I'm sure you've already spent months trying to figure this out. That is alright. I've spent years. And you know what? I'm going to provide the information to you for free. Why? Because Lamisil is deadly and I'm tired of hearing/seeing/reading about all the bunk remedies out there that do not work.
Toenail Fungus Treatments That DON'T work
Vick's vapor rub - this may be effective if on infant toenails and in only the mildest of cases. I'm not impressed with it though.
Tea Tree Oil - alone it is garbage. If it is mixed with another ingredient, it will be more effective in the beginning stages. Look below.
Topical creams, oils, lotions in pharmacies and drugstores - crap. They may claim to work but they do not. Save your money. Read the fine print. Even if it is called Toenail Fungus Blaster, the back of the package will read, 'not for toenail fungus.' Go to there and read yourself - I'm serious!
Copper ionotophoresis - forget it. All you are doing is driving toxic copper into your bloodstream. Plus, it is costly.
Toenail Fungus Treatments That Work
Now do not get all excited. It takes commitment on your part to get an effective treatment. More often than not, a month of daily effort is needed to rid yourself of the toenail fungus. It is also a matter of severity. If your toenail fungus is so bad that your nails are 1/4" thick and curling, you will need to have them surgically removed.
I will provide the effective toenail fungus treatments in order of most severe to least severe:
Surgical removal of nail --> Lamisil --> Acidophilis Beer Soak --> DMSO/Tea Tree --> Vicks
Surgical Removal of Toenail Fungus: This is the worst case scenario obviously. If you toenails are so thickened and curling, it is nearly impossible to effectively treat these nails with anything. You can try the other treatments I suggest but the likelihood of success may not be what you want.
Lamisil: This stuff is not just extremely expensive. It is extremely hepatotoxic - liver damaging. I took it as I didn't know about the other treatments. I didn't need surgery as the toenail fungus wasn't so gnarly but Vick's didn't work and Tea Tree oil didn't work. So while in Russia, I bought up enough Lamisil to fix me up and swallowed it for 2 months daily. Ouch. Luckily I only paid about $125 for the Lamisil. Here in the USA you are talking about $1500 dollars plus for enough Lamisil to effectively treat the fungus. That hurts - especially when insurance doesn't cover it. What else hurts is one's liver. The metabolites of Lamisil are truely damaging to the liver so I recommend talking with a trained Naturopathic physician about how to repair your liver during and after the Lamisil treatment. Luckily, the liver is one tough organ. Did you know that you can lop off 1/3rd of your liver and it will grow back!?! Truely.
Acidophilis Beer Soak: Sounds hilarious and like a gimmick but believe me, the little fungal critters under your nail start running when they taste bacteria-riddled Guiness Stout. I would never believe in this remedy had it not come from a respected professor/doctor of mine. He has used it effectively all but once. That one time was due to him using capsule acidophilis, lite beer and apple cider vinegar. That won't work.
What to do:
Buy dark beer, white vinegar, sachets of acidophilis (or powdered 50 billion organisms
Get a tub big enough for the treatment area (cat boxes are good - new ones please!)
Add 1 liter of room temperature dark beer, 1 liter of white vinegar, 50 billion acidophilis bacteria.
Soak feet in this solution for 20 minutes before turning in at night.
Get big container and pour all solution into it and put into refridgerator. This saves you money as you can resuse it.
Repeat using the same solution but add just enough hot water to make the solution warm.
Every 3rd time, add another 50 billion organisms to the solution
Do this daily for 30 days or until you see normal healthy toenail growth appearing.
If you add urea paste to the nail during the day and soak your toes in the solution at night, the tinea unguinum will likely go away faster. You may also repeat the soaking in solution two times a day.
This will work. If you follow the directions as I've written them, your toenail fungus, tinea unguinum, onchomyosis - whatever you want to call it - will be dead and you again will have pretty nails. I promise.
DMSO and Tea tree oil treatment for toenail fungus: This may work but only in situations when the fungus is not severe. If the nail just shows sign of being infected, then give this a shot.
What to do:
Go to your local store and buy some DMSO and tea tree oil.
Clean and scrape your nails really well with water and soap.
Apply in equal parts [with a cotton ball or swab] a light layer of DMSO (99%) and tea tree or thuja essential oil to the toenail fungus.
Put a bandaid over the nails.
Repeat three times a day. Yep. 3x a day. Want the fungus gone? Good. 3 times a day
Remember - this only is effective if the tonail fungus is not severe. If you want it to really work, do the beer soaks.
Vicks Vapor Rub treatment for toenail fungus: I haven't seen it work but pediatricians claim that it does. Little kids' toenails are not so thick and supposedly the menthol penetrates and kills the fungus. My 2 year old had toenail fungus and this didn't kill it. It helped slow it down that's all.
So that is it. Those are the effective treatments. You can send a hug in the mail when you see your fungus gone. And you can also tell people about this awesome blog entry - I truely want to help the public gain health without drugs and this entry should definitely help.
All the ingredients written about are easy to obtain except the urea paste. This has to be prescription from a physician. Saprox Natural Antifungal Treatment. Saprox is a natural antifungal mud from the Czech Republic. It works quickly and effectively. Simply apply it, let it dry and wash off once or twice a day until the fungus is gone. Saprox has not been proven to eliminate toenail fungus but if mixed with DMSO, it just may.
If you have any questions about what I have written about, do email me. I'll help you.
In health,
Ben
(c) 2005 Benjamin Lynch of HealthE Goods
The information presented here cannot be published anywhere else without the author's permission. The entire contents of this article are under copyright and one cannot use any of the information for commerical gain.
