Toenail fungus - any remedies?

[qb]

So far it's just a little patch on one toenail. My Dr. said that drug that's in all the magazine ads has to be taken for 3 or 4 months and it can really stress out your liver. I've made an appointment with a dermatologist, but in the meantime, has anyone had success with creams, soaking, anything else?

[rjbcar27]

1. A scythe?

[mjb4]

2. better question -- why are there ADS on TV

for this ailment now. why are there growing americans with this problem as with the Rosaea and other diseases....we are asking the wrong questions. This commercial is so GROSS to me each time I hurriedly switch the channel

[tjdee]

3. Vinegar and Vicks VapoRub.

I had some mold in a part of the basement carpet, looked online, and found that apparently vinegar is the miracle cure for lots of things.

Heinz hasn't applied for anything with the .... FDA (??), so they aren't allowed to say so, but vinegar kills something like 82% of molds---while looking, I found people who swear by white vinegar for toenail fungus. Takes a long time, though.

In my online travels, I also found people swearing by Vicks VapoRub.

Try googling vinegar, toenail fungus, and vaporub, see how you do.

Good luck!

[qb]

5. Thanks - I'll try it

There's nothing like a 99 cent solution to trump the pharmaceutical industry!

[tjdee]

11. Check out this site...

http://askwaltstollmd.com/fungus.html

He also has a bulletin board with a bunch of testimonials.

I don't know if I'd be patient enough to stick with it, but I'm very wary of taking drugs for everything...and like you said, I'm all for 99 cent solutions!

[LunaSea]

15. Excellent suggestion tjdee!

Previous generations cleaned damn near everything with vinegar and baking soda (Not together, mind you) ammonia, bleach, and simple soaps. We really don't need the majority of chemical cleansers marketed today. Granted there are some applications that require some serious chemistry, but many molds and fungi and other organics can be easily wiped out by simply altering the acidity of its environs. Less toxic materials to dump into the rivers as well.

I had a small bout of nail fungus once. Starved it off by keeping my feet clean and most importantly, dry. Changing socks two or three times a day did the trick for me. But it did take a while. Shoes provide the perfect enviroment for fungi too, gotta keep'em clean. Or replace them altogether. Soak those sneakers with a bit of bleach every few months.

I'd try lots of things before I tried a new drug with unknown long-term effects.

[KinkyDem]

4. Here's one

That drug your Dr warned you about...nasty shit! Blood work required every 4 weeks or some shit. Not for me.

The thing to ask him about is disolving the pills in a sollution and applying it to the nail itself. It will take a year or more to clear up but I'm told it will work.

6 weeks into my treatment.

[enkidu2]

10. umm

toe nail fungus is hard to get rid of, mostly harmless in nondiabetics, often recurs, the pills are expensive and have caused significant liver damage rarely. Penlac solution is a prescription topical therapy that (rarely)works but will not harm the liver. It seems to me the rest of your body would be happiest if you either tried the penlac alone or even better let the fungus stay

[kutastha]

6. Fungus

Fungi are really tough to deal with in the body, especially the nails (termed onychia). They get actually embedded into the nail, so you have to take the med for a long time, both since the nail grows so slowly and it's tough for meds to get in there. If you don't get all the fungus, it'll just keep coming back. If it spreads elsewhere, it's even worse news.

[Skittles]

7. CHANGE YOUR F***ING SOCKS ONCE IN A WHILE

oh, sorry about that. I'm cranky because I have a headache.

[qb]

18. Ahhhhh! Good advice!

If only I'd listened to my mother :)

[no_hypocrisy]

8. A few drops of oil of wild oregano. It's antibacterial and it is

supposed to heal. Ask at Vitamin Shoppe or your health food store or go on the internet for more information.

Feel better.

[ArkDem]

9. I've had several flare ups over the years.

My brother is a dermatologist and the two things I've gotten from him that actually work are Penlac lacquer or lamisil tablets. It takes a year of either. That stuff is really hard to kill.

[roughsatori]

12. Listerine

I heard that if you soak your toes in Listerine for 20 minutes a few times it gets rid of it. I just Googled: toenail fungus Listerine:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=toenail+fungus+listerine

My father says Tinactin liquid applied daily works. Also, dry your feet thoroughly after washing (I'm assuming you already do the washing).

[Mistress Quickly]

13. get the liquid

form of the pill, not just dissolve the pill (the pill is WAAYYYY too expensive anyway). But you have to put it UNDER and OVER your toenail. At least twice a day. OVER AND UNDER OVER AND UNDER OVER AND UNDER (i feel like I'm back in Jr High PE class doing, I dunno, something)

Anyway, my m.i.l. works at a podiatrist, and he tells all his patients that trick, because he thinks the pill form is way over priced, considering you have to take it for, oh, about 6 months (the infected part of the nail has to grow out). This way is much much cheaper. Not any quicker - but cheaper.

[Rainbowreflect]

14. Tea Tree Oil!

It's a great natural fungus fighter & it also kills pain.

[Interrobang]

17. Doesn't work on really tough fungi...

I was using tea tree oil on my toenail fungus for about six months, and I never noticed any difference, even in the nail that was growing in.

[Kolesar]

16. Lamisil is not effective and it stresses your liver

My podiatrist says about 20% effective. I don't know anybody who has treated toenail fungus effectively with lamisil (aka sporanox?).

He wants to just cut the toenail out--permanently. My nail is kind of crushed and deformed, so he said the fungus would just grow back someday when I get reinfected. Those fungi are common in nature.

I have been putting off surgery.