How To Get Rid Of Toenail Fungus

There are almost as many solutions to getting rid of toenail fungus as there are people who suffer from it. This article will summarize a variety of treatment options.

Home Remedies

There are many items you have around the house that can be used to treat toenail fungus. Vicks Vaporub, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil or Listerine are all suggested by some as home remedies. They are meant to be either applied to the nail or you can soak your toe in them. Each kills germs and bacteria so could slow or stop the growth of the fungus. These treatments have to be done once or multiple times each day until the fungus is gone. The problem with these methods is often they can get rid of the visible signs of the fungus, but it remains on the body in a dormant stage and reappears as soon as the treatment is stopped. But for a mild case, these methods might be a good place to start.

Doctor Recommended Treatments

If a home remedy does not work or your case is serious you will want to go to the doctor. For starters the doctor can check to make sure that the problem really is a fungal infection and not some other problem that looks similar. It is hard to find a cure unless you are sure you know the problem. Your doctor is likely to recommend a topical ointment specifically designed to fight nail fungus or oral drugs. Both can be effective treatments if the directions for use are followed. In both cases it is important to keep using them for the prescribed amount of time, even if the fungus appears to be gone. This will ensure that you kill it instead of just making it dormant where it waits to return. The only downside to these doctor recommended treatments is they are likely to be more expensive then the home treatments.

Successful Treatment

Part of the reason that there are so many suggested cures for toenail fungus is that different treatments will be successful for different people. It will depend on the type of fungus you are infected with and your own personal chemical makeup. The reason it becomes such an ordeal is that people initially ignore the problem. You can put your socks on in the morning to cover that ugly nail and pretend all day that it does not exist. The problem is that down in that dark moist shoe the fungus is in its favorite growing environment and it will spread and spread. Toenail fungus usually starts with the big toe and then works its way down to the others.

So if you have toenail fungus, do not put off doing something about it. Go to your doctor and get diagnosed properly. Then with your doctor's help, pick a treatment and stick with it. This is the most important part because you will not know whether or not a treatment worked unless you follow it correctly.

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