v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Medicine . Please visit the project page for details or ask questions at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine .
Home remedies
Onchomycosis can be caused by many different fungi, and many other conditions like a psoriatic nail and paronychia can look so much like it that dermatologists still need to have a lab workup done. What was the causal agent, if any, of the wife's onychomycosis that was relieved with vinegar? How can anyone possibly give universal medical advice based on one person's kitchen experiments with the application of 19th century hygiene principles to an (I strongly suspect) undiagnosed condition?
Mercurochrome contains mercury and is banned in the US. All sorts of these common home disinfectants were tested against fungal skin and nail infections in the 1910's to 1950's and the only one that stood out as somewhat effective was Whitfield's ointment, with the active ingredient benzoic acid. But even it doesn't stand up to scientific comparison as a serious onychomycosis remedy. The common fungi causing dermatophyte onychomycosis are too deeply seated in the nail to be affected by materials applied to the surface (unless the materials are combined with chemical nail softeners under occlusion). Mercurochrome is commonly used in developing countries to treat fungal ear canal infestation (otomycosis), but there the fungus is right at the surface. Mercurochrome can't even penetrate to kill the endospores within spore-forming bacteria.
Onychomycosis isn't life-threatening but casual treatment recommendations based on anecdotes are no more helpful here than they are in any other disease. No doubt carrot juice and staying optimistic cured somebody's wife's cancer somewhere, but there's a serious ethical problem with extending this observation into a general prescription. Yes, any individual could make a novel observation -- but there's nothing novel about applying vinegar, iodine, garlic, lemon peel, oregano, etc. against fungal skin infections. It's been done. Tea tree oil is still being investigated but results are mixed (for references go to Entrez PubMed website and search on keywords: tea tree oil onychomycosis. Also: tea tree oil tinea. Also: tea tree oil dermatophyte). Keywords for the otomycosis statement above are otomycosis mercurochrome.
Summerbell 18:32, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
what is the life cycle of onychomycosis
- Mercurochrome cured it for me. Unfortunately, this probably counts as original research. -- ProveIt 17:23, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
Anyone interested in a picture for this article?
I could get one. The question is, would anyone really want to see it?
Vinegar
My wife had an infection and cured it by soaking the infected toe for 30 minutes in vinegar every day for 3 months. She would keep the nail as trimmed as possible the whole time. Don't cause your body stress with something like Lamisil. Save your money and health.
FDA Topical Antifungal Monograph
I wanted to add something on the FDA OTC Topical Antifungal Monograph, but all I could find were some very general bits of info on the FDA website (see and ). I also haven't been able to find anything on the FDA's 1994 ruling that said that no OTC anti-fungal product was effective on nails, and required the wording "this product is not effective on scalp or nails" on all OTC anti-fungal products (even if they were still allowed to use trademarks such as Fungi-Nail!). The closest I could find was this DOC file Comparison of Labeling for All Topical Antifungals Treating Athlete’s Foot. Can anyone provide better information? Blank Verse 15:37, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
Ineffectiveness of Tea-tree oil - evidence?
- Tea tree oil is a known antifungal. The topical application of high levels is a verified remedy for some dermatophytic skin infections although not for onychomycosis, where the fungus is often too deeply nested in dense subsurface nail tissue to be full expunged by topically applied materials of any kind.
The article that is referenced does not say that tea-tree oil doesn't work because the fungus is too deep subsurface. This needs more evidence or is WP:OR. Pgr94 18:41, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
Removal of passage
The section related to tea tree oil was removed from the 'natural remedies' section via this edit by User:68.36.170.182. Was this removal in accordance with consensus? --User:Ceyockey () 01:12, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Here is a summary of this topic from a 2002 article in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy:
Based on both its inhibitory and fungicidal action, tea tree oil may be a useful agent for treating dermatophyte infections. However, exactly how this in vitro activity translates into in vivo effectiveness is unclear.
