0:03 This is Dr. Tom Biernacki
0:05 Toenail fungus is something I see every day.
0:08 A lot of people don't understand exactly what it is, and they're not doing
0:11 the proper treatment.
0:12 We're going to go over the best home remedies and the three
0:16 big secrets that are probably stopping you from healing your toenail fungus.
0:19 And we're starting now.
0:25 Toenail fungus is something we see all the time in clinic.
0:28 I'm talking thousands of times.
0:29 I feel that virtually 99% of the time you can get this better.
0:34 There are some big secrets stopping people from getting it better.
0:38 We're going to go over exactly what it is.
0:39 We're going to count down the top ten remedies from 10 to 1.
0:44 And the ones you should be doing,
0:45 the ones I think are effective and I see working all the time.
0:48 There are six types of toenail fungus.
0:51 Number one,
0:52 this is called onychomycosis, and it usually gets underneath the toenail.
0:56 So it's under the toenail, not on top. In most cases.
0:59 The most common is distal sublingual.
1:01 So it just gets under the front of the tip.
1:04 Number three is superficial.
1:05 So this is the one that's on top.
1:07 This is the more rare common type.
1:10 Number four, New Endonyx. This is new.
1:13 It's just white patches on top.
1:14 Fairly rare.
1:16 Five is proximal sublingual onychomycosis.
1:19 That means it gets jammed and some type of pus or fungus gets underneath.
1:23 And six is really bad. Total onychomycosis.
1:27 That's basically if you have diabetes, that's under control.
1:30 But almost all of it.
1:32 I'd say 90% plus is the distal sublingual.
1:35 What causes toenail fungus?
1:37 The number one dermatology sites.
1:39 These are the most common fungi that cause toenail fungus.
1:42 They thrive in warm, moist environments like sweaty shoes or public showers.
1:49 So when you have sweat athlete's foot, it kind of goes from your socks,
1:52 from your dry skin underneath your toenail.
1:55 And they love sitting there because sweat builds up there.
1:58 It's moist. You get good blood flow.
2:00 I have great videos on athlete's foot, but essentially athlete's foot is thick,
2:04 flaky skin.
2:05 It can sometimes look like chalky powder that is ripe
2:08 for fungus, for bacteria, and even viruses that can cause warts.
2:11 So here's some different pictures of athlete's foot.
2:14 it's only a matter of time until that athlete's foot fungus
2:17 bacteria starts to crawl underneath the nail.
2:21 Then you get develop different types of onychomycosis.
2:24 The nail gets thick, and that's why it stays permanently.
2:27 That's why people can't get rid of this darn fungus.
2:29 If you're a diabetic, they get more sugar and fungus loves sugar.
2:34 Next is yeasts and molds.
2:36 These can also infect the nails, particularly in people
2:40 with weakened immune systems, people who are not as healthy.
2:43 Older people.
2:44 People who have looser nails that can get under their poor blood flow.
2:48 If your blood flows poor,
2:50 your immune system can't get up there and attack that fungus quite as much.
2:53 And at the same time, diabetes, a fungus, a love blood sugar.
2:57 If you're eating a process, diet sugar, cupcakes, that kind of stuff,
3:00 it's going to be for those fungi.
3:02 This is the microscope slide again.
3:03 But take a look at this. Blood sugar.
3:05 If you are a diabetic,
3:07 your blood sugar makes it into that skin periphery so that blood sugar
3:10 makes its way into that callus where fungus love to eat it.
3:14 But guess what?
3:15 The blood vessels do not penetrate into that callus.
3:18 So sugar can diffuse there, but your immune cells don't circulate there.
3:22 So look who moves in.
3:23 Friendly mushroom right there. That's your fungus.
3:26 That looks like a toad from the new Mario Brothers movie.
3:29 I went to go see that with my kids.
3:31 It's actually the first movie they've seen.
3:32 I've got four kids, so they're.
3:35 They're very young, but they love that Mario movie.
