Athlete's foot is a disease the signs of which are found in around 20% of people. Fungal infections are easily infected by walking barefoot on a damp pool floor or sports locker room, but it is not that easy to cure. You need to start therapy quickly as soon as the first symptoms appear. To do this, use any folk remedy for athlete's foot in combination with drugs prescribed by your doctor.
How to get rid of fungi on the feet using folk remedies
There are many ways to get rid of the fungus on the feet using folk remedies. The most famous are birch tar, garlic and onions, soda and salt, celandine, vinegar. All of them are capable of relieving the condition associated with onychomycosis, and with regular use, they help in healing.
Birch tar
A well-known folk remedy for fungus on the feet. Tar contains up to 15% tannins, phenols, alkaloids, essential oils and a small amount of carcinogens. It is not known when tar was first used for medicinal purposes, but traditional medicine has long known how to treat mushrooms with this viscous and pungent birch distillation product.
Applied to the feet, tar acts on several problems at once. It softens the keratinized areas, relieves inflammation, and creates unfavorable conditions for infection.
The simplest folk remedy based on it is tar soap. It is suitable for various procedures:
- Soap paste lotions. Rub soap into powder, dilute with water until semi-liquid, apply to the affected legs, fix with a plaster and leave for 3 hours.
- Bath. Rub the soap, measure 3 tbsp. l. Fill a bowl with hot water and dilute the soap powder. Steam your legs for a quarter of an hour.
- Rub. Grind a little tar soap to a powder, measure out 1 tsp. Add 2 tbsp. l. Water and 1 tsp. Sparkling water. Apply the mixture to the toenail affected by the fungus before bed, rinse off the rest in the morning. Repeat daily.
If there is no soap, but pure tar, an ointment can be made from it. According to the folk recipe, you can take badger fat or any neutral cream as a base. Equal parts of base and tar are mixed and used to lubricate the affected areas on the legs. After two hours, rinse the skin to remove any excess ointment.
You can improve the folk recipe with powdered sulfur. Take 2 parts tar, 1 part sulfur, 1 part cream or badger fat. The composition must be heated and mixed thoroughly. Apply the finished ointment to your toenails and cover them with a plaster.
Antifungal vegetables - garlic and onions
Onions and garlic are the most effective foods for fungal infections. They cleanse the skin, strengthen the body's immune defenses and work well together. In folk medicine, they are used for a wide variety of diseases.
Garlic is rich in phytoncides, allicin (a substance with a strong fungicidal effect), essential oils. Onions are rich in phytoncides and essential oils, flavonoids.
In the case of fungal infections on the feet, apply the vegetables on their own or in a mixture:
- Garlic juice. Mash the cloves, squeeze out the juice and apply to the feet with any applicator twice a day, but not with your fingers.
- Onion and garlic juice. Chop 4 cloves of garlic, pour over 1 tbsp. l. Onion juice. Apply the composition and keep it on your feet with a compress or bandage for half an hour.
- Onion compresses. Chop the onion, mix in equal proportions with petroleum jelly. Apply to the skin of the legs every day for 10-15 days.
- Garlic appliqués. There is no time to squeeze the garlic juice - just cut a clove in half, sprinkle with salt and rub the affected skin in half.
- Garlic lotion. Prepare the garlic pulp and squeeze out the juice. Mix 1 part juice with 1 part water and 1 part rubbing alcohol. Apply the resulting lotion to the affected area of your legs.
Essential oils
In the recipes recommended by folk medicine for athlete's foot, various essential oils are often mentioned - clove, cinnamon, thyme, cassia oil, geranium, oregano and lemongrass.
Most in demand, however, is the tea tree essential oil. It is a powerful antiseptic in high concentration. Use carefully so as not to cause burns, redness, or irritation to the skin.
There are several versions of the use of folk remedies - you can rub pure oil or dissolve it in baths.
To prepare a medicinal bath, use the following proportions: 1 liter of water, 1 tsp. Soda, 1 tbsp. l. Salt, 15 drops of oil, 1 tbsp. l. Honey. If you need more mixture, multiply the amount of all the components. The baths are carried out for 20 minutes a day without interruption over the course of 1-3 months.
Herbs for baths
Herbal baths are gentle folk remedies for athlete's foot. Just make sure that you are not allergic to the plants that make up the composition.
A simple folk recipe includes burdock, yarrow, plantain, and wormwood leaves. Mix the herbs in equal proportions, for example 2 tbsp. l. Pour boiling water over the raw material, wait for it to cool down a bit, fill the basin with broth and dip your feet in it. After a few days of vaping daily, the condition will improve.
A good effect is achieved by a decoction of oak bark. Prepare it at the rate of 4 tbsp. l. dry raw materials per 1 liter of water. Add 2 drops of peppermint essential oil and 10 drops of tea tree oil, stir and allow to cool. After an hour, mix the broth, 3 liters of hot water and 2 tbsp. l. Sparkling water. You can keep your feet in such a mixture for 30 minutes. Plan time for this in your daily routine. The course usually lasts 2 weeks.
Soda and salt
Folk recipes based on salt and soda are extremely easy to prepare. Take a basin for a bath, pour hot water, add a couple of tablespoons of baking soda and the same amount of salt (normal, sea or iodized) and stir. If you don't have iodized salt, add a few drops of iodine. Steam your feet daily until symptoms go away.
