Q. A couple of years ago I had a bad fungal infection in my toenail and it was about to fall off. My GP recommended Vicks VapoRub and it worked a treat. It took several months for the new nail to grow out, but once it did it was perfect. Because I work as a nurse and am on my feet all day, I am prone to these infections. Now I use VapoRub a couple times a week to keep the problem from returning. It may not work for everyone, but it’s worth a try.
A. We love hearing from readers in Great Britain, and we love it when doctors recommend home remedies. You are right that Vicks doesn’t work for everyone, but it helps often enough that it is worth trying.
We are sending you our Guide to Hair and Nail Care, with other recommendations for simple treatment of nail fungus in case the Vicks VapoRub stops working. Here are a few stories from other readers:
“I read somewhere recently that soaking feet in warm water with cornmeal will kill toenail fungus.
There is apparently a fungus or maybe a bacteria in the cornmeal that kills the toenail fungus. The recommendation was to soak the feet once a week, for two or three weeks to take care of the problem.”
“I had a boyfriend once who suffered from fungus in his toenails. He seemed so upset about it I did some research (pre-Google days) and came across a suggestion to apply gentian violet daily to the toenails + keep the feet as clean and dry as possible at all times. After a year (and our break-up) he wrote me that the remedy had cleared his problem.
“The one difficulty of using this remedy is a major one especially for women: purple toes for a year!
“You can find the stuff at a real old-fashioned pharmacy or online.
“Proviso: as with all remedies and medications, what works for one person might not work for another. But if you start observing the nail growing out looking ‘normal’ it’s a good sign it’s worth continuing.”
