What does anyone know about this? Is there some other herbal or essential oil remedy, either internal or topical? Does the infection seem worse because it's being "drawn" to the surface? Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated!

Susan

The source of the infection is in the nail bed where new nail is formed and externally applied oils, ointments, creams etc will have limited ability to treat it.

There are good oral medictions that do work for these infections; not herbal I know, but they work.

See the link below for PubMed article about nail infection.

Susan

I have had pretty good success with Apple cider vinegar. Get the kind with the "mother" in it. I use Bragg's. Just
use an eyedropper and drop a few ACV's on the nail infection.

My doctor told me also that prescription anti-fungul oral medication was not worth ingesting. Very serious side effects!

Good Luck

XM

He says not to use regular vinegar. My nails are slowly improving. Some people claim Colloidal Silver will cure it but when I tried it my 2 slightly infected nails became 3 severely infected nails, perhaps because the silver killed off bacteria and yeasts holding the fungus in check. I also use some Tea Tree Oil & Vit. E oil to sooth irritation if my skin is irritated when I do the vinegar. I've tried some Oregano oil, Black Walnut tincture, or Grapefruit seed extract in oil, and the Menthol & Camphor oil salve. Desitin under a band-aid can be used to soothe the skin if it becomes really sore or cracked. I think any of these require application several times a day for a long time, but the vinegar does seem to cause a slow improvement- 2 out of 3 of my nails are now visibly normal, though the skin around them is still slightly affected. I won't use the prescription medicines because they can cause liver damage. Getting the right chelated multi-minerals and also taking beef gelatin can help the nails to grow right, too.

not being a big fan of doctors, I could only wonder what nail #3 would do....as it had started growing out by then.

About that time, a lady told me that Vicks Vaborrub would help my problem...what the heck...I slathered the stuff on the nail...when I went to bed, being careful not to let it touch the sheets and be rubbed off, at least before I fell asleep...and I only did it 2-3 times...the nail is coming back and I can see the part that had started growing before the Vicks Vaporrub, looks ugly, but the rest of the toenail looks normal...not only that the redness I had around the toenail is also gone....Worked for me,

hope it helps....

Have been using this for some time. Nails cleared up. Follow instructions to a "T". It was available at my Drugstore over the counter.

Also, for initial treatment, heat vinegar/water to as hot as you can stand it. Soak toes for an hour adding more hot vinegar/water as it cools off. This will soften your toenails and allow you to clean under the nails with a pick. If you don't want to use vinegar, water will do. Trim you toenails as short as you can without drawing blood. This allows Mycocide to penetrate under the nail better. Don't forget to apply Mycocide to the quick around the nail as well as under. Let dry before going to bed or putting on socks. Change socks daily!

Howard

In a few tablespoons of olive oil, add cushed garlic and shredded calendula leaves, and on VERY low heat simmer for 5 minutes. Alow this to cool and steep overnight.

To the Vit E cream add 1-2 tablespoons of the above oil (strained first), and 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil.

Apply 4 times daily to affected areas.

John

We spent a fortune on a medication which the doctor prescribed for my husband's nail fungus and it did nothing to cure it. It was supposed to be the only effective remedy. Well, it wasn't. I then applied vinegar directly to his toes and got rid of the fungus very quickly.

The problem with any fungus is moisture and a lack of air circulation. That is how you get mildew in the garden. People who wear open sandals or thongs don't have nail fungus problems. My husband wears closed shoes all year round, even in the summer. No wonder he had a fungus problem. The foot sweats in the summer and creates the perfect environment for the proliferation of fungi.

Other good fungus remedies are tea tree oil and natural source vitamin A, squeezed directly from the capsule. The vinegar is definitely the cheapest and also the most effective.

try thyme...fresh better than dried. gather 1 loosely packed cup, add 1 cup boiling water poured over it, and I use one of those little submersion blenders on it. store in the fridge, and apply with an eyedropper or paintbrush (when we started, we soaked cotton balls in the solution, and used it as a poultice)

this has worked on my husband's 'jungle rot' (he wears the same damned pair of combat boots for weeks at a time, and wonders why he gets athlete's foot, and funky toenails?) as well as a weird fungal thing that I initially went to the Dr for...and the scrip was close to $100 WITH my insurance...

the hell you say ;)!

Is the website the spammer in the previous message linked to based in China? It doesn't seem like something a native English speaker would have put together (and that doesn't even begin to cover all the incorrect information it cites). As to the product being touted, people looking for herbal antifungal treatment are probably best advised to stick with tea tree oil and not pay more for a bunch of other ingredients with no proven efficacy in treating fungal infection.

1) Clinical trials have to date been very small and reportedly of low quality in at least one instance

2) There's potential for harm to healthy tissue

3) Your health insurance probably won't cover the cost

And of course there's nothing herbal about laser therapy, so promoting it is out of place in this forum.

What'd be a real miracle is if you got your $20 back after the suggested "cure" turns out to be worthless.

Is that Naples, ITALY? Or Naples, FLORIDA??

Charlie in Arizona
The Herbalist

What he's promoting is a synthetic resin applied to nails as a cosmetic treatment (by podiatrists, apparently). Some claim this reduces spread of nail fungus or even cures it - while others warn that it only improves the appearance of nails and doesn't treat the infection. The website Kevin links to only lists patient testimonials and no studies on effectiveness/safety/long-term success of the treatment (not a good sign). If there have been clinical studies, I don't see them listed on PubMed.

Here are some listed ingredients of this resin product:

"Urethane acrylate oligomer, aliphatic polyesterurethane acrylate, HPMA, polyesterurethane acrylate, silica, piroctone olamine, BHT, p-hydroxyanisole, hydroquinone
Clear: Methylbenzoylformiate Opaque: Titanium dioxide, Methylbenzoylformiate"

Doesn't sound herbal to me. :)

Oh, and I think you can count on these folks being in Naples, Florida, not Italy.

Charlie
The Herbalist

I know that UV-C causes cell damage, but if a person was to protect the skin by covering the surrounding area, and give a timed few seconds "burst" of UV to the nail only, It would seem likely to work.

There are these pocket UV sterilizers wands, I may get one.

meantime, I am using an OTC anti-fungal and tea tree oil, and if I really get on top of it and use it twice a day, there seems to be improvement. my problem is in 1 toe nail, I had an ingrown toenail infection, about 25 years ago, which required minor super painful cutting, and this nail is curved and partly separated in the middle from the skin underneath, so its difficult to treat because normal heat and moisture from work doesn't help. ( I cant use sandals where i work ).

I heard Oregano oil is also a great anti-fungal, also soaking your feet in warm water that has a little chlorine,
and baking soda, this worked great for my athletes foot I had years back.