The antifungal properties also make vinegar soaks a good idea for people who have toenail fungus. Soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes daily in a vinegar bath until the infection subsides. You can increase the length of time in the soak gradually. It may take two to three weeks or longer to see improvement in symptoms.
Despite its rather rancid scent, vinegar can prove to be quite useful in a wide variety of situations. The best type of vinegar to treat toenail fungus is apple cider vinegar, a very acidic and strong solution that destroys toenail fungus at the source.
Add about one cup of vinegar to each gallon of water and soak your feet for 15 minutes per day until the symptoms improve. Toenail fungus can be improved (although rarely cured) with this technique too, although you need to increase the concentration: one part vinegar to two parts water.
Apple cider vinegar is a popular remedy for toenail fungus due to its antifungal properties. If you want to treat your fungus using ACV, you can soak your feet in a mixture of warm water and the vinegar for about 15 minutes, twice a day.
The fastest way to eliminate the infection is through toenail laser treatment. Laser nail therapy specifically targets the microorganisms under your nail while leaving the keratin intact. In just a few treatments, the infection can be entirely eliminated.
Lamisil Terbinafine Antifungal Cream treats fungus all over the body, including athlete's foot, making it the best overall choice.
Tea Tree Oil
This oil comes from a tree in Australia. It's a popular treatment for many conditions, including foot fungus. Research shows it works as well as clotrimazole, which is found in many OTC treatments.
Oral antifungal drugs.
These drugs are often the first choice. One option is itraconazole (Sporanox). These drugs help a new nail grow free of infection, slowly replacing the infected part. You typically take this type of drug daily for 6 to 12 weeks.
A pharmacist can help with fungal nail infections
nail-softening cream – it's used for 2 weeks to soften the nail so the infected part can be scraped off.
“Applying Vicks VapoRub to fungus-infected toenails can clear up the notoriously hard-to-treat condition. Michigan State University clinicians found that applying the product daily to the infected nail cleared the condition in 32 of 85 patients, though it took anywhere from 5 to 16 months…”
Dr. Ioli, who is chief of the podiatry service at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, suggested that daily applications of Vicks VapoRub might be at least as effective as most of the topical treatments for toenail fungus that are available by prescription or over the counter.
Baking soda. Add baking soda to a foot soak to try to heal the affected nail. You can also make a paste of baking soda with a minimal amount of water and apply it directly to the foot. Allow the paste to sit on the affected area for 10 to 20 minutes, then rinse with warm water and dry the foot thoroughly.
What if Nail Removal IS Considered? With laser therapy, topical medications, and oral antifungals in our arsenal, we almost never have to actually remove toenails to treat a fungal infection. It does still remain a rare possibility, however, if the case is extreme or continues to come back.
Here are some things you can do to take care of your nails while you have a fungal nail infection: Keep your nails cut short and file down any thick areas. Don't use the same nail trimmer or file on healthy and infected nails.
Prescription topical treatments.
Filing down the surface of the nail may enable them to penetrate more deeply into the nail or the nail bed. In studies, their cure rate averaged around 35%.
The antifungal properties also make vinegar soaks a good idea for people who have toenail fungus. Soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes daily in a vinegar bath until the infection subsides. You can increase the length of time in the soak gradually. It may take two to three weeks or longer to see improvement in symptoms.
For a severe infection, your doctor can give you an antifungal pill that you'll take for as long as 12 weeks. Studies show that drugs like terbinafine (Lamisil) and itraconazole (Sporanox) work best to help a new, healthy nail grow in to replace the infected one.
Toenails are made up of multiple layers stacked on top of each other. Toenail fungus can be tough to get rid of because it can get into and in between those layers. It may also sit on top of the nail or grow underneath it. In some cases, fungus can get into the cells that make the nail, called the nail matrix.
A 1994 study found that tea tree oil applied directly to toenail fungus is as effective as clotrimazole cream. Clotrimazole is an antifungal cream available on prescription or from a pharmacy.
When used topically, tea tree oil is believed to be antibacterial. Tea tree oil is commonly used to treat acne, athlete's foot, lice, nail fungus and insect bites.
Nail polish traps in moisture from your nailbed (the tissue below your toenail). Because fungi thrive in moist environments, wearing nail polish may make a fungal infection worse.
Many people pick up the fungi when they have skin-to-skin contact with someone who has a fungal infection such as athlete's foot or ringworm on their hands. Another common way to get a fungal nail infection is by walking barefoot in a warm, moist area such as a pool deck or locker room.
This overgrowth is called subungual hyperkeratosis. People with hyperkeratosis may notice a white, chalky substance under the nail. When this occurs in the toenails, the pressure of shoes pushing down on the nails might cause pain.