Well if so, you’ll know it because fungal infections of the feet — better known as athlete’s foot — are often recognized by symptoms of burning and itching; likewise, they can cause the infected area to crack, peel, and sometimes blister. This can spread to the hands as well.
So let’s talk about a few homemade remedies, and I’ll share a few recipes, for dealing with foot fungus. And just so you understand, the following natural solutions will address two primary issues:
Whenever looking to herbs for treatment, look locally first. What anti-fungal, native plants grow in your local area? Generally speaking, those are usually the most effective for treatment — and the more sustainable option. So let’s talk about a few:
Black Walnut Hull. Black Walnut Hull is well-known and one of the most common ingredients in anti-fungal herbal formulations. It’s a natural antiseptic. Topically, black walnut hulls are very effect on nail and skin fungal infections. Read more here and learn how to harvest black walnut hull for medicinal purposes…
This is not an exhaustive list by any means. Other anti-fungal herbs, plants, and essential oils include: oregano, clove, pine, neem, tea tree, rosemary, sage, fennel, and cedar.
Fungal infections are highly contagious — especially those of the feet — and therefore become difficult to get rid of by using only one method for treatment. Treatment and prevention of foot fungus may require a variety of different remedies.
-Combine one part apple cider vinegar and four parts water. This soak is quite soothing as well as very healing. You may add 1/4 cup of Epsom salts for an added punch.
-Mix two parts hydrogen peroxide with one part water and soak affected areas. Particularly good for cracked skin.
-Herbal foot soaks are another great way to harness the antifungal power of medicinal plants. Make a strong infusion of any combination of the anti-fungal herbs listed above and soak the feet. Thyme, pine, chaparral, and fennel make good soaks. Adding 20-30 drops of tea tree oil to the soak makes this a super effective treatment.
Note: Soak the feet each evening for at least a half hour, longer if possible. It is crucial that you dry your feet and toes completely after every soak. If you don’t dry the infected areas, you are leaving a moist breeding ground for fungus to grow.
-To keep your feet dry and smelling fresh, dust them with a mixture of 4 parts arrowroot powder,1 part black walnut hull powder, and 1 part chaparral powder.
-Crush a few tablets of Aspirin, make into a powder, and apply to the affected area liberally three times a day.
-It may smell strong, but dusting your feet generously with garlic powder before putting on shoes or socks is a powerful treatment that gives great results within a couple days.
Note: As much as possible, avoid wearing shoes or socks at all. Flop-flops or sandals are your best bet until the remedies you use work to completely clear up the infection.
-1 ounce anti-fungal herb mixture (Use any combination of the herbs listed above. I like chaparral leaf, black walnut hulls, garlic, and echinacea root.)
According to Rosemary Gladstar, you may also do it this way; “Place the herbs and the oil in a double boiler and bring to a low simmer. Slowly heat for 30 to 60 minutes, checking frequently to be sure the oil is not overheating.”
5. When the consistency is to your liking, pour the salve into your repurposed containers of choice.
To use this salve: Apply a good layer of ointment to the dried affected area every night prior to bed, and after a foot soak. Reapply a thin layer in the morning. Continue to apply salve twice daily until your symptoms are relieved.
-When treating foot fungus it is important that socks, shoes, and showers are thoroughly cleaned. I recommend spraying a solution of 2 cups vodka and 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in the floor of your shower daily.
First seek to learn what free medicinal plants grow native in your region. Next, Mountain Rose Herbs is my go to for dried herbs, medicinal herb seeds, essential oils, and salve tins. Click here to purchase beeswax or search for it locally here.
Salt baths and a mixture of cedar and lavender works really well, or clove oil (for serious cases, and it smells terrible!).
Yes! Of course…coconut oil! It does have broad spectrum healing properties. Throw that on the list too 🙂
Coconut oil totally cleared up my athlete’s foot and greatly improved my super stinky feet, nothing else needed! But I like to add a little tea tree oil here and there to my regular coconut oil foot care regimen, it makes me feel like I’m really treating things.
I have both fractionated coconut oil and tea tree oil in copious supply at home plus severe athletes foot on both feet.
I I remember, I’ll also come back to inform you of my results. You’re welcome to send me a reminder lol.
I too would like to learn how to use coconut oil on athlete’s feet. I have it off and on and other than just rubbing CO on my feet, is there anything else you would recommend?
Perfect timing. I have a friend who has athlete’s foot. She has been using lavender and oregano essential oil. I’m forwarding her this post. Thanks!
