Fungal Nail Home Remedies

Self Treatment for Thick, Fungal Nails

Figure 1 - Potential nail fungus

A 9-Step Process for Treating Your Fungal Nails

There is no perfect treatment for fungal nails. The current best treatments are laser therapy and prescription oral fungus medications.

If you want to try home treatment, we have put together the following 9-step program that is designed to:

1. Kill or minimize the fungus

2. Make your nails look better

3. Polish the nails with healthy polish (mostly for women, but guys - go crazy if you wish)

4. Prevent re-infection of your toenails by the fungus

Part A: Use These Two Medications on your Nails Daily for 6 Months:

• Step 1. Tripod NailStat Anti-fugal Treatment. Unique cream formula for onychomycosis kills fungus, promotes growth of healthy new nail. Softens nail and increases permeability with grape seed extract, the most potent naturally-occurring antioxidant.
  
  
  
   

• Step 2. Nonyx Nail Gel: Clears out discoloring keratin debris under the nail. Apply to dark or yellowed nails. Nail discoloration is actually keratin debris build-up under the nail. NonyX Nail Gel breaks down and removes this yellow or darkened build-up and keeps nails looking clearer and more attractive with regular use.
  
  
  
  
  Best Improvement in Nails - Instructions
  • To kill fungus - Apply Tripod Nailstat Anti-fungal Formula every morning
  • To get rid of yellow or dark areas - Apply Nonyx Nail Gel every evening before bed.

Part B: Thin the nail to Make them More Attractive

You can make your nails thinner and more attractive by first trimming the nail and then using a rotary burr to thin the nail. Here is the most effective way to thin the nail.

Step 3: Soak your feet for 5 minutes

Step 4: Use a heavy duty nail trimmer to remove as much of the thickness of the nail as possible. These are the same trimmers we use in our office and are far more effective and easier to use than the type you buy at a pharmacy.



Step 5: Use a rotary tool such as the PediNova Electric Nail and Foot Care Kit to thin the nail. This professional quality nail and callus thinning tool allows you to thin your nail with a tool used by podiatrists. Four speeds including 10,000 RPM that allows easy thinning of the nails with no vibration. 10 tools including long-lasting diamond burrs are included For perfectly thin nails, use this tool to grind the nail every week or so. Also good for calluses. Made with incomparable German technology. This is by far the best nail thinning tool we have found. There are less expensive ones available, but they don't have enough power or burr quality to effectively thin the nails.

Part C: Polish the Nail

Step 6: Polish the Nail
For women, an anti-fungal nail polish, Dr.'s Remedy Natural Nail Polish, can help prevent new nail infections. It contains Tea Tree Oil and Garlic Bulb Extract (found to have anti-fungal properties). Unlike most nail polishes, it does not contain Formaldehyde (a chemical which has been proven to cause cancer) DBP (a potential developmental and reproductive toxin) and Toluene (a chemical that the EPA restricts in our drinking water because it can cause nervous system disorders as well as damage to the liver and kidneys)
 

Part D: Kill Fungus in Your Shoes to Prevent Re-infection

A critical part of treating toenail fungus is to kill any fungus living in your shoes. If you don't kill the fungus that continues to thrive in shoes, the chance that your toenails will become infected again is high.

Step 7: Try not to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row. The warm, moist environment of a shoe is a perfect home for fungus. Letting the shoes dry out for a day helps to kill the fungus

Step 8: Use an Ultraviolet Shoe Sanitizer. The new SteriShoe® shoe sanitizer kills the germs that reside inside your shoes with an ultraviolet light (UVC). In only one 45 minute treatment, you can destroy up to 99.9% of the microorganisms in shoes, including the bacteria and fungi that cause foot odor, toenail fungus, and athlete’s foot. It is designed for people who have athlete's foot (tinea pedis), toenail fungus (onychomycosis) and chronic shoe odor.

Step 9: Use anti-fungal powder in your shoes. Our favorite is Medline Remedy Antifungal Powder. Put some in your shoes a couple times per week.
 

That’s it. We recommend a 6 month trial of this 9-step process at eliminating nail fungus. If it works, continue the process to prevent re-infection.

If you don’t see improvement in 6 months, we suggest you see a podiatrist. If you are in Seattle, you can make an appointment to see us in our foot clinic. If you are outside of the Seattle area, you may find a podiatrist near you on our Out of State Podiatrists page.

Go here for the latest updates on laser treatment of fungal nails.

Related Pages
• Laser Treatment of Toenail Fungus
• Nail Fungus Explained
• Guide to Best Lasers to Treat Toenail Fungus
• Diagnosis of Nail Fungus
• Causes of Thick Nails
• Treatment Thick Toenail
• Nail Fungus Home Treatment
• Prevent Re-infection of Nail Fungus after Treatment
• Oral Medication for Nail Fungus
• Topical Medications for Toenail Fungus
• Before and After Laser Treatment Pictures

 

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Douglas Hale, DPM & Lawrence Huppin, DPM
Foot and Ankle Center of Washington, Seattle
The material provided on this web site is for informative purposes only.
If you need specific medical advice, please contact the office for an appointment.