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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Get Rid Of Toenail Fungus The Natural Way

If your toenails are yucky and discolored, odds are you have toenail fungus.  If you're a woman and you wear bright colored nail polish make sure, first, it isn't the polish that's discoloring the toenails. I used to paint my toenails a bright red color and found that when I removed the polish my nails were a yellowish color, particularly my big toe. Since I switched to a lighter nail varnish, and now use a clear polish as a base coat, my toenails are back to normal. However, it did take a very long time for that to happen.

If you've been diagnosed with nail fungus, doctors will prescribe a topical or oral medication to get rid of it. However, it can take up to a year or more to cure the fungus, and even then it doesn't always work.

If you're like me, I'd rather try a natural remedy before I put chemicals into or onto my body, especially if the end result is zippo difference. Thankfully, there are a bunch of home remedies that some people swear by, but those too can take a long time.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: In tablet form- take 2 per day, and apply ACV directly to the effected toes until it's gone.

CEYLON CINNAMON LEAF OIL:   Soak or spray your feet with a mixture of Cinnamon oil and water.  1-2% diluted ratio of oil to water. According to one person this worked within a month. They also recommend drinking tea made with cinnamon stick or cinnamon black tea. Drink a cup every day for 1 to 3 months, this apparently helps get rid of Candida, which can also be a cause of toenail fungus.

LISTERINE:  Soak with Listerine or apply with a cotton swab every day.


TEA TREE OIL:  With a cotton ball apply to the toe morning and night.

VICKS VAPO RUB: Rub it on your toenails every day.  Okay, so this isn't that natural, but it's cheap (as are all these remedies compared to the Western medications for fungus) and it worked for my sister. It took my sister a year before it finally was gone, but others have had it disappear within several weeks. I think the length of time depends on how quickly your toenails grow and whether you continue to use nail polish. Some people believe there might be a connection between nail polish and toe fungus with women.

WHITE MALT VINEGAR:  Use as a foot soak. In a small basin combine vinegar with water soak feet every day for about 30 minutes.

And some people use a combination of some of the above mentioned remedies.

LISTERINE/VINEGAR/SALT/VICKS:  Mix 1/4 cup Listerine, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup warm water and some salt. Soak foot for about 30 minutes every night, then apply Vicks to toenails.

LISTERINE/VINEGAR/TEA TREE OIL: Another person mixed half vinegar and half Listerine and applied this to the toenails every evening. In the morning, after showering, they would apply a drop of tea tree oil on the effected nails

For anything greasy like tea tree oil, or gunky like Vicks, most people apply at night and then use clean socks to prevent staining sheets.

I have read about some other more unorthodox treatments like applying Clorox Bleach, but I'd be very wary of using such a harsh product like that.

They are also working on treating nail fungus with laser light therapy, but it's relatively new and still in the process of clinical studies.

Bottom line, you have to have patience and be very diligent, but most people have been able to rid themselves of the nasty toe fungus with one or more of the above.