Hello again! Wow, I can’t believe it’s been four years. I apologize to everyone who has wondered what has come of my experiment. After my last update, I figured I was basically healed and stopped following my regimen. The right big toenail never did grow out 100% clean, but I was happy.
From 2017 to 2018 everything was completely fine. Around 2019, I started seeing the evil fungus begin its attack. Now, only three nails are still OK. I didn’t want to acknowledge that I had gotten lazy and allowed my toenails to deteriorate, so I turned a blind eye like an ostrich with its head in a hole.
I am ready to start taking care of my toenails again, but there are going to have to be a few changes if I am going to keep this up literally for the rest of my life.
First of all, there is no way that I can apply tea tree oil twice a day forever. It is way too strong, for one thing, and for another, it is just a LOT of work! I plan to simplify my regimen a bit so that I can actually keep it up.
In the morning, when showering, I will scrub with the tea tree soap and blow dry my feet. I will NOT apply tea tree oil or coconut oil.
In the afternoon I will wash my feet with tea tree soap and apply the tea tree / coconut oil mixture. Melting the solid coconut oil was a bit of a chore, so I am going to switch to fractionated coconut oil in a pump bottle.
Then, at bedtime, I will apply the 40% urea cream.
Worrying about sterilizing socks and shoes in hot water and UV light is too much. I just don’t have that kind of energy to keep up for sustained periods of time.
The basic principles of my nail fungus regimen are still there, but I think this will be a lot easier to maintain.
Before I go, here’s a close up of each foot. How about I check back in four weeks and we’ll see how I’m doing? See you then!
Comments 8
Good luck!!!
I have had embarrassing fungus on just 2 toenails (not sure why it’s only on the two nails) for my entire life. They are completely yellow and thick. People always seem to point it out, or you catch them doing the 5000 yard stare at your feet. I get embarrassed, and end up hiding my left foot when wearing sandals around people. It is very sad to do that for 30 years. I’m sick of it, and ready for a change.
I have clipped my nails back and filed down what’s left to a very thin layer of nail bed. In the morning I use peroxide directly on the nails, let it dry, then a kerasal/tea tree oil mix along with some terbinafine 1% cream. Then in the afternoon, and before bed I just use the teatree oil/terbinafine mix.
I’m not sure which one is killing the fungus, but it works!!! I’m taking some timeline photos, very interesting to see the progression.
I’m going to be giving your regime a try. I’ve had toenail fungus for a decade and I want to finally get rid of it completely. I tried tea tree oil non diluted on my big toe just to see if I can start seeing progress before going full in. Big mistake! It ended up infecting the skin on my toes and big blisters started breaking out on them. I have everything now, urea cream, tea tree oil and coconut oil. I’m using fractionated coconut oil and tea tree oil in a spray bottle to spray my toes for easy application. I also have a dropper that I use. We’ll see how it goes however your regime appears to have worked for some, hopefully the same for me. I don’t want to be embarrassed to go to the beach anymore.
I also want to mention some other things I did to help. Changed socks every time I used my sneakers. With my loafers, I wore sockets and changed them everyday. Laundered them in hot water. Sometimes I’d put my feet in the sun rays for up to five minutes if I’m up for it. My thought is that the sun ray contains UV rays which should kill some of the fungus. Even the shoes are put put on the sun mow and again as I don’t always remember to do it.
I came to tell you that I took some of your advice plus I saw a podiatrist and a pharmacist about the toenail fungus issue I went through. It started around October 2019. I went through different medicine but have found a routine and several products that help my big toenail look halfway decent.
The podiatrist did a little surgery and removed the infected parts of the toenail. She recommended some really expensive oil from Germany but I never got it because she was out of stock and my lack of free time. Anyway when she said oil I got the idea to use tea tree oil and cuticle oil together, which I remember seeing in your website. A month before seeing the podiatrist, a pharmacist recommended some anit-fungal tablets which I was allergic to so I stopped taking those after two weeks. The pharmacist also recommended soaking the feet in epsom salt solution then drying with a paper towel. After that spray the toenail with rubbing alcohol to dehydrate the area. I didn’t want to go through the hassle of blow drying my toes so the alcohol turned out to be better solution for me.
So based on those combined advice I would dry my toes with tissue then spray with rubbing alcohol. When it dries, I spray lamisil then allow it to air dry. Before I put on my shoes I put my tea tree cuticle oil mixture to all my toes. I started this new routine around November 2020. Now I have half of my toe mail back. Also every few days, I trim the free edge of the mail using a cuticle nipper (the podiatrist used it so I took that idea from her). I file and buff the nail every two weeks.
I have pics of my entire journey for the past year plus. Honestly I thank you for sharing your journey as it gave me a better understanding of how to go about my own treatment.
Thanks for taking the time to update on your current situation. It’s a great lesson for all those who stumble on this that you have to be consistent and don’t let up when you think you’re in the clear. Also, your last journey is a great hope for those who dealt with fungus and felt like there was no way to actually get rid of it for good. I’ve been battling fungus for over 15 years and hope to see breakthrough soon! Keep at it!
Hi John- I too want to thank you for the inspiration. Your site really helped me and I am fungus free now. Here are some details:
I had fungus on one big toe for 25 years. I also had it on a few other nails but they responded to pills. The big nail fungus always came back and I tried many home remedies over the years. I found your diary and it got me thinking of a new approach. It took 12-18 full months but it honestly worked and I’m so happy to be fungus free a couple years later. I wish luck to anyone afflicted with this annoying, hideous problem.
I used this kind of 3M First Aid Flexible Waterproof Tape to seal in various ointments each morning. I would alternate between 40% urea cream and one of two OTC antifungals, clotrimazole and terbinafine. I wasn’t exact but I’d tend to go urea for a week, then an antifungal, then urea, then the other antifungal. Sometimes it would burn a little after a few hours and I’d remove the tape. At night, I’d leave off the tape but apply tea tree oil about half the time. In addition, I would occasionally buff the top of the nail with emory. I think the key was the urea, breaking down the nail to let the meds inside. After 6 months or so, the nail came off completely which thankfully did not hurt. Then new nail came in and it looked mostly healthy. After another 6 months, the nail continued to come in healthy so I continued with my regiment another 6 months and it seemed all clear. I stopped after 18 months total and it’s been two years since then, still clear of the fungus.
Thanks for the update! I stumbled on a similar combination and have been seeing progress for the first time in many years. I make a cream with 40% urea, coconut oil, tea tree oil. I also add some pau d’arco (anti fungal) and peppermint oil. Then I just rub a little on 2-3 times a day. I was missing about half of my big toenail for years and it’s now grown back! Still a little ugly but much better. I think it also helps that I’ve been working from home, so I’m able to avoid shoes. Thanks for the tips. Good luck!
Hey John!
Amazing that you‘ve just uploaded an Update. Be assured there are readers just like me, to which your story is a huge inspiration and your regimen a glimmer of hope. Especially for me. I‘ve had nail fungus for 5 years now as bad as you did at the beginning in 2015, totally infected right up to the nail root. And I‘ve tried every therapy on the market, even took systemic pills to get rid of it but have to admit that I was doing so half-heartedly and never with full commitment hoping that it would somehow go away. But your guide and transformation really gave me my hope back again and has shown me what it takes to get rid of it, but most importantly as I said, that it‘s possible. I was at the point where I thought I‘d have to run around with nail fungus for the rest of my life.
I actually started your intense regimen from your guide just a week ago and just ended a nail filing session today to get rid of as much infected nail as possible. Let‘s do this together and get rid of our nail fungus by the end of this year!
Wish you the best of luck,
Benjamin