Category: Wellness

Listerine for toenail fungus versus more common treatments like Zetaclear is something that is searched for on Google more than 1000 times per month and far more times than that on the web overall.

The reason that consumers are so interested in this information is that more than 35 million people in the United States have some form of fingernail or toenail fungus is Listerine is widely shared on the web as one of the home remedies that might work.

Did The Inventors Use Listerine for Toenail Fungus?

Listerine has been a part of the American culture since the 19th century and was originally developed as an antiseptic for hospitals and surgery rooms. Believe it or not, it was later marketed as a floor cleaner.

In the early 1920s, Listerine started to really take off after its marketing firm convinced the public that they had something called halitosis and that Listerine could help to cure it. It basically became a multi-million dollar company from that little marketing campaign.

It is unclear when Listerine for toenail fungus first surfaced but it is not uncommon for people in the old days to try various products to solve untested problems. Since Listerine was used as an antiseptic, it probably seemed logical that it might help relieve other problems as well.

Thymol Might Be a Toenail Fungus Treatment
thymol crystalsIf you look on the back of a Listerine bottle, you will discover that one of the active ingredients is called Thymol. Thymol was used by the Ancient Egyptians and the Blackfeet Indians as a means to kill bacteria and fungi. The Indians used it for wounds and also made a tea of it to treat mouth problems.

It is this ingredient that makes the argument that Listerine might just work in killing toenail fungus. However, naysayers of this home remedy argue that if it worked, the manufacturer would develop a product to kill nail fungus. In addition, most toenail fungus is located under the nail and it is very difficult for water-based solutions to penetrate the nail’s surface.

If you decide to try Listerine for your toenail fungus and it works, we would love to hear from you. In the meantime, we have listed some other solutions for your nail fungus that are used by many people around the world. The first two products come with full guarantees.

Best Toenail Fungus Treatment on the Market

The best toenail fungus treatment is somewhat relative because what is considered the best for one person may not be for the next. This concept applies to most things in life so we need to consider other things such as ease of use, price, guarantees, and other factors before being able to pick the best treatment.

With that said, there are a few toenail fungus treatments that are commonly seen and referred around the web. For the purposes of this article, we are going to call these the best based merely on the popularity of recommendations. We have not included any of the prescription solutions like Lamisil and others because they are considered dangerous by some and should only be recommended by your doctor.

1. Antifungal Oil Based Products

Nature provides us with many things that will help to solve most of our problems and the same thing applies to fingernail fungus and toenail fungus. Various natural oils, like tea tree, have powerful antifungal properties and are often combined together to make effective fungus killing treatments. Two of the most popular in this group would be Zetaclear and Fungisil. Zetaclear is a little cheaper, but otherwise, the products are similar in their abilities.

2. Home Toenail Fungus Remedies

There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of so-called home remedies for nail fungus floating around the web. You can read about everything from chlorine bleach to Vicks Vaporub. It is hard to determine if any of these actually work but the two that we will mention are Listerine and Apple Cider Vinegar. Listerine was used for many years as an antiseptic in medical facilities. It is believed that the active ingredient thymol is what may help get rid of toenail fungus. Thymol has antifungal properties and was used by the Indians and other groups for treating wounds and ailments.

3. Laser Toenail Fungus Treatments

Laser toenail fungus treatments are fairly new but they are grabbing a lot of attention right now. The current market leader is the Pinpointe laser which claims to have trained Podiatrists in dozens of states around the country. Laser treatments have been very popular because they are supposedly up to 88% effective, can be done in 45 minutes, and are painless. What is not painless is the $1000 to $1200 price tag to have this procedure done.

There is an epidemic out there of plastic surgeries. In one year the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reported that people had spent over 8.4 billion dollars on cosmetic surgeries. Enough to run many a country. This figure I’m sure included surgeries that were needed for disfigurements due to accidents, etc. BUT the most common procedure listed was Botox injections so my guess it wasn’t a huge percentage of surgeries being done to help the disfigured. Unless you think of crow’s feet as a disfigurement! Ok, the stats being said”¦now my take on all this”¦

First, do some of these women and yes MOST plastic surgery is being done on women”¦ever LOOK at themselves in a mirror after? Unless their goal was to look like The Joker from Batman I would think they couldn’t possibly think their frozen face (thus the name PLASTIC surgery), oddly swollen lips and emotionless expression makes them look younger. I have seen some older actresses on TV who I honestly didn’t’ even know until they said their name”¦. Olivia Newton-John comes to mind. How sad they feel society has told them that looking one’s age (if over 25) is something to be ashamed of. That their beauty from within that they have acquired thru living a life filled with family, friends, sadness, joy, laughter, and tears has to be acid peeled, botoxed, stretched out, clipped off, plumped up or filled in. I can remember looking into my grandmother’s face as a young child and seeing her life etched into it”¦.she had the best sense of humor and each laugh showed, we lived at the beach during the summers sharing one bottle of Coppertone between us and all those summers were there on her face”¦her hands were weathered like driftwood that took a water journey unknown before landing on a beach to be found and collected by a child”¦her grey hair framed her face like clouds softening her shallow cheeks that still moved when she smiled. I looked into that face and saw a realness”¦a lifetime”¦my future. She had made a journey called life and wore it well.