3:37 Environmental factors walking barefoot in damp
3:40 areas, swimming pools, gyms, showers.
3:44 This can increase the risk of fungal nail infection.
3:46 But the reality is a lot of people that I see are fairly clean.
3:50 It's not like you have poor hygiene.
3:52 It's not your fault.
3:53 I think this one is overrated.
3:55 And that brings me to another one.
3:56 Poor hygiene is listed as one of the most common ones.
3:59 I don't think that's a problem for most people,
4:01 and I'm going to go over that in my big secret.
4:03 You are unfairly blamed as having poor hygiene.
4:06 I see wives blaming their husbands for giving them fungus in the shower.
4:11 Don't blame your poor husband or husbands.
4:13 Don't blame your wives.
4:14 Another one.
4:15 And I think this is more common.
4:16 This will be addressed in the secrets, but tight footwear, shoes that crush.
4:20 Squeeze your nail, that lift that create calluses,
4:24 thick, dry skin that your blood vessels can't get to.
4:27 This creates both a sweaty and friction filled environment
4:31 that creates lots of excess skin, lots of sweat.
4:33 This is ideal for fungal growth, take a look at this microscope.
4:37 Slide on the bottom.
4:38 You can see the blood vessels, but on top there's the callus layer
4:41 where blood vessels do not penetrate.
4:43 As a result, you do not have immune system there that gets underneath your toenail.
4:48 So your toenail lays on top of that.
4:50 and if you have bad biomechanics, if you're a runner,
4:53 if you rip your toenails up and down in tight dress shoes,
4:56 tight heels, if you've put on weight, there's more pressure on your nails.
5:00 And that callus develops underneath that big toe.
5:03 The other toes.
5:03 And that's where the fungus, bacteria and viruses love to get in.
5:08 And because there's no blood vessels, there is no immune system.
5:11 and the big one is underlying health conditions
5:13 diabetes, circulation problems, weakened immune systems.
5:17 As you get older, all of these happen.
5:19 There are easy ways to solve this, even if you have all three.
5:22 That doesn't mean you can't fix your toenail fungus fairly quickly.
5:25 The symptoms changes in nail color, the nail may turn white yellow.
5:28 It's usually lifting. It's usually thick.
5:31 When you look at it from top to bottom, there's usually stuff underneath it.
5:34 Dirt gets stuck in there, horrible,
5:36 crumbling in texture, distorted nail shapes.
5:39 Underneath the nail,
5:40 you can have foul smell, lots of dry skin, lots of callus and discomfort in pain.
5:45 The most common thing is discomfort and pain that nails coming off.
5:48 So let's fix this. You should not have to suffer with these.
5:51 We're going to start with the top ten home remedies, counting down in least
5:55 practical and least science to most practical and most science.
5:58 Number ten Garlic. There are studies and success rates.
6:01 Some studies and evidence do suggest that garlic does have antifungal properties.
6:06 There's no specific foot and toenail studies.
6:09 They're limited, but this is something readily available.
6:12 And we do know that garlic is antifungal.
6:14 How practical is this?
6:16 I don't think this is one that you should focus on.
6:18 Number nine, I see this listed a lot corn meal studies and success rates.
6:22 There are a lot of studies online.
6:24 This lacks any specific substantial scientific evidence.
6:28 To me it's a little bit easier than garlic.
6:30 That's why I put out number nine.
6:32 But I think this is a questionable treatment option.
6:34 I would not go with corn meal number eight, sunflower oil and other overnight
6:40 oils.
6:40 There are studies showing of some people putting sunflower oil.
6:43 There is studies showing sunflower oil and other oils can help.
6:47 So I'm referring more sunflower and these cosmetic oils that are sold,
6:51 they're recommended to be put on the nails.
6:53 I wouldn't go with this.
6:54 It's probably not the best and most proven.
6:56 Number seven, coconut oil.
6:58 Some studies do show
6:59 that coconut oil has antifungal properties for the toenail fungus.
