the infected toe nail in the morning and again at night. A whole heck of a lot less toxic than treating the whole body with poison like those pills do. You know the ones ... may effect kidneys, liver ...
This treatment was found by accident when it was discovered antifreeze would clear wood and things of insects, eggs, so on and so forth in a much, much shorter time than other methods. Museums were using this to get things into the displays in weeks instead of months and years.
Unexpected benefit for those doing the treatment was their nail fungus were all gone!!!
I last looked it up thru google search using something like "antifreeze treatment of wood", Antifreeze fungus toe nail", and variations of these. I did find the original article and used that info to post the treatment the article suggested to a threat here.
Hope it works as good for you as it has for others!
I have a 60+ year old case of the fungus infection known as “athlete’s foot”. Many years ago it infected the toenails extensively. The whole thing was pretty grotesque. My dermatologist and druggist both assured me there is no known cure. About six years ago I started using antifreeze applied under the nails with a medicine dropper about every five days. The professionals are technically right. I have not completely cured it, but the nails have grown out pink and thinned almost to the ends and I never have any trouble with blistering, peeling, or itching between the toes as I had had for six decades. No drug company is going to have any interest in this because the information has been in the public domain for so long that there is no opportunity for any proprietary advantage. The various wood-rotting organisms cannot be anywhere near as tough.
You can also try… just regular distilled white vinegar, or Australian tea tree oil which can be found in more places than you think. Try an herbal store if you can’t find it anywhere else.
It’s good to have so many “natural” alternatives isn’t it?
Mick is right. These are the type things that Doctors, and Drug companies would never want you to know. There are a zillion natural cures for such things. And most of them are just as, if not more effective than today’s modern medicine.
What’s unfortunate is that the drug cure for nail fungus can cause serious damage to your liver. Doctors will order liver tests done while you are on this medication. When the cure is potentially that much worse than the ailment itself? No thanks!
Anti-Freeze Ethylene glycol (EG) is not exactly harmless. In your body your liver in particular converts ethlene glycol to highly reactive molecules that damage the liver, kidney and other organs. Some solvents like EG are useful for dissolving drugs so they can penetrate your skin. Unfortunately anti-freeze contains lots of other chemicals which I do not know the toxicity. If you read the label on the antifreeze you are using it will warn you it is a highly toxic mixture. EG can transport that mixture through your skin. I would go to my doctor and get a prescription for a topical fungicide before I put antifreeze on my toe on a regular basis. Doubtful getting anti-freeze on your skin is going to kill you, but if you have an infected or damaged area under the nail you may cause more harm than good. The safety and efficacy of fungicide is well known in controlled clinical tests and that’s what you are paying for.
Those topical meds whether over the counter or prescription just plain DO NOT WORK!!! If you have ever had a bad case you would not even mention topical.
As for the internal prescriptions (the pills) I have been on them three times. Each was for 6 to 12 months. Each lasted about 5 or 6 years. NOW go read the problems with those pills, AND talk to your pharmacist about them.
I will take external ethylene glycol anytime over those extremely poisonous pills again. Been advised by many medical personal (Drs, Pharmacist, toxicology specialists, etc.) that I should never take those pills again. I will take almost any external treatments over internal meds anytime.
Let us know what your doctor or more importantly your pharmacist tells you about the comparative dangers. (BTW: in case you did not know, pharmacist are much more knowledgeable than doctors about their drugs and will give you better information almost every time.)
listerine Sometime this summer someone sent a list of little known cures.
Listerine for toenail fungus was on the list.
Immediately it stops the itching between my toes. It isn’t an overnight cure for a badly infected toe but it does seem to have positive results.
It helps to put the listerine in something that can be rolled up over your foot and just go to bed wearing it so that it soaks into the infected parts of the toe overnight.
My Mon gave me tea tree oil to take on a river trip last Summer…I got bit by a bug I never saw and jeeze did it sting…I put the oil on it and in a few minutes I was much better…I also rubbed some into my hands that were weathered and dry, really helped a lot…
Ethylene glycol when ingested causes oxalate stones and can kill you. Using it topically on broken skin of athletes feet is dangerous in my opinion.
Lamisil is number one for treatment of athletes feet and toenail fungus currently.
I cured a toenail fungus (rapidly) a couple years ago using chlorhexidine gluconate, a commonly used antiseptic for surgeons scrubbing in to surgery. You can find it in a product called Hibiclens. What needs to be developed is a method of nail debridement followed by topical treatment with chlorhexidine gluconate. The debridement would need to be either peeling off part of the nail to expose the infected layer of the nail or drilling shallow holes in the nail. In my case I peeled off the top part of the nail, scrubbed it with this chemical, and it was growing normal nail in two weeks. I was shocked to say the least.
ADD IN:
Only a medical professional should be drilling on nails!
I knew the antifreeze method was not the safest, but still liked it over the other toxic methods, including lamisil. Been through lamisil and a couple of other toxic internal treatments. Was not lasting and was told not to do it again.
Acetone (Asorbing Jr or straight acetone) was always a temporary, but effective in the meanwhile treatment. Never favored the bleach soaks. Vinegar was interesting, but temp and stinks. And so on ...
You have given me (us) the first sensible, apparently nontoxic treatment that would seem to do a complete job.
Thanks again and thank you String for bringing the subject up again!
and none of the "home remedies" listed here or otherwise will be very effective.
the infection is systemic and concentrated at the nail bed. the nail plate (toenail) is impermeable to virtually all topicals. this is a kayak board so i'll give you a kayak simile: it'd be like trying to remove adhesive residue on the inside your cockpit by pouring acetone on the outside of the hull.
there is one topical, Penlac, that has fda approval. take a look at it's clinical research: about an 11% cure rate with a pretty high rate of recurrence. doesn't sound too good to me.
lamisil and sporanox are internals with some pretty serious side effects and toxicity issues and even then they still have 60%+ recurrence rates...not to mention they're bloody expensive. btw: lamisil's otc cream is not the same nor is it intended to treat the same condition as the pills.
basically if you've had it for a while, suck it up and live with it. use topical otc antifungal creams on the remaining uninfected fingers and toes to help prevent spreading. if you suffer trauma (cracking, lifting, etc) to any nail treat it regularly with any otc antifungal to prevent infection. that's about it.....
it comes down to the fact that onychomycosis (nail fungus) is kinda yicky and ugly but otherwise totally benign. leave it alone, keep it from spreading and get on with your life.
full disclosure: I am not a physician, but I have been sponsoring and working on a cure for onychomycosis for 5 years at a major university hospital.
disclaimer: the information above is worth precisely what you paid for it. please consult a physician if you suspect that you have nail fungus or any other health condition.....
Well, I have a medical degree to back up my experience with my nail fungus. You should get your guys to try my method in clinical trials instead of believing it's always going to be incurable. Prevention is very important in making sure it is not recurrent.
A Podiatrist Says… I was in a casual conversation with a podiatric surgeon today, and asked him about the EG thing. He raised his eyebrows, allowed as how it might be an effective topical agent, but if the infection gets down to the nail bed, or in very far, it is likely to be a systemic infection which would not respond to topical treatments. Not too serious, in any event.