For the past 3 or so years (since 2000) I have battled a toenail fungus on almost all of my toes. I have tried a number of treatments with no success until I stumbled upon a web page by a wacko doctor who had his license pulled the AMA. Using his treatment regimen, I have seen amazing and continued positive success with this unusual but commonly found liquid that most people have in their kitchen cabinets that costs fractions of a penny a day to use! (Disclaimer: I have no known financial interest pro or con in any of the products mentioned in this article.)
Lamisil Ointment was the first product that I used. It is expensive (when compared to most OTC athletes foot fungus fighting products). I had some left over from fighting some athletes foot that I had off and on for years. So I decided that since it fights fungus, why not this fungus? Note that the label directions say that this is NOT for nail fungus. I was not going to let the directions deter me. (Oh how the medical community hates to hear that!) I have a chemistry background and am familiar with the scientific method in solving problems. Therefore, I set out to experiment on myself. I tried Lamisil and did have some limited success! The problem was that it was limited. I would see some improvement but there never was that final cure. I was beating back the disease, but the fungus would never entirely go away. I also feared that I might be encouraging the development of a super-fungus that later would not be able to be killed by anything. After a year or so (directions say stop treatment after a month or so,) I knew I needed to try something else. The tubes at $10 each were pricey. I went to the local super Wal-Mart with all the various potions lined up on the shelf. So in the spirit of American capitalism and competition I tried…
I found some stuff in a brown 30ml bottle with a little paintbrush in the cap for spreading the substance on the toes. The acid is a suspension in an oil base so that it would stick to the toes and run into the cracks and crevices. I tried this for a week or two and things quickly went worse. I had lost two entire toenails by this time the left #4 and the Right #1 (number ascending from inside to outside). I went to the alternative medicine doctor in town and he recommended…
My doctor is nice. He likes to practice preventive medicine and use readily available products, which have a practical success as recorded through a history of repeated use. He said I probably would have this forever so I may as well get used to it and live with it. If I am determined to fight this, I may want to try Tea Tree Oil. He warned me of the various "imitation" Tea Tree Oil products out there, so I shopped carefully. I was convinced that this was the answer. I bought a small bottle for $6 at the local health food store. I tried it for a bout 3 months. Every morning and every evening I dutifully put the oil on every toenail. The results were less than spectacular. It was like running in place. In reading some anecdotal reports on the web, which showed good results from Tea Tree Oil, it would appear I might have received some bogus oil, which the company mislabeled. Still, this Tea Tree Oil was better that the Undelic? Acid oil, but not quite as good as the Lamisil. I was wondering if I would have this disease forever as the doctor had indicated. However, a search the Internet and found the site of that doctor who recommended…
In his "practice" he has found that the number one determining factor to making this work is consistency. You MUST apply this every day and every night (twice a day). Yes it smells. My spouse however complained more of the Tea Tree Oil smell than the Acetic Acid. This has worked. I am amazed at the simplicity and the cost. I use about 15ml every 3 months. I am using the standard 5% strength White vinegar (used for pickling) you can buy at the grocery store in 1-gallon jugs. After 9 months, the #1 toe on the right foot has completely grown back. Within the past month I have begun to clip the top again and am getting the familiar white margin at the top. The nail is that familiar pinky-gray with none of the humps, bumps and deformations that accompanied the ravages of an actively growing fungus.
I took that brown bottle (above), cleaned it out, and filled it with 30ml (2 oz) of 5% white vinegar. Having that applicator brush (above) which was tolerant of the Acetic Acid was a plus. I have no idea where you can get the brush and bottle. A health food store or other chemical supply house may sell empty bottles and acid-tolerant brushes. After using the same solution for 3 months, you may note some dead skin collecting at the bottom of the container. At that time, one simply pours the whole thing out and starts over. This happens when one gets down to 1/2 full. Simply wash out the bottle with tap water, refill it with the 5% Acetic Acid (white vinegar), and continue with the treatment.
Every day, two times a day, one liberally applies the solution to all toes. This means around the edges on each side. You want to put enough on the sides so that it forms a mini-puddle in those cracks. We want the solution to soak up and into the areas where the fungus is growing. This includes under the top of the nail. This includes at the base of the nail. This also includes as well a few mm beyond the cuticle. The secret here is that you want to kill the fungus in the area where the nail is growing (at the base). That is why treating the cuticle and beyond is so important. Repeating: each and every toe, all around--top, sides, and base. A good time would be before one goes to bed at night. I will do this before I brush my teeth, so that the Acetic Acid will have time to soak in before heading off to slumber. I will paint the toes in the early part of my morning bathroom ritual. This is done to give the vinegar time to soak in before I put on socks and shoes.
