Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide For Toenail Fungus

The Efficacy of Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide in

Treating Toenail Fungus: A Case Study
Judy Stouffer, B.S., M.S., OFS and Michael Stouffer, B.S., OFS
Copyright 2008 Judy Stouffer and Michael Stouffer. This work is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3 Unported License. To view a
copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or
send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San
Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
In 2004, Michael developed a severe fungal toenail infection in his right big toe after
the toenail became damaged in a household accident. A trip to Michael's doctor
confirmed that the nail and nailbed were severely infected with a fungus. After
Michael discussed treatment options with his MD, we reviewed our options.
Both of us were reluctant to consider oral prescription antifungals, the standard
treatment that was recommended, due to the high cost and relatively low cure rate for
that protocol. We therefore turned to the web to research other options.
Although the web is rife with claims of cures from home remedies, we didn't find any
convincing data to bear out these claims.
We therefore decided to carry out our own case study, using hydrogen peroxide and
vinegar, to see if these two inexpensive, widely available and relatively safe
substances could cure a toenail fungus infection. We consulted Michael's MD to
make sure he had no concerns about our plan. He agreed that it had little or no
possiblity of harm and was in fact quite interested in seeing the results.
We decided to use 5% vinegar and 2% hydrogen
peroxide soaks (about 5 minutes of soaking time)
on alternate days for 3 weeks. Starting in April of
2004, Michael soaked the toe in vinegar for five
minutes on one day, then soaked it in hydrogen
peroxide the next day. 3% hydrogen peroxide was
diluted to 2% by adding distilled water, so as to
make the hydrogen peroxide solution slightly less
caustic on his exposed skin. We never mixed
hydrogen peroxide and vinegar together, as under
the right conditions that forms peracetic acid, a
caustic chemical with entirely different properties.
Each day, Michael used a press-and-release
technique on the toenail to get the vinegar or
hydrogen peroxide under the toenail to the infection
Illustration One (left) shows Michael's toe as of June of 2004. After three weeks of treatment,
new healthy nail growth has started along the entire base of the toenail.

site at the base of the nail.

Illustration Two (right)
shows Michael's toe as of
January 2005. Healthy nail
continues to grow up from
the base of the nail. No
evidence of any new fungal
growth is present, even
though the three-week-long
treatment with hydrogen peroxide and vinegar soaks stopped six months earlier, and no
additional treatments have been used.
The toenail remains free of fungal infection as of August 2008. We used this same
protocol when Judy developed a toenail fungus infection in 2007, with equally good
results.
If you are interested in trying this protocol, please consult your physician first. This
article should not be construed as medical advice. You can click here for a PDF copy
of this article that you can print and take to your doctor.
MiniFAQ: The questions we get asked the most about this article, with answers.
1. What is the "press and release" technique?
Answer: Press on the toenail, then release it, and repeat that several times
while you're soaking the affected toenail. The idea is to get the liquid into
every nook and cranny that it can get into.
2. Can I use apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar or some other type of vinegar
than white distilled vinegar)?
Answer: As far as we can tell, using apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar or
any other similar edible vinegar works the same as the white distilled vinegar
-- no better and no worse. We've had many people contact us saying that they
used apple cider vinegar in place of the white distilled vinegar and had
equally good results.
3. Do I have to dilute the vinegar?
Answer: In the United States, the vinegar you buy at a grocery store for use
in cooking or in salad dressings is already diluted and ready to use in the way
Three
(left)
shows
in September
2005. The entire toenail and
this Illustration
article describes.
The
bottle
willMichael's
say on thetoe
label
somewhereof"5%
nail bed
are healthy
andcheck
free ofthe
any
signs of
fungallabel
infection.
acidity."
In other
countries,
vinegar
bottle's
and make sure
that the vinegar you are buying is already diluted so that it is only 5% acidity.
4. How do I dilute the hydrogen peroxide from 3% (as it comes from the store)
to 2%?
Answer: Add 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) of hydrogen peroxide to 4 fluid ounces

(1/2 cup) of distilled water. If you want to dilute a different volume of

hydrogen peroxide, you can figure it out using a dilution calculator.
5. Why can't I just pour the hydrogen peroxide and vinegar together and use
that?
Answer: The idea is to alternate between using hydrogen peroxide one day,
and then vinegar the next. Also, you don't want to ever pour vinegar and
hydrogen peroxide together in an open container, and you absolutely never
ever mix them in a closed container. Under exactly the right conditions
mixing them together can create peracetic acid. It's more likely to happen in a
closed container, but under the right conditions it might occur when pouring
them together in an open container.
6. Why do you make such a big deal about avoiding peracetic acid?
Answer: Peracetic acid can be highly corrosive, and it is a "primary" irritant.
It can permanently damage the lungs, and cause occupational asthma. It can
also have other chemical properties depending on the concentration that
make it quite dangerous in other ways as well.
7. How long did Michael have the toenail fungus before trying this?
Answer: Michael had the fungus for several months before treating it with
this technique. People who had fungal nail infections for over 20 years have
written to let us know that this technique cured it when nothing else ever had.
8. Why did Michael only treat his nail for three weeks?
Answer: Michael quit using the treatment after 3 weeks because all of the
nail growth coming out of the nail bed was normal. The idea is to treat until
you see good solid clean healthy nail as all that's growing out of the nail bed.
Some people who've contacted us have required longer.
9. Did you trim the affected nail?
Answer: Michael trimmed the affected nail so it was short (you can see that
in the photos). In Michael's case, the nail was riddled with holes through it as
well, so the press and release technique really helped to get the solution
under the damaged areas of the nail.
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