What do I do to get rid of a nail fungus? I have tried tea tree oil, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide.
By Jeanette B.
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I would suggest you visit a good dermatologist. My mom had a nail fungus and tried all her friends "home" remedies. She finally went to the dermatologist and he gave her some meds to take care of the problem.
The fungus grew out as the nails grew long. It has never come back. Worth a try.
I have this on the middle toe of my right foot. I used Vick's vapor rub on it for 6 months, every time the nail grew out, my son would cut off the excess (I can't bend well enough anymore). It isn't totally healed but it is not sore.
Every night, I heavily apply Vicks' on affected toenail and cover it with cotton ball & bandaid. I also use a liquid over the counter antifungal oil in the am, but I dont cover it. I file it a little every night before the Vicks'. In 3 days, my toenail has loosened and is falling off. I will continue the antifungal oil (from CVS pharmacy) during the day. As soon as the nail is totally off, I will still use a thin layer of Vicks', uncovered at night. I also soak my foot 1-2 times a week in water with cider vinegar.
I'm a nurse and I know a podiatrist would have removed the toenail, but it would have been very painful and this was only slightly uncomfortable.
I had nail fungus on one toe and I finally went to the podiatrist and had a small section taken off of the side. It appears to have fixed it but it took a long time to grow back and it is a bit smaller than the matching toe on the other side.
I did try a bunch of home remedies first but I wasn't vigilant about any of them and it just kept getting worse. The most effective treatment seemed to be using Vicks Vaporub (I used generic). I did this both before and after I had the bit of nail removed.
At first, I would rub it in but it would get all over my hands and was so smelly. I started just dipping my whole toe in the jar and then used a Q-tip to push it in the cracks. It was my big toe so it was relatively easy to do this. I would do it at bedtime and put on socks to prevent the rub from getting on my sheets. Other things that seemed to help were soaking in very hot water, vinegar water or Listerine. I would often clean out underneath the nail after soaking and I kept it clipped very short.
My doctor said that the pills that are sometimes prescribed are not very effective and are very hard on your liver so she recommended just living with it. The podiatrist wasn't very confident about the treatment either but it did seem to prevent it from becoming ingrown as the bad part grew out. If it had just been discolored, I probably wouldn't have worried about it but it HURT! The skin next to and under the nail was sore and red.
Good luck, I hope someone has a more sure-fire cure. I would try the Vaporub as it can't hurt.
Just an update. The nail bed removal did not cure the nail fungus. It looked better for awhile but has been increasingly getting worse. I think that vigilance is the key to treating this at home. Be sure to treat it every day for months before deciding the treatment isn't working. Here is hoping I can find something that works and report back some good news.
Dear Jess, I also recommend a good dermatologist. It ended up being a fungus I couldn't get rid of without meds & a special cream. Then I thought it came back. Finally I went to the doctor again, and this time it is a yeast infection. It has taken me 3 years to clear this thing up!
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