Since the fungus likes warm and moist environments, footwear can be a big factor. As an additional aid, I run around the house in flip-flops most of the time. This gives the feet an opportunity to dry out for a number of hours in the open air.
The biggest cost in this treatment is your time. It is a challenge to spend the minute or two conscientiously painting each and every toe. But the results are worth it. And it's cheap! I like the fact that the Acetic acid treatment costs so little and has very few side effects. (The only side effect that I am aware of is that your feet smell like dill pickles for a few minutes after the treatment.)
I have also read of a person who soaked their entire foot in vinegar once a week for 20 minutes. This helped rid them of an athletes foot problem.
You will want to remove as much dead material as you can. This may even require debriding (removing) the entire "dead" nail (often done by a podiatrist). Some of this dead skin and nail can get caught in the recess (sides) of the nail and is sometimes called "toe jam". Gently scrape it out. Be aware that the fungi (sometimes called dermatophytes) feed off the keratin (a protein) which makes up the hard part of the nail. Once the fungi have invaded the nail, you have to remove the damaged or "digested" portions. This would include thick, discolored, yellow, brown, or flaky portions of the nail. You can use nail clippers to do this. You can also use the scraping tool (with file) that comes with many nail clippers. A more dangerous tool would be a hand-held Dremel® running at the lowest speed using a cone shaped stone. Be advised that this will put infected particles into the air and you should wear a breathing protection device. (Note what you see professional manicurists wearing) Also as this is a powered tool (the bits can break without warning), you should wear safety glasses and even a face protecting shield when you use the tool. I have used this tool successfully, but due to the dangers, do not recommend a Dremel® to others.
As the nail grows back, there is a tendency of developing ingrown toenails. Consult a podiatrist, your doctor, other sources on how to deal with ingrown toenails.
My doctor did offer the Lamisil tablets that you see advertised on TV. (Remember the yellowish dermatophyte "digger" who is voiced by Don Rickles?) I have avoided that treatment because of the potential for liver problems. If one uses that treatment, you will need periodic liver enzyme tests to check for the possible liver damage that can occur in some people. Some of the cost estimates I have heard:
For an in-depth analysis of the various treatment options see the "Treating Onychomycosis" link a few lines below. This includes: Terbinafine (Lamisil), itraconazole (Sporanox), fluconazole (Diflucan), griseofulvin (Grisactin, Gris-Peg), ciclopirox (Penlac) nail lacquer, Triazole, allylamine, and ketoconazole.
All treatments take time to kill off the infection and then allow the nail to re-grow. The time for a toenail to grow back from scratch can be 9-10 months! There are reports on the web of relapse occurring in 10%-20% of cases with the various pharmacological treatments. I have not approached the point in time where I would feel comfortable discontinuing treatment with Acetic Acid to test to see if this condition will relapse (September, 2004).
I found the following sites helpful:
Treating Onychomycosis A good overall analysis of the mechanics of what is going on in the nail as well as a history of the typical pharmacological treatments. Acetic Acid is NOT listed (since it is so cheap and does not require a prescription.).
Other home remedies including alternative medicine approaches that I have heard of (with no commentary on their topical or internal use or effectiveness): hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 or H2O2), Comet or Ajax, grapefruit seed extract, Tineacide Anti Fungal Cream, Tinactin, lapacha tea, Listerine, Vicks Vapo Rub, Manuka Oil, Clotrimazole , oil of oregano.
One of the biggest costs that we must honestly acknowledge for the Acetic Acid and other topical treatments is the cost of labor in continually applying the substance. For some Americans, it is simply more convenient just to take a pill (with its inherent risks) than spending a couple of minutes every day painting your nails with Acetic Acid.
Just because "insurance will pay for it" does not mean (ethically) that we should pursue that often times expensive treatment. With this attitude, we will all pay more in the end. If we instead insist on the cheaper treatments, the drug and health insurance costs should (in theory), go down.
With the Medicare Drug Program going into place, why doesn't the federal government now start financing studies to determine the effectiveness of inexpensive treatments in contrast to the expensive alternatives? If it works, (I am a living example) we (the taxpayers) will save millions if we use the cheaper and effective alternatives.
If this page helped you, please send me a quick e-mail. It always helps to hear from those have been helped by one's work.
Disclaimer: Information on this page is for entertainment informational and instructional purposes only. Medical science is constantly changing so one should take this only as current opinion, which can change dramatically at any moment. People are different and many drugs and treatments have major and minor side-effects which may or may not be listed. Some diseases and conditions mimic that of others therefore if one treats based on an incorrect diagnosis one can have no results or make matters worse. One should not understand this as medical advice. Consult with your licensed health practitioner. The FDA has not seen this information. Please notify if there are any verifiable inaccuracies presented.
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Last revised 9/24/2004 2:53 PM