Baking soda is good for compresses on the feet. Prepare a liter of water, a teaspoon of baking soda, soak the socks in it, squeeze a little. They have to be worn on the feet for a long time, so put shoe covers / plastic bags over them or just wrap your feet in cling film. Leave this compress on your feet for 2 hours. Repeat daily for 1. 5 months.
rowan
An underrated folk remedy for the treatment of mycoses. According to the recipe, fresh rowanberry leaves need to be kneaded so that the juice appears and applied to the feet. It is advisable to wrap a burdock leaf around it, but you can do without it. Next, you need to wrap the leg with a bandage and leave the compress for a day. Then switch to fresh. Treated for 7-10 days.
Tea mushroom
Another popular recipe for athlete's foot is kombucha. Medusomycete contains usnic acid and yeast, which have weak antifungal effects.
The fungus can be improved with an infusion that accumulates over three months.
Such a concentrated remedy will help against toenail fungus. Prepare the infusion: boil for 40 minutes and strain. Moisten cotton wool with broth, apply and set overnight. In the morning, remove the diseased part of the nail and treat it with iodine.
Another popular recipe for treating the fungus is to cut off part of the fungus, chop it into puree, and rub it into your feet and nails twice a day.
Celandine
The poisonous plant has a complex disinfecting, anti-inflammatory and soothing effect on the skin. Often used to treat skin diseases, celandine oil is a well-known folk remedy for nail fungus.
Treatment with celandine does not require complex manipulations. It is enough to steam your feet in a soda bath and lubricate the affected areas with vegetable oil.
The oil is suitable for medical compresses. To do this, apply it to a cotton swab, stick it to the affected area and fix for half an hour. Do this twice a day for 3-4 weeks.
Kalanchoe
Among the methods of treating athlete's foot with folk remedies, indoor aloe is often mentioned. Grind 2-3 leaves of the plant, pour boiling water and leave for 3 hours. Moisten cotton wool or gauze in the resulting solution and treat the affected area once a day. Aloe softens the skin and speeds healing. It works best for toenail fungus.
vinegar
Vinegar, popular in folk recipes, creates an environment that is destructive to the fungus, but can also attack the skin on the legs. Use it cautiously, in small concentrations and only when there are no ulcers or erosions:
- Soak in a solution of wine or apple cider vinegar (1 part vinegar to 6 parts water) for 15 minutes every other day until healthy nails grow back.
- Soak socks in vinegar and pull on your feet overnight, repeat daily until symptoms go away.
- Lubricate the affected areas daily with a mixture of equal amounts of vinegar essence and carrot juice (1 tablespoon each) until health is restored.
Use vinegar on shoes that come in contact with the affected skin on your feet. Take 70% acetic acid, moisten a swab, wipe the inside, leave in your shoes for 48 hours, and put the shoes in a tightly sealed bag. Then ventilate.
Do not forget about socks and tights - it is better to boil them out, not just wash them.
Simple medicines from the first aid kit at home
In addition to expensive fungicidal preparations, there are many simple pharmaceutical remedies that can be used if the fungus on the legs has not started so badly. Knowing how to deal with the fungus with such medicines, you can use the folk remedies available.
Boric acid
Antiseptic that causes the coagulation and denaturation of proteins of pathogenic microorganisms. In folk recipes, the remedy is used only locally and is best used to help with nail plate fungus.
Steam your feet in a soap and baking soda bath, peel off coarse tissue with a pumice stone, file and trim your nails. Then apply boron alcohol on the affected areas. Repeat the process daily. Use a disinfectant on socks, tights, and shoes.
Hydrogen peroxide
Peroxide can be used as a compress. According to folk recipes, it is necessary to apply a pharmaceutical preparation on gauze and apply it to the affected skin for half an hour. Repeat every evening and morning for a week.
The peroxide prevents the fungus from spreading to other areas.
iodine
Even without knowing how to cure the fungus on the feet, most likely you will remember this antiseptic familiar to everyone from childhood. This drug is used as part of the popular treatment of mycoses. It can be used to make trays and lotions.
Prepare 5 liters of water and add 3 tbsp. l. Iodine. Soak your feet in such a concentrated bath for 20 minutes and then dry them off. Repeat every other day.
For lotions, dilute an equal amount of iodine and alcohol, dip a cotton pad in the mixture, and pat the skin on your feet. Apply daily 5-10 days before bedtime until symptoms subside.
Iodine is not used in case of intolerance to this element and in diseases of the thyroid gland.
Drops with essential oils
A drug that is prescribed for colds. But it is also effective against some fungi. Those who have tried the folk method on themselves recommend applying the product to the affected area of skin and nails every day after steaming. The substances in the composition of the drug have antiseptic properties, destroy fungi, viruses and bacteria, and help in the complex treatment of mycoses on the legs.
This is not a complete list of folk remedies for treating nail fungus. But whatever you choose, be sure to consult your doctor before using it. With a neglected mushroom, weakened immunity and other aggravating factors, folk recipes may be ineffective. However, with properly selected drug therapy, such drugs will be an excellent complement to complex treatment.