10 incredible home remedies for nail fungus you should know

10 incredible home remedies for nail fungus you should know

Here you will find the most common home remedies for nail fungus. Even if it is sometimes difficult to find the right home remedy, sometimes it is not that far away. You already have most of the home remedies in your household, as the name suggests.

Nail fungus is common but can be difficult to treat, especially when it is severe and affects most nails. Regardless of the treatment, nails should be trimmed and preferably debrided (i.e. most of the damaged nail should be removed) before using the product. Change socks daily and wear shoes that are well ventilated and allow your feet to breathe.

Research has shown that the following home remedies are effective for nail fungus, in some cases even more effective than prescription or over-the-counter medications:

• Wick Vaporub
• Schlangenwurzelextrakt (Ageratina pichinchensis)
• Teebaumöl (Malaleuca alternifolia)
• Oreganoöl
• Ozonisiertes Olivenöl

Other home remedies that may work but have no studies supporting their use to treat nail fungus include:

• Listerine-Mundspülung
• Olivenblattextrakt
• Apfelessig
• Knoblauch
• Backpulver

Home remedies for nail fungus

Vicks Vaporub

83% (15 out of 18) of people who applied Wick Vaporub to their fungal nails once a day for 48 weeks showed a positive treatment effect: 27.8% reported mycological and clinical cure and 55.6% reported partial clearance.

Only 3% of participants experienced no change. All 18 people rated their satisfaction with the appearance of the nails at the end of the treatment as satisfied or very satisfied. Wicks Vaporub's active ingredients, including thymol, menthol, camphor and eucalyptus oil, have been proven effective in killing fungi in laboratory studies.

Wick Vaporub had a 27.8% cure rate in this study of 18 people with nail fungus, but almost all reported some improvement.

Snake root extract (Ageratina picinchensis)

Snake root extract has long been used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat fungal skin infections. In a study comparing a topical solution of snake root extract with 8% ciclopirox for the treatment of nail fungus in 96 people, it was reported that snake root extract was therapeutically effective in 71.1% and mycological cure occurred in 59.1%, while 80.9% experienced therapeutic efficacy of ciclopirox and 63.8% mycological healing information. No serious side effects were reported with either treatment.

Snake root extract used every third day in the first month, twice a week in the second month, and once a week in the third month was only slightly less effective than prescription ointments in treating and curing nail fungus.

Tea tree oil (Malaleuca alternifolia)

100% tea tree oil applied directly to infected toenails twice daily was comparable to treatment with a 1% clotimazole solution twice daily. 60% in the tea tree oil group reported complete or partial healing and 18% mycological healing at 6 months, compared to 61% and 11% in the clotrimazole group, respectively.
In another study, a combination of an antifungal (butenafine 2%) and a 5% tea tree oil cream was found to have an 80% cure rate, while the cure rate when using tea tree oil alone was 0%.

Tea tree oil improved the appearance of nails just as well as clotrimazole 1% after 6 months of use, but using tea tree oil in combination with an antifungal appears to be much more effective.

Oregano oil

Oregano oil contains thymol, which research shows has excellent antifungal and antibacterial effects. Although there are no studies on the use of oregano oil for nail fungus, a study using a combined topical treatment with oregano, lime and tea tree essential oils reported a complete mycological cure of 78.5% after 12 months of once daily use.

Oregano oil has antifungal properties and may be effective in treating nail fungus, but clinical trials are lacking, although a topical combination treatment combining oregano oil with limonene and tea tree oils demonstrated a 78.5% cure rate after 12 months of use.

Ozonated olive oil and other ozonated oils

Ozonated olive oil is a combination of olive oil and ozone and is made by treating the olive oil with ozone, creating a reservoir of ozone that is slowly released into the skin or nail area. Ozone is one of the best bactericidal, antifungal and antiviral agents known and represents a promising and necessary alternative to current antimicrobials because it is cheap to produce and can avoid resistance. A laboratory study showed that ozonated olive oil inhibited the growth of five different strains of fungi, although to a lesser extent than traditional remedies.

In another study that compared ozonated olive oil to 2% ketoconazole cream twice daily for three months, it was found that 90.5% were cured with Oleozone and 9.5% reported improvement in their nail fungus, while only 13.5% were cured with ketoconazole and 27.5% experienced improvement. The condition remained unchanged in 59%.

Ozonated oils, including ozonated olive oil, are promising antifungal agents that appear to be significantly more effective than traditional remedies in treating nail fungus.

Listerine mouthwash

The original Listerine mouthwash contains ingredients such as thymol, menthol and eucalyptol, which have antifungal and antibacterial properties, and there is a trend for Listerine foot soaks to treat athlete's foot and other athlete's foot infections such as toenail fungus.

A 20 to 30 minute foot bath with Listerine softens the nail plate so that the natural antifungal agents contained in Listerine, such as thymol and eucalyptol, can penetrate the nail and kill the fungus; however, there are no studies supporting its use.

Olive leaf extract

Olive leaf extract contains oleuropein, which is said to have antifungal and antibacterial properties, and some studies have shown it to be effective against the yeast Candida albicans. There is some evidence that it may be effective against nail fungus when taken orally (by mouth), but no high-quality studies could be found.

Olive leaf extract may be effective in treating nail fungus, but no studies have been found to support its use.

Apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar can lower the pH of the skin, which can reduce the number of unwanted fungi on the skin and treat nail and athlete's foot infections. Some experts recommend adding two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to a foot bath of lukewarm water and soaking in it for 20 minutes. This may be less irritating than Listerine foot soaks.

Apple cider vinegar may be effective in treating nail fungus, but no studies have been found to support its use.

Garlic

Garlic has powerful antifungal properties and is one of the oldest home remedies for treating toenail fungus. Most people crush a clove of garlic and apply it to the infected nail once daily for 20 to 30 minutes. But garlic can irritate the skin, and the smell puts many people off.

Garlic is a known nail fungus remedy, but there are no clinical studies to support its use, and it can irritate the skin and have an unpleasant odor.

Sodium bicarbonate

Baking soda made into a paste and applied to the infected nail for 15 minutes three to four times daily will remove excess moisture from the nail, which may reduce fungal growth but is unlikely to eliminate the fungus completely.

Bottom line: Baking soda may help remove excess moisture from feet, but it is unlikely to eliminate toenail fungus and there are no clinical studies to support its use.

The following articles may also help you as they look at the same topic from a different light:

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