Nail fungus, or onychomycosis - a fairly common disease.
The disease is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as itching and burning, while the appearance of the nail plates worsens.
However, many patients, even despite the threat of completely losing their nails, doctors are reluctant to turn to, preferring to be treated at home.
What does traditional medicine offer to combat nail fungus? Is self-medication safe? And most importantly - is it possible to defeat onychomycosis with the means available to mother nature?
Treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies: recipes from iodine, salt and oils
One of the most popular home remedies for restoring nail health is iodine. There are many recommendations on the network that prescribe daily lubrication of nails with a 5% solution of this substance. The course of such treatment should last 20 days, after which supposedly a full recovery occurs.
In fact, the effectiveness of this method has not been proven. In itself, iodine for nails is useful - it helps to strengthen them; also this substance is involved in all metabolic processes of the body. However, the concentrated iodine solution contains alcohol, therefore it dries the surface of the nails, causes them to stratify, and with an “overdose” it can even cause a burn.
More gentle are all kinds of baths and masks based on iodine. According to doctors, they strengthen and nourish the nails, but it is impossible to cure the fungus with the help of one bath. They should be used only as an addition to the traditional methods prescribed by the doctor.
Iodine bath
Essential Ingredients:
• 5% iodine solution;
• boiled water.
Instruction:
Pour hot boiled water into the basin, add the iodine solution there from the calculation: 2 teaspoons for every 3 liters of water. Dip your toes and hands in a basin, hold for 15 minutes. Cut off the affected processes of the nails, lubricate the skin around them with hydrogen peroxide and apply a bandage on the diseased nails with impregnation from the antibacterial ointment. The procedure should be carried out every day until recovery.
Bath with iodine and salt
Essential Ingredients:
• sea salt;
• iodine solution 5%;
• warm water.
Instruction:
Pour salt in a basin with warm water in the following proportions: 1 tablespoon of salt in 1 cup of water and add 4 drops of iodine solution. Keep your nails in such a bath should be about 20 minutes.
Tray with iodine and orange juice
Essential Ingredients:
• 5% iodine solution;
• freshly squeezed orange juice;
• warm boiled water.
Instruction:
Take a bowl and mix in it half a glass of water and half a glass of orange juice. Add a few drops of iodine. Dip your fingers in a basin for 15 minutes, wipe them with a napkin and brush with a moisturizer.
Mask for the nail plate with iodine and lemon juice
Essential Ingredients:
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil;
• 3 drops of iodine;
• 3 drops of lemon juice.
Instruction:
Take sunflower oil, warm it slightly and mix with iodine and lemon juice. Apply the mask to infected nails using a cotton swab, paying attention to the base of the nail and its edges. Carefully remove excess mixture with a tissue and leave it on the nails for 20 minutes. Wash off the mask with water, and lubricate the skin with a nourishing cream.
Mask with iodine and olive oil
Essential Ingredients:
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil;
• 4 drops of iodine.
Instruction:
This mask is best done at night so that it has time to soak in the nails. Heat the olive oil slightly in the microwave, and then mix with the iodine solution. Apply the mask to the entire surface of the affected nails on the hands or feet - depending on where the fungus is located. Remember to lubricate the area under the cuticles and nail rollers. After about 15 minutes, when the oil is well absorbed, put cotton gloves on your hands or socks, if you are treating a fungus on your feet, and go to bed. Waking up in the morning, wash your nails and lubricate the skin around them with a moisturizer.
Treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies - tar and vinegar
Widespread in the treatment of nail fungus are also such means as tar, vinegar, propolis. Connoisseurs of traditional medicine operate on the facts that vinegar was used to combat fungus before the revolution, and propolis has a double healing effect.
In reality, many of the folk remedies have a lot of contraindications. So, tar soap will only do harm if you have one of the following symptoms:
• sensitive skin;
• skin prone to peeling and dryness;
• very thin, damaged skin;
• tendency to allergic reactions;
• photodermatitis.
However, if such problems are not observed, it is still worth trying agents based on tar. Even doctors agree that in the absence of contraindications tar soap helps to restore the nail structure, relieves inflammation. However, provided that it is used in combination with systemic and local drugs and a special diet.
Tar soap is recommended to wash affected nails, as well as speak on its basis masks and baths.
Mask of tar soap and soda
Essential Ingredients:
• tar soap;
• baking soda;
• water.
Instruction:
Rub tar soap with large teeth, then dilute with water and add soda, mix. You should get a thick homogeneous mass. Dip a hard brush into it and rub it into your nails. Hold the mask for a few minutes and rinse off. This procedure should be repeated every day for one week.
Tray of laundry soap and birch tar
Essential Ingredients:
• laundry soap;
• Birch tar;
• water.
Instruction:
Pour warm water into the basin. Laundry soap grate and dissolve in water. Hold your feet in this solution for about 25 minutes, then wipe them with a towel. Grease all existing cracks, places of redness and peeling with birch tar. Treatment with this method must be carried out regularly until the health of the nails is restored.
Unlike tar, vinegar has practically no contraindications (except for individual intolerance). There is no evidence of the effectiveness of this remedy, but vinegar diluted with water does not present a danger to the body. Therefore, here are a few recipes based on it, which may help in the treatment of the fungus.
Application of vinegar and flax flour
Essential Ingredients:
• food vinegar;
• flax flour;
• water.
Instruction:
Dilute vinegar with water in equal proportions, add flour and knead very thick dough. Fashion small cakes, attach them to the affected nails, bandage and leave overnight. The procedure must be carried out for five days, after which the diseased nails supposedly "peel off" and healthy ones grow in their place.
Some of the folk remedies listed in this article really show a good result in the treatment of nail fungus. The effectiveness of others has not been proven, but there are encouraging statements about guaranteed quick healing. However, choosing any of the popular methods, it is important to remember that doctors call advertising of absolutely all local remedies for fungus speculation. Because Onychomycosis can be cured only as a result of an integrated approach combining traditional and non-traditional means and methods.
