Toenail Fungus--Cure It Or Live With It?

<h1>Toenail Fungus--Cure It Or Live With It?</h1>Author: <a title="John Mowatt" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/john-mowatt/42707.htm">John Mowatt</a> Nail fungus is most often  found in the toenails and is a nuisance infection which you can choose to ignore or to cure as you see fit. The fungus has no very serious health effects and as a consequence it is quite safe to simply ignore it if you can stand  having thick ugly and yellow looking toenails. The affected nails will be very thick and tough and can sometimes come completely off, after a time, to bare a new toenail which has grown below. This is the result of a fungus infection which is in place right under the nails and as a result is difficult to reach in order to treat it. Some prescription drugs are available through your doctor and these will cure it if you want to  try this. The manufacturers of these drugs do list certain side effects, which can occur in some users, so you should ask your doctor about this before being prescribed the drugs. If you would rather opt for something else there are a few alternative home treatments, which have been found to work fairly effectively. Vicks Vaporub chest rub, the old standby cold medication can kill the toenail fungus. The only disadvantage is that  this treatment can take a long time. You will probably need to apply the Vicks Vaporub to your toenails once or twice per day for a number of months to get good results. The Vicks preparation smells of eucalyptus oil but you will not notice it since it is under your socks and shoes. This  treatment works  because the medication has some ingredients which are known  to be fungus fighters, although it is made for use  as a cold treatment. One more remedy, which seems to work, is tea tree oil, which can be purchased at health food stores. It is necessary to dilute the tea tree oil before using it on  the nails, as it has been found in some cases, to cause  some skin irritation if used without dilution. A good recipe to use is to mix about 1/4 cup of cider vinegar in half a cup of boiled water and add roughly 20 drops of tea tree oil. If you want this to smell good you can just add some nicely scented essential oil such as clove oil or lavender oil. You should keep the mixture in a dark glass bottle, as strong light can cause decomposition. Shake  the mixture thoroughly before applying it to the nails and swab the  fungus infected toenails twice or thrice every day. This procedure also may take quite some time to do get the desired results, so you should  be ready to do this for a some months if needed. Toe nail fungus also responds to application of zinc compounds. The old well known zinc ointment, which is still to be found in many drug stores, should be used on the  fungus infected toenails twice or thrice daily and should aid in curing the fungus infection. This treatment also necessitates application for a number of months to get results and seems not to work as well as tea tree oil treatment, for some cases. Consequently we would use the tea tree oil or Vicks Vaporub as our preferred treatment. What it boils down to is that you can suffer a little in silence with your rather ugly fungal  toenails or you may do something to get rid of the problem if you desire to.  About the Author: John Mowatt is a writer who is interested in health and fitness. He writes on other subjects also. see his website at <a href="http://www.mensnewbalanceshoes.net">mens New Balance shoes</a> and at <a href="http://www.commercialpizzaovens.org">commercial pizza ovens</a>Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/toenail-funguscure-it-or-live-with-it-1389220.html" title="Toenail Fungus--Cure It Or Live With It?">Toenail Fungus--Cure It Or Live With It?</a>

Nail fungus is most often found in the toenails and is a nuisance infection which you can choose to ignore or to cure as you see fit. The fungus has no very serious health effects and as a consequence it is quite safe to simply ignore it if you can stand having thick ugly and yellow looking toenails. The affected nails will be very thick and tough and can sometimes come completely off, after a time, to bare a new toenail which has grown below. This is the result of a fungus infection which is in place right under the nails and as a result is difficult to reach in order to treat it. Some prescription drugs are available through your doctor and these will cure it if you want to try this. The manufacturers of these drugs do list certain side effects, which can occur in some users, so you should ask your doctor about this before being prescribed the drugs. If you would rather opt for something else there are a few alternative home treatments, which have been found to work fairly effectively.

Vicks Vaporub chest rub, the old standby cold medication can kill the toenail fungus. The only disadvantage is that this treatment can take a long time. You will probably need to apply the Vicks Vaporub to your toenails once or twice per day for a number of months to get good results. The Vicks preparation smells of eucalyptus oil but you will not notice it since it is under your socks and shoes. This treatment works because the medication has some ingredients which are known to be fungus fighters, although it is made for use as a cold treatment.

One more remedy, which seems to work, is tea tree oil, which can be purchased at health food stores. It is necessary to dilute the tea tree oil before using it on the nails, as it has been found in some cases, to cause some skin irritation if used without dilution. A good recipe to use is to mix about 1/4 cup of cider vinegar in half a cup of boiled water and add roughly 20 drops of tea tree oil. If you want this to smell good you can just add some nicely scented essential oil such as clove oil or lavender oil. You should keep the mixture in a dark glass bottle, as strong light can cause decomposition. Shake the mixture thoroughly before applying it to the nails and swab the fungus infected toenails twice or thrice every day. This procedure also may take quite some time to do get the desired results, so you should be ready to do this for a some months if needed.

Toe nail fungus also responds to application of zinc compounds. The old well known zinc ointment, which is still to be found in many drug stores, should be used on the fungus infected toenails twice or thrice daily and should aid in curing the fungus infection. This treatment also necessitates application for a number of months to get results and seems not to work as well as tea tree oil treatment, for some cases. Consequently we would use the tea tree oil or Vicks Vaporub as our preferred treatment. What it boils down to is that you can suffer a little in silence with your rather ugly fungal toenails or you may do something to get rid of the problem if you desire to.

John Mowatt is a writer who is interested in health and fitness. He writes on other subjects also. see his website at mens New Balance shoes and at commercial pizza ovens

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Article Tags: toenail fungus, cure toenail fungus, vicks vaporub, teatree oil, zinc ointment, toenails, nail fungus, fungal infection, fungus infection

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