If you have had a nail fungal infection, finding an effectual remedy is of real importance to you. Finding home remedies for nail fungus infections can be pretty advantageous because the prescription medication the doctor offers you, has some huge drawbacks. First of all, it is awfully expensive and is often not covered by your insurance. They also come with some serious side effects, particularly on your liver. Like any nail fungus treatment, oral prescriptions take a significant amount of time to work.
Depending upon the severity of your nail fungus infection, home treatments can and do work… it just depends on the situation and how diligent you are in staying with the treatment. Some just don’t work, period, and you are wasting your time with them. Hopefully this article will give you the knowledge you need in finding one that works.
One of the first alternative treatments to come to mind is Listerine. This oral hygiene product has decent anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. However if your infection lies in the nail bed, then this most likely won’t soak in deeply enough to work. But you can try soaking the infected area for 10 to 20 minutes each night before sleep.
Vicks Vaporub may also work for you, but there are problems with the product marking bed linen and being rubbed off during the night. Wearing a protective cover can worsen the condition because to the protection could retain moisture, providing a good environment for the fungus. Not something you really want to do!
A third option is the use of colloidal silver. This substance also has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal qualities in it. You can use it via two different methods. You can apply it topically right to the nail itself as you do with many other nail fungus treatments. Or you can take it orally by using a teaspoon of it and swishing it around in your mouth for 5-10 minutes. It is absorbed through the mucus membranes in your mouth and you don’t have to actually swallow it. You can simply spit it out when you are done.
Some other remedies for mild cases of nail fungus are soaking the nail in apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, oregano oil, and lavender oil. As with Listerine, these have limited effectiveness if you have a moderate to severe fungal infection. They simply can’t soak in enough to treat the nail bed.
Dr. Jonathan Wright (Tahoma Clinic in Seattle, Washington) recommends using iodide (SSKI) along with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). He suggests a 50-50 mixture of the two elements. The DMSO allows for deeper penetration into the nail bed which gives the iodide a chance to work more effectively. This treatment has shown nail improvement in as little as two months. You can also use DMSO GEL with some of the other topical applications mentioned above.
If you have this irritating problem you need to take care of it before it becomes so bad that medical attention becomes an urgent necessity. Perhaps a good idea would be to start with the SSKI/DMSO treatment. Dr Wright is well-known and respected for his highly effective remedies. But make sure not to become re-infected or infect others in your family. There are also other patent herbal treatments on the market which are reputed to be highly effective – although I would be suspicious of any claiming overnight cures without substantial independent evidence. Effective nail fungus remedies are obviously highly important to people with this condition and we would be pleased if this information has helped you.