I have found that the easiest and most effective remedy for me is to wash my feet with a tea tree oil soap when I shower. It works at least as well as OTC anti-fungal medicines, isn’t stinky or messy, and I don’t have to remember to apply something twice a day.
We soak with white vinegar and salt. Run a few inches of warm water in the bathtub (enough to cover your feet) and add 1/2 cup of sea salt and 1 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Simply sit on the side of the tub while soaking your feet for about 15 minutes, feel free to splash around dissolving the salt and enjoying the warm water. Just a few treatments will knock it out, especially if you’ve caught it early! This also knocks out disinfecting the floor of the tub and treats your feet at the same time. There’s really no need to rinse afterward but, like you said, be sure to dry feet thoroughly when finished. We also wash all socks and slippers in the hottest water they can take and add a cup of white vinegar. I like your herbal soak I may try some garlic and thyme with my method.
I don’t know if you are aware that jock itch, the stuff women get under their breasts when they’ve sweated too much, the redness and rawness, are both fungi also, as is ring worm, and that anything you can cure athlete’s foot with will cure them as well. Also, if you have a pet who gets ring worm, instead of a huge vet bill, you can get rid of it quickly and cheaply by using any effective athlete’s foot product, except for the spray, explained below.
I worked as a volunteer at an animal shelter for a few years and we would just use one of the powdered athlete’s foot products on dogs and/or cats brought in with ring worm. You do have to be sure, if you use a commercial product, so not do as I did once, and try the spray, especially under the breasts, it has a high alcohol content, and you might be amazed at how high straight up you can jump when you unsuspectingly spray it on broken or raw skin. Our vet did give us the go ahead about using the powdered products on dogs and cats. Just don’t get it in their eyes. I would check if you have a nursing mama dog or cat or if the afflicted pet is a very young puppy or kitten.
I tried a common over-the-counter athlete’s foot ointment under my breasts– embarrassingly I can’t remember and didn’t write down the name of the ointment– but what happened made me spooked about using these creams. The first thing I noticed was that a number of skin tags under my breasts shriveled and fell off. Then my breasts seemed to be shrinking. I used the ointment for about three weeks, then stopped it because I determined that my breasts really were changing. Very rapidly and without explanation, wiithin a couple of months after using the athlete’s foot ointment under my breasts, I went from a bra size F to a bra size C.
I currently have an outbreak of athlete’s foot going on and it drove me crazy for a couple of months, until I finally broke down and started using an over the counter ointment on my feet. But my life makes it hard to use ointment twice a day, and besides which, I’m nervous about using any over the counter athlete’s foot ointment after my experience with my breasts, so I’ve only done it once a day. After a month of this treatment, the fungus is still there, snoozing but evident. So I am very happy to have found this website! I will try some natural remedies and when I can I will report on their usetheir use.
Our youngest son recently had a fungal infection in one of his finger nails. Each night before bed we would soak his finger in a bowl of warm water with a TBLS ACV, pat it dry then applya drop or two of straight tea tree oil to the nail; within 2 weeks the infection was completely gone.
I heard from an old Army guy that they used to advise the soldiers to pee on their feet in the shower. I’m sure it was the ammonia-type ingredient that did the trick.
Patchouli oil is the best I have found for fungal infections. Works even better than tea tree oil and i am a big fan of that. It clears up both ring worm and tinea. And as gross as it sounds – once I was in a situation with limited resources and tried the peeing on the feet thing to get rid of a minor case of athletes foot and it worked really well too.
I used to have terrible athlete’s feet in the summers, despite being shoe-less most of that time. I started peeing on my feet in the shower, and haven’t had summer’s athlete’s foot since, going 4 years strong. It’s not desperation for me. Just free-flowing healing and the feet are already in hot liquid anyway! lol (Yep, pun intended) I let loose then tap my whole foot in the urine, then let the water rinse off, at the beginning of every shower. 🙂
I used an eyedropper filled with apple cider vinegar to apply to my 3 infected toe nails. I applied it undiluted to the affected areas and put on my socks for the day. Then applied it before bed. After months of over the counter products not working; this worked in just a few days! I did have to throw away the leather boots that had been contaminated though. But the vinegar worked! Wonder if it would work on jock itch too?
I made a strong tea of pau d’arco tea and my son used it as a foot soak…one application and the athletics foot went away. Just an idea I had as I heard it was a great anti fungal.
