A podiatrist called my toenail fungus severe. I’ve had most of my toenails removed twice and, both times, they’ve grown back and turned fungus-y very quickly. In January I started applying a good layer of iodine to every toenail almost every day. Definitely every day I’ve had on shoes and/or socks. I can now see healthy, clear toenails at the base of the nails. The tops of the nails have also cleared up noticeably.
I know it’s a super difficult thing to get rid of so I thought I’d share.
Huh. I have a mild case and was looking for a home remedy just the other day. I wonder if there’s any iodine in the house?
So I’m guessing the drawback is that you live with brownish colored nails until the unhealthy nail has completely cycled out?
I used Lamisil every day for a year and got pretty good results, but it sounds like you were starting from a somewhat worse situation.
I know someone who treated his with very strong vinegar. He kept it wrapped up with a cotton bandage soaked in vinegar all day complaining that it burned. It either worked in one day or he never did it again. I’ve heard of a number of iodine cures related to fungus. If it works it works, I’ve seen iodine combined with selenium in something. I assume you’ve tried selenium products unsuccessfully already.
Yes. They don’t look pretty that’s for sure. Apparently you can get clear iodine but I couldn’t find any in the pharmacy so I just went with the regular. It does wash off in the shower though. I scrub them with a nail brush and most of the colour is gone until I apply a new layer.
I just checked Amazon, and they have clear Iodine “for toenail fungus.” So, it’s apparently a known cure/treatment.
I cured mine with OTC athlete’s foot cream. I trimmed the nail as far back as was comfortable, then every time i got out of the shower, I used the tip of a nail file to scrape any softened keratin out from under the remaining nail. Then I applied anti-fungal cream containing clotrimazole (like Lotramin) under the nail, and covered it with a band-aid. I did this 3-4 times a week for four months, and eventually the old nail fell off and there was a new nail growing out under it. It has stayed clear since then, for several years.
I should get some to have on hand. I have really nice fingernails and I always worry that they will also get infected.
I treated mine with ordinary kitchen white vinegar. A few drops morning and night, let it dry before putting on socks or getting into bed. Done faithfully, it worked very well. Since then, I have used OTC liquid anti-fungal in a little jar with a brush, which quickly clears up any flare-ups (which have pretty much stopped by now). I also occasionally spray the inside of my house slippers with dry anti-fungal spray.
Someone once told me, or I read somewhere, that fungus just can’t live in an acid environment. It doesn’t take industrial-strength products, at least mine didn’t.
I got rid of mine with Vicks VapoRub.
One of my big toe’s nail had a pretty bad case of toenail fungus for about 30 years. Over that span I tried just about anything, including stuff I read on here, to get rid of it. Nothing worked. Come to find out that anything topical is basically useless because it never reaches the thing it can kill.
Bite the bullet and get on the lamisil pills, throw out and replace all of your socks, and get a topical anti fungal that you can apply every day after you get out of the shower. This is the only thing that has permanently worked for me.
I’d be really skeptical of some of the home remedies recommended here. If you really want to solve this, go to a podiatrist.
I also used Vicks vaporub on toenails. It worked quickly. I applied it and then wrapped the toe overnight.
Frankly, I was amazed at how well it worked.
In another place, I read that the legal beagles at Vick’s make it clear that they make no anti-fungal claims. My foot doc, though, recommends it.
Another cure, similarly disclaimed by the manufacturer, is soaking the feet in a 1-to-1 yellow Listerine/water solution for 20 minutes every 2 weeks. Getting this done with the least amount of Listerine can be done with gallon-size Ziplock bags, one for each foot. For my size 13s, it takes 4 ounces of water & 4 ounces of Listerine per foot. Do it before a shower, so your feet don’t smell like that all day.