The question of how to cure nail fungus with folk remedies worries many of those who have encountered this disease for the first time. And this is not surprising. The disease causes a lot of inconvenience to both the sick and their families, who are forced to take certain measures to prevent infection.
Before choosing how to treat nail fungus in unconventional ways, you need to know that such therapy can be effective only at the first stage of the disease.In other cases, you need to use medications.
Traditional medicine
Consider how the treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies is carried out, and we will analyze the most effective of them.
Iodine
Treatment of a fungus with folk remedies is often done with the help of iodine. And this is quite natural. The tool folds the proteins and, accordingly, destroys them. But the causative agents of mycoses have a protein structure.
Consider how to treat toenail fungus with folk remedies in this case.
Variations in the use of iodine:
- To treat toenail fungus, you should take a small basin, fill it with heated water, pour iodine into it and put your feet on for 11 minutes. At the end of the treatment, it is required to cut off the dead elements of the nails, and treat the skin in the immediate vicinity of them with hydrogen peroxide. At the end of the procedure, an antibacterial ointment should be applied to the treated areas and fixed with a bandage.
- In order to quickly cure the fungus on the toenails, you should take the Castellani liquid and treat the affected areas with it. Treatment should be done twice a day for 14 days. After the specified period, the remedy must be replaced with iodine (for 2 weeks), and then the latter should be replaced with 9% vinegar (for 2 weeks).
- To treat a fungus on the legs, you should take a 5% iodine solution and apply it to the affected surface. It is necessary to perform the procedure twice a day, and unaffected nails should also be smeared. Processing in the latter case is carried out once every two days.
- Another way to cure a fungal infection quickly is to use a mixture of iodine, acetic acid, chloronitrophenol and garlic juice. These components should be mixed in the same proportion, and the resulting mixture should be applied to the steamed nail plates. Processing is required at night before bedtime.
Occasionally, folk remedies for nail fungus involve the combined use of a solution of salt and iodine. For cooking, you need to take a liter of heated water, dilute 2 tbsp. l. sea salt, purchased at the pharmacy, and a tablespoon of table salt, purchased at the store, and pour the mixture into a small bowl. In the bath prepared in this way, you should put your feet. After half an hour, you need to take scissors and cut off the dead elements of the nails. Then the limbs should be washed with laundry soap, and the affected areas should be treated with iodine. Moreover, the product should be applied to the nails three times.
This procedure should be carried out daily for 30 days.
Before using the drug, it should be noted that it:
- destroys far from all types of fungi;
- leads to the development of allergic reactions and dermatitis;
- paints the nail yellow;
- burns;
- provokes a malfunction of the thyroid gland;
- can be used exclusively for small areas of damage (up to 1/3 of the nail).
Vinegar
It is no secret that an acidic environment destroys pathogens of mycoses. And so the vinegar treatment has gained incredible popularity among people who want to deal with them. Consider how to cure nail fungus with this remedy:
- To treat nail fungus, you should take 9% vinegar, spread it on your nails and put something on your feet. A variation of this method is the lubrication of diseased nails and skin with a solution made from iodine and vinegar, mixed in equal proportions. Processing is done daily before going to bed.
- Vinegar lotions. In the treatment of nail fungus are used as follows. Soak a cotton swab in vinegar, squeeze it out and lay it on the nail surface so that it does not go beyond the borders of the nail. After that, the tampon needs to be fixed with a plaster, and a sock should be put on the foot. Processing is done once a day for 7 days. After the specified time, a break is made for 2-3 days and the course is repeated.
A variation of this method is the use for the preparation of lotions of a mixture of 2 tablespoons of vinegar, proteins from 3 eggs, 2 tbsp. l. vodka.
A swab dipped in the resulting product is applied daily to the diseased nail plate. The duration of therapy is from six months to a year.
Another option for soaking tampons is a mixture of olive or any other oil and table or apple cider vinegar, taken in the same proportions. Processing is done daily until the nails are renewed.
