Aromatherapy Haven

If you’re a toenail fungus sufferer who has been scared off by expensive drug treatments, not to mention the danger of side effects from those drugs, you’re in good company. An estimated 35 million people suffer from toenail fungus (onychomycosis) all over the world.

Infected nails are typically yellow in color, separating from the nail bed, cracked and crumbled in appearance. If this describes your nails or even just one of them, be sure to verify your condition by seeing a physician. Most physicians, not surprisingly, will recommend a drug-based treatment. But before you go with those, consider that you have options of the non-drug variety, as well. We call these natural or “home” remedies, some of which have been around for many years.

Can natural solutions actually work? Absolutely.

Thousands of people are ridding themselves of onychomycosis every year. It’s not an overnight solution—nothing is. However, if you can follow a simple daily routine, we’ve found, you maybe able to eliminate your condition by other than medical means.

Do these home remedies work for everyone infected with nail fungus? No, of course not. Some, however, may be more effective than others. Possibly even as effective as costly drug treatments, though we haven’t been able to identify independent studies that could verify this. Feedback from people who have tried different natural treatments is often positive, especially on the following.

Treatment No. 1: Vinegar—King of the Home Remedies
There are any number of popular home remedies for nail fungus, including tea tree oil, Vicks Vapor Rub, Listerine and more. But the one that seems to work most reliably is plain ole vinegar. Yes, the same ingredient your grandma used for everything from cleaning to cooking.

Vinegar has been shown to be especially effective in killing toenail fungus, according to many sources. It can actually start killing fungus spores upon contact, so it’s effective from Day One. Plus, it’s very inexpensive. Unlike drugs that can cost you hundreds of dollars (rarely covered by your health insurance policy), you can pick up a bottle of fungal-killing apple cider vinegar for less than $5 at just about any local food store.

But that’s only part of the story. You’ll also want to know how to apply this treatment, as well as critical steps you must take to prevent the fungus from returning. Many people have attempted to use vinegar, only to see it fail completely as a cure. In fact, some report that previously uninfected nails became infected once they had begun the treatment.

The good news is you can prevent this from happening by applying the vinegar properly and for the right length of time.

Others have tried vinegar a few days or weeks, then have stopped the treatment when they saw no results. Don’t be so quick to give up. It took time for the infection to develop and it’ll take time to get rid of it. Most proponents of the vinegar treatment agree that you need to stay with the applications for at least 3 or 4 months before you see improvement, while others reported seeing a healthier appearance to the infected nails in as few as 4 weeks. A complete cure can take as long as a year, since that’s often how long it takes for your toenails to completely grow back.

The top-selling ebook describing the vinegar treatment (and a second treatment using tree oil, another well regarded natural ingredient) as well as the conditions that may have caused you to get the infection in the first place is “Nail That Fungus Forever,” available at http://www.how-to-stop-nail-fungus.com.