7:03 Coconut oil is not the most proven option.
7:06 I would not recommend coconut oil,
7:08 but now let's get into some of the ones that are more effective at this point.
7:11 Vinegar soaks.
7:12 So this includes apple cider vinegar, white vinegar.
7:15 I included Listerine as part of vinegar soaks two.
7:18 Listerine is something that you can use as a mouthwash.
7:21 You could put that in a foot soak as well.
7:23 There are no specific studies on the soaps.
7:26 There is lots of reports about how well they work.
7:28 And I've seen these work,
7:29 I've had lots of patients do these and they do have great results.
7:32 This is mildly effective vinegar and Listerine is not hospitable to fungus.
7:37 It creates a harsh environment where it can kill the fungus.
7:40 There probably are some better options.
7:42 The way you would do these vinegar and Listerine soaks.
7:45 So about 25% of the Listerine or vinegar and make the rest warm water.
7:50 If you're a diabetic, make sure to check with
7:52 your elbow or something so you don't burn your feet.
7:54 15 to 20 minutes is all you need that gets underneath
7:57 your nail, soaks in there, softens up your skin.
8:00 Number five, hydrogen peroxide studies
8:03 do show that hydrogen peroxide will kill fungus.
8:06 It will kill bacteria, but it can burn your skin if left on too long.
8:10 This is fairly effective.
8:11 It's known for its antiseptic properties.
8:13 It will kill the fungus.
8:15 It will kill bacteria, but too much can burn the skin.
8:18 And it's not very practical.
8:19 Like realistically do put it in a shot glass and dip one toe in.
8:23 Or do you buy a couple of big bottles and dump it in a bowl to soak for 15 minutes?
8:27 I would say move on to the next options.
8:29 Hydrogen peroxide is extremely effective at killing toenail fungus.
8:34 So why isn't it our number one home remedy?
8:37 The answer is there's a couple different stages
8:40 and you could see stage one.
8:42 It will make that green stuff disappear.
8:43 But when you look at stage two
8:45 or stage three, it won't necessarily heal the toenail.
8:49 This is where our big secrets at the end come in.
8:52 It's really easy to kill Toenail fungus and hydrogen peroxide is an easy option,
8:57 but you really have to get to the root cause for why that toenail fungus
9:01 is getting there.
9:02 And it's not just diet.
9:04 It's not just losing weight.
9:05 There are some easy, quick, effective things
9:08 that are bio, mechanically based that can do the trick.
9:11 Number four, tea tree oil.
9:13 This is something that's well studied.
9:14 For example, the Australian Journal of Dermatology found 60% success
9:19 rate in mild to moderate cases treating toenail fungus.
9:23 This is a well-studied option.
9:24 There's a ton of studies.
9:26 There is a ton of tea tree oil supplements, there's a ton of tea
9:30 tree oil antifungal medications online that you can purchase.
9:34 This is moderate to highly successful as an antifungal and antiseptic.
9:39 It's natural. It's a pretty good option.
9:41 There's nothing wrong with going this in the way you do it is you take a dab,
9:44 you put it on your toenails, you can take a Q-Tip, you can take an applicator,
9:48 you can leave it on at night, you can wear socks.
9:51 I love tea tree oil.
9:52 It is antifungal.
9:54 It's widely available,
9:55 and there's actually good studies that it really does work well.
9:59 It's natural and easy to use.
10:01 You take a Q-Tip, just apply it onto your toenail.
10:03 You can put a little Band-Aid on there or cover it up with some socks.
10:06 The cons are some people are irritated by it.
10:09 They're allergic to it.
10:11 And are the results really effective if the nails not trimmed
10:13 and smoothed down?
10:15 It's not the quickest thing in the world.
10:17 Number three, baking soda.
10:18 This was actually studied.
10:20 It's a little bit higher than I'd recommend.
10:21 I probably put tea tree oil higher.
10:23 This was studied in a journal where baking soda was essentially added
10:28 onto the toenail fungus. It is toxic.
