Healthy skin and nails are a source of pride for anyone. But what if the infection takes a toll on your appearance? The answer is simple: destroy the infection! One of the causative agents of diseases that damage the external skin is a fungus. Over many centuries, people have learned to combat it using available natural remedies.
The fungus' favorite habitats on the human body are the feet, fingers and fingernails. The pathogen multiplies in a warm, moist alkaline environment, which is why it is rarely found on hands. The infection is transmitted from person to person and usually occurs in places such as baths, saunas and swimming pools. Another route of infection is through common objects (shoes, towels).
In medicine, the skin fungus is called mycosis and, if the pathogen has settled in the nails, it is called onychomycosis. Fungal disease is not easy to cure. If the disease is not diagnosed early, it may 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 folk remedies, as long as the root part of the nail (matrix) and the nail bed are not affected. Deep penetration of the fungus into tissues requires treatment with systemic medications.
Signs that indicate nail fungus:
- thickening and discoloration of the nail plate;
- looseness of the outer layer of the nail;
- fragility and cracking 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, see a doctor. A dermatologist or mycologist diagnoses and treats fungal diseases.
Forums often discuss which folk remedies can cure nail fungus. People share successful ways to get rid of nail fungus or complain that such and such a medicine did not help.
Among the most effective means of getting rid of the fungus are the following:
- apple or table vinegar;
- celandine;
- iodine;
- tea mushroom;
- garlic and onion;
- coffee.
How to quickly cure nail fungus?
A timely and correctly chosen treatment can help eliminate nail fungus quickly.
If you do not wish to be treated with medication and decide to use traditional medicine, consult your doctor in any case.
Each of the traditional medicine remedies can help one person, but will be useless for another.
Therefore, to quickly and effectively treat onychomycosis, 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 through external treatments: baths, compresses, applications. Fungi multiply in a moist alkaline environment, and an acidic environment is harmful to them, so products such as vinegar and lemon are effective. Plants with strong bactericidal properties also fight fungi well.
Traditional nail fungus treatment: effective recipes
Vinegar. A universal remedy for treating fungus, even if it affects more than half of the nail. You can use table and apple cider vinegar. If the nail plate is slightly damaged, take a bath with 9% vinegar added in a proportion of 1 part to 8 parts water.
The procedure must be repeated every other day.
Folk 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 can be stored well in the refrigerator and used as needed.How to make:
- Pour 2 tablespoons of vinegar essence and vodka into a container, add three egg whites, mix everything well.
- Dip a thin strip of bandage or cotton swab into the resulting mixture and apply 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 pc.
Compresses are applied for several hours and then the feet are rinsed under running water. Do this once a day for 4 days with the same rest interval. Treatment with this recipe continues until a healthy nail grows back.
Iodine. Good to use 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, iodine should be diluted in water.
Garlic. The healing agent is used in the form of alcohol tincture, porridge or juice. There are many recipes based on garlic, as this remedy is very effective in combating fungi. The simplest is a crushed garlic compress at night. Fresh paste is applied to the nail and secured with a bandage. If compresses for treatment are not acceptable for some reason, you can lubricate the nail with garlic juice.
In the folk treatment of nail 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 festering 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 in the different stages of the disease. It should be used with caution as 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 the bath from fresh or dried celandine. It is good to add other components in equal parts: oak bark, calendula, chamomile. You can add a few tablespoons of sea salt to the hot bath with the addition of broth.
Coffee for nail fungus- An excellent medicine to combat diseases. Freshly prepared natural coffee is used for treatment. How to treat:
- Prepare the coffee, once prepared, place it in 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, cleaning the dead nail tissue.
- Repeat daily and after 5-7 days the skin and nails will be smooth and the fungus will disappear.
General recommendations for treating nail fungus
- Regardless of which popular nail fungus recipe you choose, you need to prepare your nails for treatment. Before applying the antifungal agent, make a hot foot bath with soda, salt or laundry soap. This procedure is necessary to soften the nails in order to remove the affected surface and further treatment with the selected product.
After the 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 take these baths before each new application of the medicine. If the treatment involves 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 damage caused by the nail fungus.
- 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 more actively spread to healthy nails and areas of the foot. Wear shoes that are as light and loose as possible. If your feet sweat a lot, change your socks several times a day. Clothes or towels that have come into contact with infected nails and skin must be boiled or disinfected with special means.
- For those who live in the same apartment with a person who has nail fungus, hygiene rules must be followed carefully. You can't just use foot products. Before bathing in a shared shower or bathtub, plumbing 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 nail fungus does not have 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.