October 8, 2011
Toenail fungus thrives in dark, damp places under and around the nail. It is an extremely common aliment, approximately 11% of the humans in North America have severe cases. Try these toenail fungus home remedies for relief, they may save you time and co pays at the doctor’s office.
Preparing the infected nail properly is the vital first step to curing the infection. Cut all of the toenails as short as possible to remove as many hiding spaces for the infection you can. Then thin the nail with a file as much as you possibly can. By decreasing the surface area and thickness the treatment goes through it increases the chances of it working where the true issue is, the nail bed.
When using a treatment it must be thin enough to soak into the nail and underneath the nail. Decolorized iodine is an excellent tool for killing the infection because it is thin enough. This type of iodine also does not discolor the skin. When used daily it will clear up the infection in a few months.
When looking for a toenail fungus cure don’t go to the medicine cabinet, instead reach for the bottle of mouthwash. Mouthwash mixed 50/50 with vinegar has been proven to kill the infection within three months with daily application. And since vinegar is a natural odor killer and mouthwash has a minty scent your feet will smell great.
Tree oil can also help cure the infection. Simply paint the oil on the toes with a q-tip or small paint brush. To prevent it from spreading to other toes paint those too. Do not cover your feet until they are completely dry. The new nail growing in will be fungus free.
There has been a lot of debate over the effectiveness of vapor rub and hydrogen peroxide as a cure. Many say the mixture is too thick to be effective, but others claim it cured the problem when used daily for one year. The best time to use it is right before bed.
For those who feel like they are at their last resort there is always urine. Many have claimed that pouring their fresh urine on the infection cured it in a matter of months. Make sure you are using fresh urine, older urine grows bacteria that can cause even worse infections. On the positive side the treatment is free and in abundant supply.
The best way to treat something is not to get it in the first place. Fungal growth can be prevented by wearing cotton or wool socks with athletic shoes (avoid synthetic materials), wear footwear designed to let the foot “breathe”, change damp socks as soon as possible and some suggest that eating a low sugar diet makes the body less able to support fungal growth.
There is no instant cure for a fungal infection, they can take up to a year to be fully effective. For best results practice good foot care and apply the solutions daily. Continue the treatment until the infection is entirely gone to keep it from spreading.
Marie is a foot health specialist focusing on home remedies for toenail fungus.
March 19, 2010
Vapor Rub infrequently Used To Treat Nail Fungus!
Most people have used Vicks salve for toenail fungus to treat cold symptoms but few folk are aware that it can also be used to treat toenail fungus symptoms. Actually Vapor Rub has been used to treat nail fungus symptoms for several years.
Vapor Rub can be applied right to the affected toenail. The oily substance in the vapor rub makes the toenail soft. The other ingredient, methanol, penetrates the soft skin and kills the fungus. This treatment is most effective if it is used in the beginning stages of a toenail fungal infection. It may not be effective for some types of nail fungus infections. It is important to grasp the kind of nail infection you have before starting treatment so that the most appropriate healing methods can be employed.
One of the finest things about Vapor Rub is that it is cheap and straightforward to find. There are no negative side effects and most of the people find the menthol smell relaxing. Because it is so safe if you have got a nail fungus, Vapor Rub is undeniably worth a try.
Other home made remedy toenail fungus for nail fungus infections include Listerine, household bleach, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. Although the general public associate Listerine as a mouth cleanser, it has been other uses as well . Listerine may be employed as a foot soak that kills germs so helping relieve the symptoms of nail fungus disease. If you use Listerine as a foot soak, then this is going to be done twice per day as long as symptoms persist.
Vinegar’s acidic qualities make it a good treatment for nail fungus disease because fungi can’t grow and thrive in an acidic environment. Vinegar can be used in a soaking solution or it can be applied straight to the affected toenail. A bit of household bleach is commonly added to the soaking solution for more germ murdering and healing action. Some people take 2 teaspoonfuls of apple cider vinegar each day to help prevent and cure nail fungus infections.
Hydrogen peroxide could be exploited a foot soak or it can be placed right on the affected toenail. A hydrogen peroxide soak is required twice a day for 30 mins everytime. Hydrogen peroxide should never be ingested except on the recommendation of your doctor.
It’d be smart to try Vapor Rub and other home remedies to treat your nail fungus infection before investing in expensive treatments.
June 11, 2009
So your doctor tells you that those ugly, strangely colored toenails of yours are actually infected with nail fungus–and you’re worried about the potentially dangerous drug treatment? Relax–you’re not alone. Approximately 35,000,000 people are suffering from toenail fungus (onychomycosis) worldwide.
How do you know if your nails are infected? A good way to start is by looking at their appearance. Are they yellow in color, separated from the underlying nail bed, or are they a bit crumbled or cracking along the edges? If this is what you’re experiencing, you’ll certainly want to consult with your family physician or other health care professional. Most physicians, not surprisingly, will recommend a drug-based treatment. But before you go with those, consider that you have options of the non-drug variety, as well. These are typically referred to as “natural” remedies, since they rely on non-manufactured ingredients.
Can you place any value on these non-medical remedies that nail fungus suffers have relied upon all over the world? Absolutely.
Thousands of people are ridding themselves of this very resistant and hard-to-control/cure disease every year. It’s not an overnight solution—nothing is. However, if you can follow a simple daily routine, we’ve found, then your chances of success are excellent.
Do these home remedies work for everyone infected with nail fungus? No, of course not. But judging from hundreds of postings on the Internet, the feedback seems to indicate that a select few of these natural solutions are highly effective. Possibly even as effective as expensive drug treatments, though we haven’t been able to identify independent studies that could verify this. Here are some of the treatments that people speak very highly of.
Treatment No. 1: Vinegar—When You Really, Really Want a Cure
There are any number of popular home remedies for nail fungus, including tea tree oil, Vicks Vapor Rub, Listerine and more. But the one that seems to work most reliably is plain ole vinegar. Yes, the same ingredient your grandma used for everything from cleaning to cooking.
Vinegar has been shown to be especially effective as a relatively easy and inexpensive way to get rid of the most ingrained cases of nail fungus. As soon as the vinegar touches the fungus spores, they start dying. Another big advantage is the low cost. Unlike drugs that can cost you hundreds of dollars (rarely covered by your health insurance policy), you can pick up a bottle of fungal-killing apple cider vinegar for less than $5 at your local grocery store.
But that’s only part of the story. You have to know the proper procedure for apply it to the infected nails as well, otherwise you’ll almost certainly be faced with a recurring condition once you’ve stopped the treament. Many people have attempted to use vinegar, only to see it fail completely as a cure. In fact, some report that previously uninfected nails became infected once they had begun the treatment.
This happens only when you use the wrong application techniques, and is easily avoided.
Others have tried vinegar a few days or weeks, then have stopped the treatment when they saw no results. You have to give the treatment time to work. Most proponents of the vinegar treatment agree that you need to stay with the applications for at least 3 or 4 months before you see improvement, while others reported seeing a healthier appearance to the infected nails in as few as 4 weeks. Considering that it takes toenails a full year to grow out, it makes sense that any treatment will take at least that long for a complete cure.
One of the most comprehensive and best selling ebooks describing the vinegar treatment (and one other highly effective treatment) as well as the conditions that may have caused you to get the infection in the first place is “Nail That Fungus Forever,” available at http://www.how-to-stop-nail-fungus.com.