10:30 It's something everybody has available in their fridge.
10:32 Most likely it is moderately effective and it does help prevent fungus
10:36 from spreading and growing.
10:37 It isn't a antifungal it isn't an antibacterial.
10:40 I saw in TikTok that baking soda mixes are extremely popular now.
10:44 They do have antifungal properties that are cheap.
10:46 They're widely available.
10:48 They're pretty much at every home and it's a nontoxic, low cost home remedy.
10:53 But there's limited research.
10:54 It may not be the most potent solution, but you can put it in water
10:58 as a foot soak.
10:59 So about one quarter baking soda, three quarters water,
11:03 or you can add a little bit of water
11:04 like here and make it a paste and apply it onto your toenail directly.
11:08 Number two lavender or oregano oil.
11:11 Lavender and oregano oil are known for its strong antifungal properties.
11:15 A lot of over-the-counter
11:16 ones do have a combination of lavender tea, tree oil or egg oil.
11:20 You can see these in mixtures.
11:22 I would probably bring the tea tree oil roughly in this category.
11:25 I don't really think lavender is better than tea tree.
11:27 In fact, they're all kind of in the same group, in my opinion.
11:30 But that's one you'd put on your toes.
11:32 Lavender oil is a very popular solution now.
11:34 It's a natural remedy and it also has aromatherapy benefits.
11:38 It's sold and it's more popular,
11:40 but there's limited research for toenail fungus.
11:43 It might not be potent enough in some cases,
11:46 and some people do get skin irritation.
11:48 What you do is use a Q-Tip to apply it to the toenail, or you can use a light bulb.
11:53 Then you put a Band-Aid, but it's recommended you trim the nails
11:56 and you clean up the skin and exfoliated as much as possible ahead of time.
12:01 And number one, this is a popular one.
12:03 Vicks VapoRub There are studies
12:05 in the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine showed pretty good results.
12:09 It's low cost, it's easy.
12:11 You don't have to spill it anywhere.
12:13 Take a dab with your finger, put it on your toenails.
12:15 It contains camphor and eucalyptus oil in a high enough concentration
12:19 or it's antifungal, antibacterial, putting it on there,
12:23 smearing it on your toes, wearing some sort that can be very effective.
12:26 You can also take a dab and put it across your athlete's foot.
12:29 Vicks VapoRub has always been my favorite.
12:32 Camphor, eucalyptus, oil and menthol are in high enough
12:35 concentrations to kill fungus.
12:37 It's widely available and it is lower cost.
12:40 It's usually at most people's homes and it's easy to use.
12:43 You just apply it to the toenail at nighttime before bed.
12:46 You put a Band-Aid on or some socks.
12:48 But there's not huge scientific backing to this.
12:51 These can work really well.
12:53 The reality is with toenail fungus, the creams are not that expensive.
12:56 There are a lot of good creams that are not that expensive.
12:59 That can work extremely well. There's a lot of prescription.
13:02 So if you come see a foot doctor, there are a lot of prescriptions.
13:05 I can tell you here in Michigan, I have a laser device.
13:08 I use it for people.
13:09 If I can't get good results, I use the laser.
13:11 I won't even charge people for it. The laser gets great results.
13:14 The creams get great results.
13:15 I was always a laser skeptic.
13:17 I'm like, Who are these foot doctors and dermatologist?
13:20 Turgeon Thousands of dollars for these lasers.
13:23 Do these things work?
13:24 Well, you know what?
13:25 I invested in a laser after trying one at my friends offices.
13:28 And these things actually work really well.
13:30 They have the benefits of being painless.
13:33 They can penetrate through the nail and what they do is they actually use heat
13:38 to get underneath the toenail and to warm up the fungus.
13:41 And it kills the fungus without burning you or the skin.
13:45 Yes. It's almost too good to be true.
13:47 I thought it was a scam before, but it works extremely well.
13:50 I've had some really good results.
