Healthy skin and nails are a source of pride for anyone. But what if the infection has damaged your appearance? The answer is simple: destroy the infection! One of the causative agents of diseases that spoil the outer skin is a fungus. For many centuries, people have learned to combat it using available natural remedies.
The favorite habitats of the fungus on the human body are the feet, hands and toenails. The pathogen multiplies in a warm, humid alkaline environment, so it is rarely found on the hands. The infection is spread from person to person and often occurs in places such as baths, saunas, and swimming pools. Another way of contagion is through common objects (shoes, towels).
In medicine, skin fungi are called mycoses, and if the pathogen has settled on the nails, it is called onychomycosis. Fungal disease is not easy to cure. If the disease is not diagnosed in time, it can take months of hard work to combat it. To treat fungus, all means are good, both medicines and folk recipes.
Nail fungus can be cured with home remedies, as long as the root part of the nail (matrix) and the nail bed are not affected. Deep penetration of the fungus into the tissue requires treatment with systemic drugs.
Signs indicating nail fungus:
- thickening and discoloration of the nail plate;
- looseness of the outer layer of the nail;
- fragility and splitting of the nail;
- redness, itching and burning in the nail fold;
- unpleasant smell from the nail.
If any of these symptoms appear on your nail, be sure to see a doctor. A dermatologist or mycologist diagnoses and treats fungal diseases.
Forums often discuss what home remedies can cure nail fungus. People share successful ways to get rid of nail fungus or complain that this or that medication didn't help.
Among the most effective means to get rid of fungus are the following:
- apple or table vinegar;
- celandine;
- iodine;
- tea mushrooms;
- garlic and onion;
- coffee.
How to quickly cure nail fungus?
Timely and correctly chosen treatment can help quickly eliminate nail fungus.
If you do not want to be treated with medications and decide to use traditional medicine, in any case consult your doctor.
Each of the traditional medicine remedies may help one person, but will be useless for another.
Therefore, to treat onychomycosis quickly and effectively, diagnosis and consultation in a medical institution are necessary.
How to get rid of nail fungus?
The causative agent of the disease can be destroyed or eradicated by external treatments: baths, compresses, applications. Fungi multiply in a moist alkaline environment and an acidic environment is harmful to them, which is why products such as vinegar and lemon are effective. Plants with strong bactericidal properties also fight fungi well.
Traditional toenail fungus treatment: effective recipes.
Vinegar. A universal remedy to treat fungus, even if it affects more than half of the nail. You can use both table vinegar and apple cider vinegar. If the nail plate is slightly damaged, perform a bath with 9% vinegar added at the rate of 1 part to 8 parts of water.
The procedure must be repeated every two days.
Popular recipes for nail fungus often contain vinegar as a component of the medicinal mixture. For example, a compress of vinegar, eggs and vodka. The mixture stores well in the refrigerator and uses as needed.How to do:
- Pour 2 tablespoons of vinegar essence and vodka into a container, add three egg whites, mix everything well.
- Soak a thin strip of bandage or a cotton swab in the resulting mixture and apply it to the sore nail for 15 minutes.
- Repeat daily until a new nail grows.
A similar recipe with vinegar has the following composition:
- vinegar essence - 1 teaspoon;
- dimethyl phthalate - 1 teaspoon;
- vegetable oil - 1 teaspoon;
- egg - 1 piece
Compresses are applied for several hours, and then the feet are rinsed with running water. Do it once a day for 4 days with the same rest interval. Treatment with this recipe continues until a healthy nail grows back.
Iodine. It is good to use it at an early stage of the disease. It is recommended to lubricate the diseased nail with iodine twice a day for 20 days. A slight burning sensation should not be alarming, but if severe pain occurs, the iodine should be diluted with water.
Garlic. The healing agent is used in the form of alcohol tincture, porridge or juice. There are many recipes based on garlic, because this remedy is very effective in combating fungi. The simplest is a compress of crushed garlic at night. Fresh paste is applied to the nail and secured with a bandage. If compresses for treatment for some reason are not acceptable, you can lubricate the nail with garlic juice.
In the popular treatment of toenail fungus, herbs such as euphorbia, celandine, tea tree oil, Kalanchoe, chamomile, calendula and rowan leaves are successful.
Spurge. This plant is popularly used to treat eczema, fungus, warts and purulent wounds. To combat fungus, it is necessary to lubricate the nail plates with milkweed juice twice a day. The treatment period usually does not exceed three weeks.
Celandine. It has established itself as an excellent means of combating fungi at different stages of the disease. It should be used with caution because the plant is poisonous. Pharmaceutical tincture of celandine is lubricated with nails affected by fungus or added to foot baths.
You can prepare a decoction for a bath from fresh or dried celandine. It is good to add other components in equal parts: oak bark, calendula, chamomile. You can add a couple of tablespoons of sea salt to the hot bath with the addition of the broth.
Coffee for nail fungus- An excellent remedy to combat diseases. Freshly prepared natural coffee is used for the treatment. How to deal with:
- Prepare coffee, once brewed, pour it into a hot bath and soak your feet in it for 15 minutes.
- After steaming your feet in the bath, apply coffee grounds to the affected areas of the nails and skin, massage and clean the nails of dead tissue.
- Repeat daily, and after 5-7 days the skin and nails will be soft and the fungus will disappear.
General recommendations for the treatment of nail fungus.
- Regardless of which popular recipe for nail fungus you choose, you must prepare your nails for treatment. Before applying the antifungal agent, take a warm foot bath with soda, salt or laundry soap. This procedure is necessary to soften the nails in order to eliminate the affected surface and subsequent treatment with the selected product.
After a foot bath, use manicure tools (tweezers, files, brushes) to clean the top layer of the affected surface as much as possible. Do not use the same tools on infected and healthy nails.
Important!
It is advisable to perform such baths before each new application of the medicine. If the treatment consists of making compresses or applications several times a day, then it is not necessary to treat the nails so frequently. Once every 1-3 days is sufficient, depending on the degree of nail fungus damage.
- During treatment, carefully maintain foot hygiene. You can't let your feet sweat or tight shoes rub your feet. In this case, the infection will spread more actively to the nails and healthy areas of the foot. Wear shoes that are as light and loose-fitting as possible. If your feet sweat a lot, change your socks several times a day. Clothing or towels that have come into contact with infected nails and skin should be boiled or disinfected with special means.
- Those who live in the same apartment with a person who has nail fungus should carefully follow hygiene rules. You cannot use foot care products alone. Before bathing in a shared shower or bathtub, faucet surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned with household products. Wash your nails with tar soap - this is an excellent prevention against fungus.
- If the popular treatment for toenail fungus does not bring the desired effect, do not try them all one by one, consult a doctor. The advanced form of the disease is much more difficult to cure, so only a specialist can correctly prescribe effective treatment.