Soda
Soda is no less popular than iodine or vinegar. Consider how toenail fungus is treated with this substance.
- Soap and soda baths. 3 tablespoons of ordinary baking soda and grated laundry soap are placed in 7 liters of heated water and mixed. The solution prepared in this way is poured into a small basin, and legs are placed in it. After a quarter of an hour, the dead elements of the nails are cut off. Then, antimycotic drugs are applied to the treated areas. Processing is done 2 times a week.
- Soda paste. The folk method of treating nail fungus with this remedy involves dissolving an amount of soda sufficient to process it to a mushy state. The slurry prepared in this way should be spread on the affected area. Drizzle freshly squeezed lemon juice on top of baking soda. After five minutes, the paste must be removed, and the limbs washed with warm water and laundry soap.
Tea mushroom
As you know, kombucha, immersed in sweet tea for a week, allows you to prepare a healing drink that has an excellent taste and is used in the treatment of many diseases. That is why the treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies involves its use for the preparation of rubbing and compresses. Rubbing involves cleansing the fungus, grinding it and rubbing it into the affected tissues a couple of times a day.
Compresses are made as follows. One layer comes off the fungus and is soaked in clean water for 12 hours. Before going to bed, a part of the soaked fungus is applied to the nail plate, after which the finger is wrapped in cellophane. Upon completion of the specified action, several socks are put on the foot. The procedure is done daily.
In the morning, the compress is removed, the leg is cleaned with warm water and dead tissue pieces are removed. The injured surface is treated with a concentrated solution of manganese permanganate or brilliant green.
Processing is repeated for 10 days.
Tar and soap from it
Birch tar is a substance obtained during the distillation of birch bark and is successfully used both as an antiseptic and as an anti-inflammatory agent. Consider how to treat toenail fungus with tar. And, first of all, we note that the therapy of mycosis of the nail plate with the indicated substance implies its use both in its pure form and as part of an ointment.
When using pure tar, the latter is applied to pre-steamed and treated feet (nails must be trimmed and dead skin removed). For half an hour after the procedure, rest should be observed - it is undesirable to put on something on your feet and move during this period (tar must penetrate into the tissues, subject to air access). After soaking the ointment, put on cotton or linen socks and do not remove them for several days. After the specified time, the feet are washed with soap in cold water and the treatment is repeated.
In order to prepare an ointment that allows you to get rid of mycosis, you need to take a greasy base, such as a cream for children, and mix it with tar. At the initial stage of therapy, the concentration of tar in the product should not exceed 5%, however, by the end of treatment it should reach 20%.
A variation of the described remedy is a tar-sulfur ointment, consisting of a mixture of sulfur powder, tar and cream for children in a ratio of 2: 3: 10. These ingredients are heated and thoroughly mixed, and the finished product is applied to the diseased nail and hidden under the patch.
In addition, you can be treated with a talker, consisting of 50 ml of tar, 50 ml of glycerin, 70 ml of alcohol. These components are mixed in dark glassware, and the finished product is applied to the affected area several times a day.
If there is no desire to prepare an ointment or talker, you can take tar soap containing about 10% tar.
In the treatment of nail fungus, it can be applied as follows:
- Tar-soda mixture. To prepare the product, 1 tablespoon of grated soap should be diluted in water, add 2 teaspoons of soda and mix well. The mixture resulting from these actions should be rubbed into the diseased nail. Processing is done once a day with a hard toothbrush.
- Soap with salt. To treat the fungus of the nail plates, the feet should be properly lathered, and then sprinkled with salt and wrapped with a bandage. Remove the bandage in the morning and wash the feet with warm water.
How to treat nail fungus
Despite the fact that, under certain conditions, folk remedies for toenail fungus can give certain results, you should not fully rely on them - this can lead to an aggravation of the course of the disease. More effective will be therapy with a traditional medicine prescribed by a doctor, based on the type of pathogen and the severity of the disease. And, of course, you should not run your legs - the treatment in this case will be long.