13:52 Now, the thing is, I have the benefit of on my own practice,
13:55 so I don't have to charge these outrageous practices.
13:58 I don't have to charge these outrageous fees.
14:00 So if you're in Michigan, I'd love to help you out with your toenail,
14:03 but it still takes a little while
14:05 for the nail to grow out for that fungus to be dead.
14:08 But if you do the three big secrets that I'm going to talk about,
14:11 that's really the trick.
14:12 You don't really need to find the perfect medication.
14:15 There was basically a scam in the past where some of these medications
14:18 were like $3,000 and the results were terrible.
14:21 These medications didn't work.
14:23 They were charging 3000 plus dollars for a round of these treatments,
14:26 and the results were not that good.
14:28 But I would say start with topical cream.
14:30 I'm not a big fan of taking the pills.
14:32 I always start with the topical creams.
14:34 I have not prescribed the oral medications in years.
14:37 Even though they work. There are side effects with oral ones.
14:40 Take with these three secrets and you should have some pretty good results.
14:43 I have a video below where I review all the best creams at the store, the cost
14:48 points, all the best prescription creams and all the best prescription pills.
14:53 I think there's some really good ones.
14:55 I think there's some really bad ones, especially the more expensive ones
14:58 through not necessarily better.
15:00 And I think this is the mistake people make.
15:02 They think they by taking these expensive and a lot of times more dangerous
15:07 and aggressive creams or aggressive pills, they're going to get better results.
15:12 But that's not the case because they're making critical mistakes,
15:15 like not having blood flow to deliver it to the site, for example, and not really
15:20 getting to the root cause of why they have the fungus in the first place.
15:24 And we're going to do a three secret countdown, three dietary changes.
15:28 If you were a diabetic, if you have blood flow issues,
15:31 the number one thing you can do is get to the root cause of your diabetes.
15:34 If you have an athlete's foot, if you're having skin tags,
15:38 if you're having toenail fungus, these are all side effects of high blood sugar.
15:42 In today's society, we're eating 4000 plus calories
15:45 for the average person in America.
15:47 This is in Europe, too. This is across most of the world.
15:49 In the 1950s, it used to be like two and a half thousand calories.
15:53 Now it's like 4000 plus calories.
15:55 It's more sugar, more processed foods.
15:57 If you cut down that sugar,
15:59 there's less for that fungus, less for that bacteria, less dry skin.
16:03 at the obesity rates around the world.
16:05 It's not just North America and the United States, which is a myth.
16:08 Europe is actually a little bit higher.
16:09 South America's getting up there.
16:11 The world overall, Asia, Oceania and even Africa is getting up there.
16:16 So everyone is getting more and more obese.
16:19 So look at these statistics.
16:20 Since just 2000, it's gone up from 30% to 42.4%.
16:27 And even the severe obesity rate has doubled.
16:30 So it's going up.
16:31 And what about COVID?
16:33 When COVID started, the rates shot up even more rapidly.
16:37 So this problem is already horrible and it's only getting worse.
16:42 People are getting higher rates of diabetes.
16:44 Everything I'm going to talk about here is more relevant than ever.
16:47 I have a video
16:48 that goes over the top 25 skin conditions that high blood sugar causes.
16:53 Toenail fungus is one of them.
16:54 Skin tags, athlete's foot.
16:56 Check out that guide.
16:58 If you're struggling with skin problems,
16:59 wiping out that blood sugar can change your life dramatically.
17:03 Number two, big secret You have to get pressure off your toes.
17:08 Most people that I see their toenails are lifting.
17:11 So the trick is, if your toes like this in your nails like this, it's
17:15 essentially ripping up and down every time you take a step.
17:19 So if your toes pressed into the ground,
17:21 if you don't have enough pressure off of it,
17:22 that toenail is ripping out the blood vessels do not get into the toenail.
17:27 There's callus under the toenail.
17:29 There's thick, dry skin under the toenail.
17:32 Most people are trying to save a dead toenail where blood vessels
17:35 don't penetrate.