What do these fake plastic faces show the young children of today? That youth is all that matters”¦at any cost. Count me out”¦I like looking into the mirror and seeing my grandmother smiling back at me”¦.

I have four kids, all 10 and under. My youngest is one year old, so that translates to an early bedtime for most of the household. Early bedtime is for a few reasons. kids need plenty of sleep. if you want to have a pleasant following day, you have to get your kids to bed at a reasonable hour so they get in the requisite number of hours, even after their hour plus of delays, whining and overall trying to get away with staying up. Also factor in the middle of the night wake ups that are typical with kids. Even when they are healthy, our kids seem to tag team and take turns waking up for inexplicable reasons and need a little comfort from their parents. Nightmares, not quite awake enough to find the bathroom, etc. You get the picture.

An early bed is also to allow parents at least some time without kids to either have a little quality time or get a few things done around the house that you just can’t do with kids.

Every set of parents has their own ideas on this though. Some parents like to let their kids stay up later so they will perhaps sleep more soundly through the night and sleep in mornings. That doesn’t work with our kids. Staying up late just means cranky kids. We recognize other practices of parents though and don’t let our early rising kids go bug other homes until late enough that everyone is up. Some weekends this is worse than waiting to open presents and Christmas for our kids, but they know the rules.

Why is it that other people cannot figure out that our kids are in bed and that calling at a late hour is going to mess up our nice, planned routine? Sometimes it is people without kids that I figure they don’t have a clue, but other times these are people with kids, young kids even that seem to have forgotten that when you dial a number it makes a particularly loud noise on the other end of the line. Are they really that clueless, or do they just not care?
Guess what? When you wake up a one-year-old after she has slept for an hour or so, she thinks what should have been a full night of sleep was really just a nap, and now I am ready to play for a few hours! More than once I have been tempted to take my now crying and awake child to their doorstep and invite myself in for the next few hours so the caller can enjoy my situation they have created.

There are some people we know that understand our schedule and don’t call after 8:30 or so unless it is an emergency of course. Also, I have done business at late hours with people and have arranged for late calls – with advanced notice I can turn the ringers down or have the conversation on a mobile phone that I can silence the ringer on. I really just view this as a common courtesy. We have actually had the “how late to call is ok” discussion with most of our closest friends, and we know how late we can call them and vice versa. There are others that I have yet to train.

I am pretty straightforward with those that are continual abusers or those that choose to call particularly late. On more than one occasion I have had someone call as late as 9:30 or 10 asking for my wife – and knowing the call isn’t that important – I have informed them that she has already retired for the evening, can this wait until the morning.

I have heard of many families that just turn their phone ringers off after their “acceptable” time, but there are a number of reasons why I don’t do that. First, I don’t think I should have to. People should have some common sense and respect for the time of others. Second, I have a mother with various medical conditions that I need to be available for emergency calls, which has happened on a number of occasions in the past. Third, did I mention I don’t think I should have to?

How about the wrong numbers in the wee hours of the night? I have had this happen countless times. Usually, it is some teenage or college kid dialing their significant other for a late night chat. Word to the wise, if you are going to make a call at that time of night, either use speed dial or take the time to dial the right number. Tip: turn on the light when you dial, makes it a lot easier.

There are a few select people I am thinking of that call us late with a regularity that just can’t seem to get the message. Of course, I haven’t been so direct as to ask them not to call late again, my wife pokes me and tells me not to be rude when she can see a small tirade coming. I just bite my tongue and let it go on.

I once heard of someone that worked a very early shift at work and would get very upset when others would call in the late evening after he had gone to bed. He figured out a simple way to curb this situation. He would let people leave a message and return the call before he would go to work…at 4 am. When people would get upset, he would simply remind them that they had called during their convenient time which was during his sleep, so he was doing the same. People wised up pretty fast and the situation was resolved.

I am sure I will just keep dealing with the situation as I have, racing for the phone when it rings at late hours rather than being blunt. Perhaps I can invite them to check out my blog and let them happen upon this post. I might actually enjoy seeing them the next time to see if they got the message!