Healthy skin and nails are a source of pride for every person. But what if the infection has damaged their appearance? The answer is simple: destroy the infection! One of the causative agents of diseases that spoil the outer skin is a fungus. Over many centuries, people have learned to fight it using natural remedies available.
The favorite habitats of fungi in the human body are the feet, fingers and nails. The pathogen thrives in a warm, moist, alkaline environment, so it's rarely found on hands. The infection is transmitted from person to person and infection often occurs in places such as baths, saunas and swimming pools. Another route of infection is through common objects (shoes, towels).
In medicine, skin fungus is called mycosis, and if the pathogen is located in the nails, then they talk about onychomycosis. Fungal disease is not easy to cure. If the disease is not diagnosed early, it can take months of hard work to fight it. To treat fungus, all means are good - both medicines and folk recipes.
Nail fungus can be cured with folk remedies, provided that the root part of the nail (matrix) and the nail bed are not affected. Deep penetration of fungi into tissues requires treatment with systemic drugs.
Signs of nail fungus:
- thickening and staining of the nail plate;
- looseness of the outer layer of the nail;
- fragility and separation of nails;
- redness, itching and burning of the nail fold;
- unpleasant smell from nails.
If any of these symptoms appear on your nails, be sure to consult 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 a remedy did not help.
Among the most effective means to get rid of fungi are the following:
- apple or table vinegar;
- celandine;
- iodine;
- tea mushroom;
- garlic and onion;
- coffee.
How to cure nail fungus fast?
A treatment chosen in time and correctly can help to 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 remedies of traditional medicine may help one person, but will be useless for another.
Therefore, to quickly and effectively treat onychomycosis, diagnosis and consultation in a medical institution is necessary.
How to get rid of nail fungus?
The causative agent of the disease can be destroyed or eliminated using external treatments: baths, compresses, applications. Fungi thrive 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 treatment of nail fungus: effective recipes
vinegar. A universal remedy for the treatment of fungus, even if it affects more than half of the nails. You can use either table vinegar or apple cider vinegar. If the nail plate is slightly damaged, make a bath with 9% vinegar added to the ratio of 1 part to 8 parts water.
The procedure should be repeated every other day.
Popular recipes for nail fungus often contain vinegar as an ingredient in the medicinal mixture. For example, a compress with vinegar, egg and vodka. The mixture is stored well in the refrigerator and used as needed.How to do it:
- 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 cotton swab in the resulting mixture and apply it to the sore nail for 15 minutes.
- Repeat daily until a new nail grows.
A recipe similar to vinegar has the following composition:
- essence of vinegar - 1 spoon;
- dimethyl phthalate - 1 spoon;
- vegetable oil - 1 spoon;
- egg - 1 pc.
The compresses are applied for several hours, 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. Good to use in an early stage of the disease. It is recommended to lubricate the sick nail with iodine twice a day for 20 days. A slight burning sensation should not be alarming, but if severe pain occurs, then the iodine should be diluted with water.
Garlic. The healing agent is used in the form of an alcohol solution, grain or liquid. There are many recipes made from garlic, because this medicine is very effective in fighting fungus. The simplest is a compress with crushed garlic at night. The fresh paste is applied to the nail and fixed with a bandage. If compresses for treatment are not acceptable for some reason, then you can lubricate the nail with garlic juice.
In the popular treatment of nail fungus, herbs such as euphorbia, celandine, tea tree oil, Kalanchoe, chamomile, calendula and rowan leaves are successful.
Spurge. This plant is widely used to treat eczema, fungus, warts and purulent wounds. To fight fungus, you need to lubricate the nail plates with milky juice twice a day. The duration of treatment usually does not exceed three weeks.
Celandine. It is established as an excellent tool to fight fungi in various stages of the disease. It should be used with care, 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 ingredients in equal parts: oak bark, calendula, chamomile. You can add a few spoons of sea salt to the hot bath with the addition of juice.
Coffee for nail fungus- An excellent medicine to fight diseases. Freshly prepared natural coffee is used for treatment. How to treat:
- Boil the coffee, after it is boiled, 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, clean the nails from dead tissue.
- Repeat daily, and after 5-7 days the skin and nails will be smooth and the fungus will disappear.
General recommendations for the treatment of nail fungus
- No matter which popular recipe for nail fungus you choose, you need to prepare your nails for treatment. Before applying the antifungal agent, take a hot foot bath with baking soda, salt, or laundry soap. This procedure is necessary to soften the nails in order to remove the affected surface and subsequent treatment with the selected product.
After a foot bath, use manicure tools (nippers, files, brushes) to clean the top layer of the affected surface as much as possible. Do not use the same tools for infected and healthy nails.
Important!
It is advisable to take such baths before each new application of the herb. If the treatment involves making compresses or applications several times a day, then it is not necessary to treat your nails so often. Once every 1-3 days is enough, depending on the degree of nail damage caused by the fungus.
- During the treatment, carefully maintain the hygiene of the feet. You can't let your feet sweat or tight shoes rub your feet. In this case, the infection will spread to healthy nails and areas of the foot more actively. 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, you should carefully follow the rules of hygiene. You can't just use foot care products. Before bathing in a shared shower or bathtub, the surfaces of plumbing fixtures 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 all of them 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.