17:36 And if blood vessels don't penetrate into that toenail, your immune system
17:40 can't get there.
17:41 Heal that toenail. That's the big secret.
17:44 And as a result, you have thicker skin, you have calluses,
17:48 the blood vessels don't penetrate all that.
17:50 That's what causes athlete's foot
17:51 and that's what causes bacteria and fungus to live on your thick foot skin.
17:55 really combining it all.
17:56 Get your diabetes down, get your blood sugar down, and your fungus won't have
18:00 any sugar to eat and your blood flow will be better if your blood flows better.
18:04 Your immune system, can get into that callus and kill it much easier.
18:08 At the same time, you are in good shoes, good orthotics.
18:11 You won't develop that callus layer, the nail won't lift.
18:14 And as a result,
18:14 that harmless little cute fungus right there won't be able to get in there.
18:19 I have a video How to prevent thick, dry skin, how to exfoliate,
18:24 how to get all that down.
18:25 Check that out below.
18:26 That's a big secret if you can do that.
18:27 Fungus has nowhere to live and it can get underneath your toenails.
18:31 And big secret number one is if your toenails loose, if it's there,
18:35 if the scar tissue, there's a build up on it.
18:37 Not only do you have to trim it shorter, but you have to file it down
18:41 if you're diabetic, if you have blood flow issues,
18:43 if you're older, come see a podiatrist.
18:44 It's all covered stuff.
18:45 We can do lasers, we can trim it, we can get it down.
18:48 If you can't see a podiatrist, you have to shorten down that toenail.
18:51 Then you have to use a nail file to get it down.
18:53 Otherwise, none of these home remedies will be effective.
18:56 The creams will not be effective, So the real secret here is
19:00 not only do you have to apply the cream to the correct area,
19:04 but then the loose nail that's not getting blood flow,
19:06 that's not getting nutrition, that does not have any blood vessels to it.
19:10 You have to trim. You have to to breed.
19:13 Here's a picture of somebody using a nail drill
19:16 to essentially exfoliate the heel skin, the toenail skin.
19:20 Getting rid of this is the key.
19:22 The fungus, the bacteria does not have anywhere to live.
19:25 Then your blood flow and a good healthy immune system can get there
19:29 and eliminate the nail fungus.
19:31 The athlete's foot the rest of the way.
19:34 That's the guaranteed way
19:35 to get rid of your nail fungus, your bacterial skin infections.
19:39 And then once all of that is gone, it still takes some time
19:43 to grow a good, healthy toenail.
19:45 The secret here is that a nail grows about one millimeter per month.
19:49 In the summer, it grows 50% faster at about 1.5 millimeters a month.
19:53 So you can move to Florida if you want it, to grow back a little bit healthier.
19:57 Otherwise, you're going to have to wait about a month.
20:00 Otherwise, you're going to have to wait about a year to grow back a full, healthy,
20:04 big toenail. And it comes from the nail matrix.
20:06 That's the stem cells that grow that toenail.
20:09 and you have to get pressure off that toe,
20:11 get that blood sugar down, get pressure off the toes, proper shoes.
20:14 You've got to get your weight down.
20:15 You've got to fix your biomechanical problems.
20:17 You've got a hand. You've got to thin and shorten those toenails.
20:20 At this point, all of these remedies will work.
20:23 It will all do great.
20:24 And you also have to treat your athlete's foot, your skin.
20:27 Otherwise that fungus will go from your skin
20:29 right back into the toenail as soon as you cure it.
20:32 So you have to get to the root cause.
20:33 If that helps, check out your athlete's foot guide or diabetes Skin guides.
20:37 We go over all this
20:39 and how to get rid of your thick, dry skin around your toenail, underneath
20:42 your toenail.
20:43 That's the true big secret. That's the big cause.
20:46 And if you're in Michigan, come see me.
20:47 We'll do some lasers, we'll do some creams.
20:50 We'll get you in great shape.
