep nails extra short and filed thin so that there is not as much bio burden for Listerine to work through. In the am, take bandages off and let nails dry a bit before putting a dab of Vicks Vapor Rub on the toenails - no band aids, just socks. I did this every other day for about two months. Fungus is gone and I have normal pink flat nails again!!


Ted's Remedies
Posted by David (Denver, Co) on 03/07/2011
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Yea for Ted's Remedy -

Thanks Ted, I have dealt with toe nail fungus for about 6 years. I actually took the pills (which have gone generic in the last 2 or so years, dropping the price considerably) but noticed a huge effect on my health while doing so. It was sucessful in curing 4 of 5 affected nails, it took about a year and a half to see the results. One toe nail in particular looked suspcious so was applying ACV to it, along with an over the counter fungus remover. It was masked but never really cured, it was on a smaller toe so it wasn't very noticable and I ignored it for a while. This winter I vowed to have another go at curing it and came upon this site.

Ted's recommendation worked wonders for me. I filed down the nail as much as possible, I thought I went to far as I started to feel a bit of irritation and some very slow bleeding but proceeded anyway. I put ACV, H2O2, and a small amount of listerine (another site's recommendation) in a bucket to soak the affected foot. After I would follow up with the bleach/water solution. In the morning I would coat the foot with the Tree/Lavender oil (mixed with vasoline) and at night after the soak I would use Lamisl and I would re-coat with the Tree/Lavender before bed. After 3 days I saw that the nail had hardened under where I had previously filed. The portion under the nail, that I though was the nail bed was really just infected nail that was soft and looked and acted like nail bed (and actually bled), it was really a surprise and now I know where the reinfection was coming from. I re-filed the area again (no bleeding or irritation this time) and saw a huge improvement in the general area and nail, along with dead skin sloughing off of my foot. I have been at it for 2 weeks with exellent results and the new toe nail coming in looks great. I believe that with diligence and this method I will end this stupid thing that has inconvienced my summers for too long. I wanted to leave my feedback and say thanks my foot health in general is so much better. I wanted to comment that a lot of dead skin on the foot may be the same fungus as what can work its way under the nail, I have had a similar dissapearance of that dead skin on my foot while taking the pills and now while doing this soaking method.

I also wanted to leave feedback to some of the other users of this method. I believe that some other people that have different symptoms (i.e. Not just nail fungus) and should look at different methods as this can be pretty agressive on the skin. For instance, start with the recommended soaking times and if it irritates the condition, stop using. I have upped my soaking times in the past week to a few hours (for the ACV/H202) when available with no adverse effects on my feet.


Apple Cider Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Mary Moore (Memphis, Tn) on 02/02/2011

If people feet are not getting better they need to change there shoes. PEROXIDE AND VINEGAR ARE SOME OF THE BEST ANTISEPTICS. THE VINEGARS SOFTENS THE TOENAILS SO U CAN CUT THEM. THE VICKS SAS WILL STOP THE WORST FUNGUS ON YOUR FEET AND TOES AND CUT THE TOENAILS SHORT. PROBABLY NEED TO TAKE SOMETHING BY MOUTH IF THE FUNGUS HAVE GOTTEN UNDER THE TOENAIL. THE ACID LEVEL IS PROBABLY TO HIGH.


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.


ACV, Borax and Peroxide Soak
Posted by Bill (San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines) on 09/23/2010

Hi Deidre... Wonderful to hear that you have finally rid yourself of and conquered the dreaded toe-nail yeast. I now also have a complete set of pink toe-nails for the first time in years!!

For me, it has all been a fairly long and fascinating road in trying to completely understand the way natural herbal remedies and natural body chemicals work to successfully heal our bodies. Now, I always make a point, even with skin or other outside body problems, to attack the infection/problem both topically as well as internally. In my own specific remedies, whether herbal or otherwise, I've always found that the regular internal use of magnesium chloride(10 drops mag oil in a half glass of water/day or transdermally), 5% lugol's iodine(high dose - 2 drops a day) and vitamin C powder(as ascorbate - megadose 5 grams a day), borax(weekly/monthly), fulvic acid(removes body toxins -- 10 drops, twice a day a day, in water), Ted's BS based alkalizing protocols(particularly Ted's citrate remedies) and dessicated liver (containing all necessary minerals, amino acids and vitamins for the body -- 3 large tabs twice a day) all seem to act synergistically and very positively on my own body with respect to increased energy and healing capability. I usually combine all the mineral and vitamins mentioned above into a drink taken with water -- twice a day outside mealtimes(taken after lunch and in the evening). The dessicated liver I take at mealtimes. And that's my preventative routine, which is all pretty non-intrusive to my own lifestyle. This preventative regimen is simple to follow and is relatively flexible and variable according to my needs. Apart from their many other benefits, I regularly use this standard combination as an efficient body-balancer, to increase the efficiency of both the body's hormone system as well as to put the immune system into turbo mode -- and to simultaneously create a very bad and unpleasant body terrain for any invading microbes. As a result, I haven't been ill with flu/cold etc for about 4 years now.

