If your toenails look like you have been through 7 seasons of Game of Thrones, it’s time to ramp up your nail fungal treatment. Winter is the perfect season to start your treatment. By the time you take your boots off for spring, your nails can be growing in clear and ready to be shown off!
These tips and directions will teach you how to avoid winter toes!
Since nail fungus thrives in warm, damp and dark places, we have some helpful tips to get you through winter and boot season. Fungal spores can stay alive on clothing, bedding and surfaces as long as there are dead skin cells present ( what fungus needs to eat and live to stay alive) along with a warm , moist environment. There are studies showing fungal spores living for as long as 12 to 20 months if the right circumstances exist. Yikes , it’s no wonder toe nail fungus is tough to get rid of. We have put together your winter list of helpful tips to help you get a jump start on beautiful nails in time for summer.
There are 3 key areas to focus on and all 3 must be implemented for success:
Antifungal Nail Treatments
Socks & Shoes
Shower Area
ANTIFUNGAL NAIL TREATMENTS
1. Always cut nail short and file top of nail to prevent fungal growth from spreading.Filing also helps FungaBlend 10® to absorb in and around affected area better. Purchase a package of inexpensive nail files. You will need to throw them out often and only use on fungal nails.
2. Wash feet and nails thoroughly with an Antibacterial Wash only , if the label doesn’t say “Antibacterial “ and contain an active antibacterial ingredient - it’s not ! ( We like Dial Antibacterial Bar Soap – old school is always cool). Wash using warm to hot water, cold water prevents soap from lathering properly and will not wash away the germs. Completely dry feet and nails. Apply FungaBlend 10® AM & PM or as directed by your physician.
3. Disinfect your clippers (please refer on how to do this with our previous post).
4. Use antifungal cream that contains Miconazole Nitrate 2% . Miconazole cream can be purchased inexpensively on Amazon and is an Azole Antifungal that works by preventing the growth of fungus. Rub cream into infected toenails and skin area as directed by manufacturer directions or your physician.
5. Foot Soaks – If you would like a DIY foot soak option use Listerine with equal portions of white vinegar. The Listerine contains Menthol and Thymol as antifungal ingredients and the white vinegar is thought to get rid of fungus because of its high levels of acidity. Cover the entire infected foot and nail and soak for 45-60 minutes. Dry feet and nails thoroughly afterwards. You can soak your feet daily or as often as you would like. We do want to stress Listerine/ Vinegar soaks are an additive treatment and not an alternative treatment for nail fungus. Clinical studies are needed to support Listerine & Vinegar as a medically curing treatment. Current studies only support fungal infections for the mouth. If either product actually cured nail fungus – it would be on their labels.
SOCKS AND SHOES
1. Socks – The easiest sock to wear when treating fungus is a white all cotton sock. Purchase multiple pairs and change out as needed throughout the day. You will need to change your socks frequently if your feet sweat a lot from your daily activities. We know this is an extra step but changing your socks and keeping your feet dry is one of the best methods in helping eradicate fungal infections. Place your used socks in a zip lock bag and keep them in it until they get washed in a hot water Clorox bleach wash. We are big on Clorox bleach at FungaBlend 10®– it’s the best way to kill fungus that can survive on different surfaces.
There are several sock companies that manufacture anti-sweat, anti-bacterial socks in all colors and styles and these are fine during treatment. We aren’t going to conduct studies on the claims of anti – anything but if they keep your feet dry – that’s all that is necessary for a successful treatment.
2. Shoes – Fungus loves to live inside shoes so after every wearing, spray inside your shoes with an antibacterial spray either made specific for shoes or use Lysol to disinfect the inside of your shoes. Using either method, allow shoes to dry completely before putting them back on. Switch your shoes out - not wearing the same shoes all day everyday is helpful in killing fungal spores.
Over the last few years, several new ultra violet light devices designed to microscopically clean and sanitize shoes have become available. They are designed as inserts placed inside your shoes while the UV light treatment kills all fungus and bacteria in a 15 minute cleaning cycle. Worth checking out for really stubborn fungus issues , otherwise Lysol and “drying out time” works and is what we recommend.
SHOWER AREA
Any area your feet and nails will touch has to be cleaned regularly with a bleach cleaning product. Clorox makes several types and scents and are available everywhere to purchase. If you share a shower area with others, consider wearing flip flops as an added layer of protection – for everyone! Fungus is notorious for surviving on shower floors, walls, tile and even towels. Around our house we use a Clorox foam bleach cleaner that we spray on and around the shower , every few days.( no need to wipe, just let sit for at least 15 minutes before the next person uses the shower). We do a deep scrub once a week with the same cleanser and a steamer.
Steam cleaners are relatively new to the market and can actually kill fungus and other bacteria, dust mites, bed bugs, molds and mildew because they heat water to a high degree that the steam produced is capable of killing mold, fungus and ringworm. Steamers are the perfect addition to cleansers and a high quality steamer can be used instead of cleaners if you prefer. The combination of steaming your shower weekly and using bleach cleaners will keep your shower area clean and fungus free.
Actually , all of these tips should be used year around for the treatment and prevention of nail fungus. Personally at FungaBlend 10®, we think winter is the best time to start a treatment program along with implementing these three areas for additional help in fighting fungus. Making these changes now , can go a long way to having clearer fungus free nails by June 1, 2019!
*We want to be transparent with our customers and let you know we are not affiliated, sponsored or get paid in any way when we mention a brand name product. These are products we use personally in our homes and office and know they work the best for fighting fungus. If you are interested in a list of branded products that we use , please email us and we will send the list to you.*
