Q. I am a Podiatrist, and I would like to comment on toenail fungus and treatment. When you write, “Home remedies don’t always work,” you imply that sometimes they do work. This is untrue. Home remedies rarely work.
There are real, doctor-prescribed, FDA-approved, clinically tested medications to treat toenail fungus. These include topical Penlac (ciclopirox) or oral Lamisil (terbinafine) or Sporanox (itraconazole). I have successfully treated hundreds of patients with these drugs.
The unproven treatments you mentioned are little more than urban legends. In 23 years in practice I have never seen even one patient who has responded favorably to Vicks VapoRub, dilute vinegar soaks or Vitamin E oil. Don’t make me waste time dispelling these myths.
A. You are not the only doctor who has scorned home remedies, whether they be to treat nail fungus, ease leg cramps, cure canker sores, control constipation, deal with diarrhea or relieve the pain of arthritis or bursitis. We understand that many of the remedies we write about in The People’s Pharmacy have not been tested in controlled trials or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. On the other hand, they are often inexpensive, have few, if any, side effects and can be surprisingly effective for many people.
You have no FDA approved treatments for leg cramps. Quinine was banned because it is considered too toxic. The home remedies we have collected seem to help an amazing number of people.
Popular arthritis drugs like diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen, or meloxicam can be very hard on the digestive tract and even cause life-threatening bleeding ulcers. They may also raise blood pressure, damage the kidney or liver and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Remedies that involve turmeric, boswellia, cayenne, Certo and grape juice, cherry juice, fish oil or gin-soaked raisins are all affordable and far less likely to cause the kind of damage that arthritis drugs do.
Bottom line, we wish you would be more open minded about home remedies. The effectiveness of the prescription nail fungus drugs you mention is not as great as you might assume (if you look at the clinical trial data) and the side effects of oral anti-fungal medicine are not trivial. Many visitors to this website insist that they have cured their nail fungus with home remedies that we write about for very little cost and no adverse drug reactions.
Many visitors to this website, readers of our newspaper column and listeners to our radio show repeatedly ask questions like this:
“Do you have a book published with all the wonderful helpful information that you have in your newspaper columns? I would like to give it to family and friends for a Christmas present.” Lena
“Thank you for your invaluable column in the LA Times Health section. I heard that you have a book available of most (or all) of your remedies. I would like to get it, if possible, to have all your remedies in one place! Please advise me as to how I can obtain a copy.” Myra
Good news for Lena and Myra and everyone else who values home remedies. We have a new book from National Geographic, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. This holiday gift opportunity offers fabulous home remedies and delicious recipes. Can you think of a better holiday gift?
