Regarding the type of vinegar to use - I have tried both white distilled and apple cider. I then discovered Bragg ORGANIC apple cider vinegar that contains something called "the mother" that is supposed to be really beneficial. It is not in the regular apple cider vinegar that you get at the grocery store. I got this at a health food store. It has a great recipe for a tonic to drink daily in a glass of water adding some honey and it is actually palatable. It is supposed to be good for several ailments when taken internally. Whenever I tried to drink apple cider vinegar in water before I could not get it down! I keep little spray bottles of this vinegar around the house and carry one in my purse and try to spray my toes throughout the day as much as I can. I am starting to see improvement after a month or so. I also take a good probiotic and am taking something called Mycozil that I found on the internet. I take oregano oil internally some too, but not every day. I try to limit my sugar, which is not easy. I tried attacking it with everything I could think of, but decided that I was probably killing good nail as well and so I backed off and am keeping it simple. I soak a couple of times a week and also use a good quality coconut oil (the kind you take internally as well and is actually pretty good) and cheap OTC athlete's foot medicine at night. I also agree that there is a hereditary element - my grandmother (maternal) had it and one of my five sisters does as well, but not all of us and my mother or her sister never had it. My dad has some fungal problems as well, but has never gotten full-fledged toenail fungus. I too would love to wear cute sandals in the summer. I plan on trying the above regimen for a year and hope to be able to get my first pedicure next summer for my fiftieth birthday!!! I often wonder what my life would have been like had I not spent so much of it trying to beat this damn fungus. I have learned a lot though and so there is a plus side to everything. At least my fingernails have never been infected - small consolation!!

I have had few in my lifetime and I am in my late 50s. But, I will never have another. My daughter and I had a couple outings where we had manicures and pedicures together. At the 2nd one, when she removed my nail polish, the toenail was green. I did have a fungal infection on it, but it was not grass green! It eventually turn black. There have been a lot of health problems associated with nail salons. If I am ever successful with my toenail fungus, I would celebrate in another way. I will never have another manicure or pedicure--ever!

As far as toenail fungus being hereditary, I believe it is, too. It is also contagius, so sharing towels, bathtubs, bedding, walking barefoot on carpeting--are all potential places to contract it from, from a family member.

My grandpa, my dad, and myself all have toenail fungus..obviously hereditary. Is there anyone who has been successful at treating a hereditary fungus? If so, please let me know what worked for you. :)

I think changing the body's ph is important. I am currently using 6 or 7 remedies concurrently, as I have 35 year case of stubborn fungus. One week, I think I am being successful and the next week, the fungus gained ground.

I, too, would like to hear from others as to what is working for them.

Nail fungus is incredibly stubborn. It can take a while to completely rid of the condition. Most sufferers give up on a treatment after several weeks thinking they have beaten the infection only for it return.

You have to treat the cause of the problem - for many it can be a change to their gastrointestinal health, altering the inside to present a healthier outside.
http://www.cure-nailfungus.com

I've done many many remedies, concurrently. And until just recently, I've treated both big toenails the same. About a month ago, I decided to just treat the worst toenail--I figured, if it doesn't work, it can't get much worse. Well, my toenail with the 35 year old stubborn fungus is 1/2 pink!!! The outer 1/2 is brown with splotches of white. The difference is startling! Here's what I did--I took an 8" pyrex bowl and filled it with about 2" of water. I microwaved it for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, then stirred in about 3 tablespoons of Epsom Salts. I dipped my toenails in for a few seconds, as long as I could. And I kept doing it. It seems like they got acclimated to the water temperature, pretty quickly. When I had realized that it must have been the Epsom Salts in very hot water, I did it again, this time BOTH TOES, two days ago. Interestingly, the day after the 2nd soakings, I didn't feel great and I definitely attribute that to the fungus dying and releasing their toxins (die-off phenomena). If you look at my other posts, you'll see all the different remedies that I've used. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

I have heard of using epsom salts too and have tried it off and on, but not used it every day. Are you using vinegar as well, or just one thing at a time? Also, what 6 or 7 remedies are you using to correct your body pH and are you doing much as far as dietary modifications?