As an example and perhaps as more evidence and proof for the above, my girlfriend, who is a Filipina, recently caught a really nasty sore throat. She had an annoying dry cough, tickling sore throat, with bad headaches and nasal problems, and had difficulty sleeping because of aggravation from the aircon(I live in the tropics).

When she had caught this bug, I also noticed odd changes in my own nose and throat -- I was becoming ill with the same bug -- so I immediately upped my dosages/frequency of Ted's alkalizing remedies and minerals, vitamins etc as described above, to much higher dosages taken several times a day(this was all I did). The result was that my girlfriend's sore throat problem lasted for well over ten days but I never caught her bug, it never took off -- even though some of our friends caught the bug from her and suffered too, so the bug must have been quite contagious. I must also add that my girlfriend has a very good diet. Being a provincial Filipino, she eats fruit regularly and eats fish and vegetables with every meal(she even gets wihdrawal symptoms if she doesn't eat fish every day!! ... LOL). My girlfriend also prefers going to the doc rather than taking natural remedies, which is her own choice for sure. I prefer avoiding all anti-biotics and drugs whenever possible because of my past candida problems and experience.


Distilled Vinegar
Posted by Moi (V Ville, Ca) on 12/19/2009
★★★★★

I had a very bad nail fungus for 23 or so years. I practically had no healthy nail left on my big toe. It was very ugly and was just a crumbly mess. I tried a lot of otc meds (before I got wise), none worked. Also tried a lot of natural cures, vicks, h2o2 etc, and none of them did anything to help. I had pretty much resigned myself to funky toe for life, when I decided to give it one last go with White Vinegar, just the ordinary cheap as chips stuff.
After my shower I would soak a cotton ball with vinegar and put it on my nail with a plaster over it. Nothing else. Did it for 2 or so months. Total cure. My nail (and my partner cannot believe it) is normal again, as in I do not hide it anymore and am rather proud of the little fellow now. I have nice feet and am really happy at last to have nice healthy feet.

One thing, the vinegar does smell a bit early in the day, but for me it was worth it. Every now and again I do a vinegar day just to keep the fungus away.


Garlic
Posted by Dinks (Sydney, Nsw, Australia) on 11/12/2009
★★★★★

I have Fungus on my 5 toes, it originally started on my big toe. A Chinese Medicine Man told me to use Garlic and Boiling Water.

So I minced garlic put boiling water to it, and let it cool down so as not to burn myself (but try to have it as hot as you can handle it) and leave toes in until the water cools right down. Have been doing this everyday and I am seeing results, I can see the pink of my toe nails and moon, the fungus itself is growing up and vanishing.


Oregano Oil
Posted by Cheryl (Manteca, California) on 02/11/2009
★★★★★

Oil of Oregano cure for fungus rash: Oil of Oregano (Oreganoworld.com has the undiluted, pure oil for $19 oz-I bought this one-very inexpensive) cured what seemed to be fungus-possibly Candida type rash. I suffered with the rash for 14 months, no prescription creams, powders or otc creams helped me. I was at my wits end-the dermatologist took a biopsy-said it was 'like athletes foot/fungus type rash' and prescribed Lamisil pills and cream for 2 months-this did not work. I heard about Oil of Oregano from a radio talk show-Coast to Coast-and, gave it a try. It worked in 3 days-I took it internally and mixed it with extra virgin coconut oil on the skin-it went away. Amazing miracle to me.


Listerine
Posted by Ingrid (Ft Lauderdale, FL) on 12/13/2008
★★★★★

I had a toe fungus on my big toe. Went to the foot doctor who had me on an antibiotic for 6 months with no results. I then spent 6 months using tree tea oil 2Xs per day, again no result. Finally soaked a cotton ball 2xS per day for 10 minutes with original Listerine--3 days later NO MORE FUNGUS! ALL GONE!!

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~


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.



NEXT 
Advertisement