I had athlete’s foot between my fourth toe and my pinky toe. I tried everything, ACV and epsom salt soaks, oregano oil, tea tree oil, salves (homemade with plantain and chamomile), lavender oil. Wish I had known about the black walnut hull, as I have some powder, and the garlic. After a couple of weeks of getting worse, I went to the dr. She said I had 2 forms of it, the goopy stuff and the deep fissures/cracks. So not have shoes/socks on made the fissures worse. I finally gave up and used the Rx. Even that took a little over a week, and it’s almost gone. I will pin this for the future, as I know, once you have it, you’re prone to get it again.
this is great my husband has feet issues on and off with working in a factory and then on the farm so he is in boots 24/7..
Find a nice dandelion and pick it. rub some of the white milky sap from the stem on the wort, let it dry a few min, and then cover with a little piece of duct tape. do this 1-2 times a day. i had a planters wort on my foot for years and this finally took care of it.
duct tape for warts works great , just slap it onto the spot. keep it on and replace as needed. should be gone in a couple weeks
For plantar warts on the foot, apply clear nail polish. It sufficates it and it will disappear with repeated applications.
Take a tiny piece of a cotton ball and dip it in apple cider vinegar, place the cotton piece directly on the wart (try not to get it on any other part of skin), place tape over the cotton piece (any good sticking tape will do and make sure the area is completely covered so no air can get to the wart at all). In the morning take tape off and completely clean the entire area. Repeat treatment every night before bedtime until the wart is nearly gone. I’ve had to do this for my daughter a couple of times and honestly it took 1-2 nights and that was it. After the first treatment you will see the wart turning black as it’s dieing.
I am just finishing up gettind rid of my girls’ athlete’s foot, that they contracted from the local swimming pool. I mixed 1 part arrowroot with 1 part goldenseal, and use that as a foot powder; and I mixed tea tree oil in coconut oil as another remedy. The most difficult thing about it is to get my girls (2 & 3) to keep socks on, because we never wear them! 😉
Thanks for posting this wonderful article. I particularly love the homemade remedies and recipe and the anti fungal herbs. I am currently writing a post on athlete’s foot home remedies. I am going to share some of this.
Thanks for this excellent article. I’ll be making some of these. I just wanted to note– on the salve you have cinnamon oil as one of the essential oils that can be added to the salve. I want to caution people about using cinnamon oil. You MUST NOT use a lot of it as it can easily burn the skin. I use a very small amount (1 or 2 drops at most) in an entire batch of my homemade tiger balm. Anything more can actually cause skin irritation instead of cure it. Otherwise truly great article. I picked up some tips & am going to use the mason jar method to make my oil infusion. I’ve used the oil in the double boiler & didn’t like the results. My salves had an old chip shop smell that I didn’t like– and no, the oil didn’t burn. It just smelled like cooked oil. Thanks again!
I have been looking for a good natural cure. I have a pretty bad case of toenail fungus. My family was really pushing me to take Lamisil but it seems to have so many bad side effects! I’d always rather go the natural route. Especially now that I am pregnant, I worry about what is safe. I read above someone mentioned that tea tree oil is not safe for pregnant women. Is there anything else I should steer clear of? Thanks!
Plan to email your URL to my daughter. She has had problems with her feet for ages and there is a variety of things here she can try even if she can’t get the recipe you offer accomplished.
I wish M.D.’s could pay more attention to “home remedies” and stop their traditional thinking. I have trying to doctors that I am pretty sure I have either yeast or fungi throughout my body (r/t itching all over that comes and goes) but ……..
Moved in October to another state and began itching horribly here in SD ! Even got a couple areas that the 1st doctor said “looks lie psoriasis, I guess”. And this was an Internist. Finally unpacked my soap making supplies and was able to make real soap again – the itching has decreased considerably using olive, castor,sunfower, and emu for my skin oils – lavender and patchouli for my eo’s.
LORD keep me healthy enough to keep making my things so these doctors are not the cause of my death ! 😉
You forgot the most natural foot fungus treatment of all time. Cinnamon Leaf Oil. It is a powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. First wash your feet with soap and water. Then add a teaspoon of Cinnamon Leaf Oil into a bucket of water and let your feet soak for 30 minutes. Pat dry with a towel. Do not wash your feet. Residual cinnamon oil will work overnight to kill the fungus. Repeat daily. It should be gone within 7-14 days. If want to be brave and provided you have no cracks between the toes where athlete’s foot is common, you can apply 100% pure Cinnamon leaf oil on a cotton swab. Stick it between your toes and let it soak for 30 minutes and then pat it dry with a clean towel, Remember it is very powerful and will create a burning sensation, so experiment with different dilution ratios to see if you can handle it. But anything is better than the incredible itch of athlete’s foot.
