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Toenail fungus
is an ugly nuisance at best and a scourge at worst. Standard medical
treatments can be expensive and have side effects.
The most effective natural remedy we have found for toenail
fungus is the use of vinegar, applied unfailingly until the nail grows out.
The
following are tips that Good Home Remedies found helpful in getting the best results:
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Generic white vinegar
seems the cheapest, cleanest and easiest to use. It is cheaper
($2-$3) bought by the gallon.
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The easiest approach we
found was to fill a dropper bottle full of vinegar and apply it every
morning. We applied vinegar generously to each toenail effected
with the fungus and let
it dry completely before putting on socks. We found that if we put it on
first thing, even before
we brushed our teeth (even while on the toilet), we could let it dry while
performing other bathroom activities. We found it most effective to
put it on our toes after we took a shower, as we found that soap can undo the
protective benefit of the vinegar.
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When we also had
athlete's foot (also a fungus that effects the skin), we would just splash our feet with vinegar after we took
a shower. But to be sure we got the toenail, we would still apply a
dropper full of vinegar on each toenail that had the fungus, after getting out of the shower
and letting our feet dry completely, to make sure that each toenail got a good dose.
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Another option is to
apply vinegar at night before going to sleep. We found it was just
harder to remember to do this consistently. The most important thing
we found is to remember to do this once per day until the nail infected
with fungus grows out,
which can take between 3 months and one year. After we started applying
vinegar to the nail, we found that the new nail growth near the cuticle
was free of the fungus. We found that if we discontinued use or
missed some days, the fungus would begin to creep down towards the
cuticle.
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As our toenails grew out,
we would cut away the infected parts of the nails. To avoid
infecting all of our nails, we only used one toenail clipper for the
infected nails. After new clean toenails grow in
and all of the infected toenails grow out and are cut away, we found some
peace of mind by just buying new toenail clippers.
The
theory for why this works is that the growth of the fungus is thwarted in an
acid environment, and thrives in an alkaline environment. Vinegar is
acidic, but most soap is alkaline in nature and so encourages toenail fungus
growth. This also appears to be the case with the fungus that causes
Athlete’s Foot, and is why we also found that the vinegar treatment works to
heal Athlete's Foot too.
Note:
Some people try this solution but give up because it does not “cure” the
already infected part of the toenail. We found that we just needed to
be patient and apply vinegar daily until the healthy nail grows out and the
fungus infected part can be cut away. We started to see results in one month.
However we found that the key point was to apply vinegar daily, and be
patient. Whenever we veered away from the daily application of
vinegar, we found the fungus would grow back.
Other
natural treatments include:
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Tea Tree Oil – can be
applied daily like vinegar with Qtip. Caution, may be
irritating to skin.
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Hydrogen Peroxide – can
be applied daily like vinegar with Qtip or dropper.
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Baking Soda
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Gentian Violet
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Coconut Oil
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