Cornmeal Cure for Toenail Fungus Took Reader by Surprise

Cornmeal is great for making cornbread, cornmeal buttermilk biscuits, Johnnycakes (cornmeal pancakes), cornmeal biscotti, cornmeal battered fish, cajun cornmeal crusted chicken, and on and on. Want super crunchy onion rings, try cornmeal for the batter! But what if you want to get rid of toenail fungus? Why in the world would you soak your tootsies in cornmeal mush? Here’s one reader who took the plunge with surprising results:

Q. I tried cornmeal paste on a fungus-infected big toenail. I think I did it just once or twice and decided this is dumb and didn’t do it again.

Lo and behold, I recently noticed the fungus is gone and I have a nice pink big toenail! The remedy is cheap, easy and harmless.

A. Thank you for sharing your story. We have heard from many other readers who have found that soaking the affected foot in a cornmeal bath can get rid of nail fungus.

Some scintillating stories from readers:

Kate in Louisiana shares this cornmeal cure story:

“I used cornmeal on my toenail fungus and it actually worked!

“I went to the dollar store and bought some big tin foil pans (big enough to use as a foot bath). I then bought a large bag of yellow cornmeal from a natural food store. I put a couple of cups of cornmeal in the pan and added enough hot water to cover both my feet, and let it sit for 30 minutes before I soaked my feet. Then, I sat and soaked my feet for 1 hour while watching TV (once a week for 6 weeks in the cornmeal mush).

“Be sure to have towels around so you don’t make a mess when you are ready to rinse off. Unbelievably my toe nail fungus went away! I had been bothered by toenail fungus for several years and had tried everything else that was nonprescription.

“I tried Vicks for several months and never saw any improvement. I used Tea Tree Oil daily for over one year and had no improvement either. I tried a wide array of topical concoctions, but to no avail.

“It is two years later, after using cornmeal, and my toenails are still fungus-free. A few times I thought it might be coming back, so I did another soak, just in case. I don’t know if this will work for you, but for me it was rather amazing. Good Luck!”

Jessica in Maryland likes the cornmeal cure:

“I’ve tried almost everything…then someone mentioned cornmeal. It sounded weird, but thought why not. It really does work to my surprise!

“Mix cornmeal and water into a paste. Slap it on your toes (I do all even though I only have one toe that is bad).  Let it set for half an hour every other day for a week. After that do it once a week. You will notice a difference right away.”

Janice in Wisconsin adds this:

“Interesting that cornmeal can be used to treat toenail fungus. Cornmeal is also suggested for treating Hollyhock Rust (a fungus affecting Hollyhocks) in the garden. Corn meal apparently has some anti-fungal properties. What are the proportions of water to cornmeal to use for the soak?”

Those who would like additional details about the so-called cornmeal cure will find them (along with many other nail fungus remedies) in our Guide to Hair and Nail Care.

Other popular remedies include soaking the nails in a solution of water with Listerine, vinegar or both. Either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar may be used. Vicks VapoRub is another favorite nail fungus remedy; for best results, it would be applied twice daily. Most of these remedies require a great deal of patience, as toenails grow slowly and take a long time to grow out.

This article was updated on 5/5/2016

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