Vicks Vaporub for toenail fungus

[StuntNun]

Has anyone tried it? Did it work or even just help? I heard about it in a recent Style and Beauty thread and wondered about giving it a go. I’ve already tried the paint-on stuff and a course of terbinafine tablets which have stopped the infection spreading but haven’t cleared it up. I already have a pot of Vicks in the cupboard so it seems like it might be worth a try.

I don’t think anything will repair the damaged section of nail, you’ll just have to wait for it to grow out.

Well it won't do any harm at least. Keep filing the nails back.

I have had a toenail fungus for years and years. I tried the tablets, a prescription topical treatment and loads of over the counter remedies. Nothing worked.
Eventually I started taking garlic capsules and using Vicks on the nail and there was a definite improvement.
I'm not sure if it's totally healed but the new nail growth isn't yellow and the trimmings are getting thinner. 100% try it.

Half my nail has been cut down as the funky bit spread towards the bottom of the nail and lifted from the nail bed. I've started again with the paint-on stuff (GP won't prescribe the tablets as I've got a lot going on) so keen to try anything that might give it a boost.

Spent a fortune on elastoplast this summer to keep it covered up. 2026 will be my summer of LOVEPY toenails...

I’ve been reading up on the limited research and some people suggest alternating Vicks with a different treatment such as tea tree oil or the paint-on treatment. So do a couple of months of one treatment then a couple of months of a different treatment. The research also says that Vaporub is only effective against two particular strains of fungus so there’s an element of luck to how well it works.

I’m glad it helped you, @BrandyandGinger I’m definitely going to give it a go. I’ve had it for years now and I’m fed up of it.

As podiatrists we used to tell people to use vicks. Unfortunately a new study shows vicks does nothing to eradicate toenail fungus. However tea tree oil does if you'd rather something natural.

Terbinafine does work but then you have to grow the discoloured part of the nail out. If you've permanently damaged your nail bed though they will always look thick and fungal even if there is no fungus there. I can tell if I see it in person but not online. Fungal nails smell, damaged nails don't.

Honestly I tried everything for ten odd years to avoid having to go to docs and have mail clippings cultured.
last autumn I did and took the terbafine tablets for six months. I’m just back from holiday and had my first pedicure ever! Taking the tablets and growing the nails out took a year but it’s so worth it. I was so embarrassed before.

I had a thickened patch of icky brown nail on my toe. Whacked some Vicks on it one night and it turned black overnight. I put some more on the night after and then couldn't be bothered any more.
A couple of weeks later it sort of 'peeled' off leaving nice smooth nail underneath.
Worth a try 😉

Im waititing to try pills, but can't have them as im pregnant. Ive been using apple cider vinegar whi h seems to be controlling it.

Is this true? I have a big toenail that got damaged. I dropped a heavy object on it. It took a year to heal and then I dropped another heavy object on it. Underlying blood blister etc had to have holes made in the nail. And now years after it's just rubbish. It won't grow properly and is always yellow. I assumed it's fungal but nothing helps.

I had Terbinafine but only for three months and it didn’t appear to do anything. The GP really didn’t want to prescribe it to me. It’s so frustrating because it was only in two nails when I first went to the doctor about it; now it’s in all ten.

That's right the damage is permanent. The nail bed has been damaged. I lost one of my nails that way. Dropped a brick on it and it started growing hard an inch thick and curling round. I got one of my students to grind it back and shape it with machinery which a manicurist will do for you but in the end got fed up with it and had it permanently removed. I just stick a false one on for sandals.

No you won't notice any difference during the treatment but the fungus will die. It will come back though if you don't address the root cause foe example sweaty trainers, non organic socks, reinfection from old shoes and so on.
Have a look at differential diagnoses for fungal nails on AI.

Sudocrem on it night and morning worked for me. It took a long time and it still had to grow out but it worked.

Thanks. I don’t think the three months was enough to kill it unfortunately.