Are you saying these salts in hot water helped or it got rid of the fungus? How often did/are you using it?

I used it about a month ago and just last Saturday--so just twice. I still have the toenail fungus, it's about 1/2 grown out. I have used at least a dozen remedies and still do about 5 every day. I will keep everyone posted, but the results are truly startling. I would strongly encourage everyone to try it!

I am adding fresh garlic to my virgin bloody mary. I add 1 tablespoon of ACV to a glass of water. Sunflower seeds. Carrot juice. Kefir. I'm not sure if all of these change the ph, some are considered antifungal. The ACV changes the ph. When I take several glasses of the ACV (as described above), in a day and then I use the Clorox bleach pen, the bleach gel doesn't turn black, like it usually does. The Clorox bleach gel turns the fungus black.

I think drinking the ACV is a big plus. I started doing that as well as spraying my toes when I discovered the Bragg raw, unfiltered, organic vinegar. I think it does something that the regular ACV doesn't! I also think the key is using internal and external remedies. I have one toe on the left foot that looks almost completely normal now and that has not happened in years. I also think you are right about the pedicure thing. I would be thrilled just to be able to paint my own toenails and go buy a bunch of cute sandals!

I've had to paint my toenails for so long, to cover up the fungal infection, that now all I want to do is to have natural toenails! No polish! I am going to continue with the scalding hot water in epsom salts. Who knows if even the epsom salts does anything, maybe it is just the very hot water?! I've read that biotin makes the nails grow faster, so anything that I can do to speed up the process, I'll do. I already bought it on ebay and should be getting it any day now. And if I'm successful of getting rid of this fungus, I plan on continuing the two drops of vinegar at the base of the growing toenail, twice a day.

Where did you buy the epsom salts? Is there something particular I should look for?

I just bought the epsom salts at the grocery store, in the health/beauty aisle. As with all treatments, it takes time to see the results, I did it a month ago and just recently saw the healthy pink part. Whatever ugly part is visible has to be grown off the body.

Thanks Amy, I've been trying to get rid of this toenail junk for years! I'm looking forward to trying this and getting rid of it once and for all!

"Have the toenail removed. "
"recovery time... 3 months"
That was from jakesmith on Dec 31 '06.
Jake, or anybody, I would hope to resume running
before 3 months. When, do you think?

I have been reading and monitoring everyone's progress for over a month. For that period of time I have been using ACV, filing, cutting back and soaking in epsom salt H20 as hot as I can bear. I have made some significant progress. I have had nail fungus for a very long time. Thanks to all of you guys and your tips my nails are now merely ugly and not grossly ugly. I am hopeful that the progress will continue. Spunkyblonde-thanks for all of you advice. I will start drinking the ACV in H2O and see if that helps. You guys are all great. I will keep watching your progress and reporting anything I learn that might help. I think the epsom salt soaks and filing have been the biggest help. Once again, many thanks to all of you!

Welcome to the board! How long have you done the epsom salts in hot water? I guess I'm a little slow when the lightbulb came on in my brain a week ago... "Why is my worst toenail better than the other?" And that is when I figured out that it was the epsom salts and the VERY HOT water. I am probably like everyone else in treating all their nails the same. Thankfully in this incident, I did only one. When you do as many remedies as I do, it's hard to know what is working. Actually, I think they all work, maybe just not enough for my 35 year old fungal infection. They need to be clobbered with everything! Please keep us posted on how and what you're doing! If I ever get rid of it, I am going to have a nice cocktail. (I've been off booze and all sugar for 2 months now!) :)

Has anyone purchased the lamisil or generic terbinafine online? If so please let me know a legitamite place to buy.

By the way I have a priscription but my insurance does not cover it. The sides are a risk I am more than willing to take b/c I would love to wear open toed sandals for the first time in my life. Just wondering if anyone has bought online and had success.