Given that onychomycosis rarely responds to topical therapy and is therefore usually treated systemically,20 it is perhaps not surprising that the topical application of tea tree oil was of limited effectiveness in these two clinical trials. This emphasizes the need for more clinical trial data, particularly in relation to tinea pedis, which can often be treated successfully topically.20So it seems there is little-to-no evidence to support the claim either way. Furthermore, given topical treatments don't really work for onychomycosis, there are grounds for believing tea-tree oil won't work either. Pgr94 19:02, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
Crocodile Oil
- Crocodile Oil: There is something amazing in the crocodile’s immune system, there are strings of peptides that were only discovered very recently in the last eight or nine years and they are a powerful mechanism for fighting bacteria and fungal infections. Repcillin Crocodile Skin Balm is made in South Africa and uses the fat from CITES approved Crocodile farms in Africa.
This completely unverifiable: the only sources discussing Crocodile Oil are those selling it, usually trying to blind with pseudo-science. For more on this see the discussion for Crocodile Oil Almost-instinct (talk) 22:46, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
Wanted: images for each type of onychomycosis
There are different types of onychomycosis. It would be good to get images of each type. For example see Pgr94 10:25, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
different types of onychomysosis will look mostly the same, be somewhat misleading (as for the most part, this is not a tool used to dignose the type of fungus... and may be somewhat trivial to categorize. Certainly additional photos of a general nature are always of value.
Vinegar passage removed.
As no evidence has been found for vinegar since Feb. 2007, I have removed it.
Distilled white vinegar. Drops are applied to the cuticle twice a day. This method does not kill the fungus, but the vinegar allegedly changes the pH (acid content) of the new nail formed in that 12-hour period. (The scientific perspective, however, is that vinegar is unlikely to penetrate the dense keratinous tissue thoroughly enough to have any significant effect. Instead, it may be absorbed by the skin above the nail and work its way to where the nail is actually forming.) As the old, infected nail grows and is cut away, it is said to be replaced by an acidic nail, uninhabitable by fungi. Several months of consistent application are involved.
Pgr94 (talk) 13:14, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
I went to a podiatrist who told me to soak my foot in white vinegar for three months but I won’t see the results for one year. June 1 2009. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.16.130 (talk) 01:37, 13 May 2009 (UTC)
Fungus location
If someone with access to good sources could examine these issues and possibly amend the article it would be appreciated
- The fungus "infects" the nail. Could this be clarified as to whether fungus is growing under and around the nail, or within the material of the nail itself?
- Also the difficulty of treatment seems to be because of the difficulty of getting treating agent to the best location. Is drilling holes in the nail a workable option?
Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 20:33, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
Recent reviews (Aug 2008)
Short of time right now so this a note to self, or anyone who else wants to follow recents developments.
- see reviews PubMed and PubMed
- check differential diagnosis of psoriatic nails
pgr94 (talk) 22:
Tea Tree Oil For Nail Fungus, Dandruff, Acne & Skin Problems
Body Section:-Skin Firming Lotion-Cellulite Cream-Stretch Marks Cream-Nail Fungus Cream . Anti Wrinkle Section:-Acne Treatments
Tea Tree Oil Treatments for Toe Nail Fungus - Readers Share ...
Reader give input in their successes and disappointment in using tea tree oil to treat toe nail fungus.
Nail Fungus and Tea Tree Oil
My thumb nails on both hands have looked terrible since my second year in college. That would be 1977. I can remember looking at the one on my right
Tea Tree Oil Recipes - Tea Tree Oil Treatment for Toe Nail Fungus
Tea Tree recipes for direct application, soaking in water, lotion and powder for both toe and finger nails.
Using Oregano Oil or Tea Tree Oil for Nail Fungus
Would you like to be notified when a new article is added to the Alternative category? Email Address: Your Name:
Nail Fungus
Nail Fungus ... black and green drinking tea, so people trying to substitute tea tree oil with infusions of tea for ...
Tea Tree Oil Nail Fungus
Would you like to be notified when a new article is added to the Health-and-Fitness category? Email Address: Your Name:
Does Tea Tree Oil help against nail fungus? - Yahoo! Answers
The tip of my index nailis kinda yellow and cracke…
Nail Fungus, Home remedies, and tea tree oil
Nail fungus, home remedy, treating toenail fungus with tea tree oil versus lamasil, and what you can do about fungus infection
Tea Tree Oil Nail Fungus Treatment!
Find out how a tea tree oil nail fungus treatment could rid you of that stubborn fungal infection that just won't go away.