I have Cerebral Palsy and am a full time wheelchair user. I have had a difficult time curing/healing athletes foot/fungal infections. Because my legs hang down in my chair all day this leads to swelling in my feet and toes, which further exaserbates the fungus problem. I have had the fungus get so bad that it has turned into Psudomonis (Incorrect spelling), I was once hospitalized by this, and it has led to my having to bring in nurses to treat the problem. Making it more difficult is the fact that I can not reach my toes to properly maintain them. I am looking for a cure that will work its way in between my toes, yet not leave too much moisture. Hopefully something I can do myself. I’m feeling very desperate as the fungus has returned and can progress very rapidly. This has caused far too much disruption in my life and I’d like to think that I can come up with an alternative treatment that will work. My doctors, including podiatrist have been little or no help. The problem is that most cures make me dependent on someone else coming in to do treatment. I’m very discouraged. Please help.
It sounds to me that you need a VERY strong internal tincture so that you can take it yourself, under your tongue, and let that take it’s course so you don’t have to depend on someone to apply meds to your legs and feet. I know you somehow need to get these things applied initially, but I feel that foot fungus can be attacked internally as well as externally, after all, it starts on the inside and comes out on the outside. I feel so bad for your situation, I will be praying for you!
Hello there I have foot fungus And I just can’t get rid of of it I don’t know how to shop for any anti fungal remedy pls someone help
I am not sure why this post doesn’t offer tinctures to take internally, as well, as these external remedies. VERY strong tinctures that attack fungi will do amazing things. Over growth of yeast starts in the inside first so why not start there, but aggressively, and then use the external until it starts to kick it. That is my thought on this! Hope this helps! Sorry my comments are late, hope you see this!
i have serious fungus problem between my fingers of feet from last many years. some times it heels up and then again becomes worse. please help me. yours truly. waseem
I posted a comment on this you can read. I hope that it helps! It’s above your comment in the thread!
Hi Tammy I’m really interested to know which tintures you refer to. I wild like to try. I do believe in treating conditions from The inside first. Thank you!
Help!! I’ve been in the military 13 yrs now, and ride horses constantly. So yes I’m always in boots of one kind or another, and have had foot fungus here an there for years. Now it’s so bad under my big toes I have had to cut off the entire nails. I’ve tried almost everything, from tea tree oil, to soaks, an perscribed or over the counter topical medicines. I love the idea of the foot salve BUT I am deathly allergic to bees wax an all bee products. Its really upsetting an embarassing to look at my feet. With summer arund the corner I want to wear slippers an not hide my feet. What can I use that won’t kill me??
most health food stores sell tea trea oil, I have also found it at the drug stores and in the pharmacy isle in the grocery stores. We also have a store, here in the city, that sells essecntial oils. You could also check if you have a Homeopath practicioner in your area, as they should know where to purchase the product. P.S. I live in Alberta, Canada, so what I have available here may not be available there. oh yes I had forgotten this, you could also check your local collage or university and see if they offer a course in Homeopath, the instructor or students would know to obtain the product, our students here often run instructor supervised clinics, free or nominal charges. Hope this helps, or gives you ideas of where to locate tea tree oil.
I have a bad case of feet fungal, I’ve been had it for years now… over the years it has got worst… if there’s help out there please help me, I’ve tried everything. Nothing has work yet..
It is also important to realize that if there is an exterior fungal infection, it is likely that there is an internal fungal infection that also must be treated. I have had success with taking diotamaceous earth (1 T. in a cup of water twice a day). There are also many other benefits of taking DE. Not only anti-fungal, but anti-parasitic. It also helps regulate digestive function.
Ringworm is a fungus, as well. We generally use athlete’s foot treatment to address those on the rare occasion we get it, but last year we adopted two rescued puppies. One was suffering greatly with ringworm. Both girls got it, including on their faces. We used the athlete’s foot medicine where we could, but did not want to get it near their eyes and such, so they had to take a prescription that could, long-term, cause liver problems. Fortunately, they only had to take one round. The reason for that is to say this: These natural remedies would be so much safer to use topically to address the problem and could be used safely for people and animals. I am glad to know about this. My husband needs this treatment, but having the information for the salve, for example, will help me be more prepared should this problem arise in the future.
According to this website – http://www.detoxcandida.com/what-is-candida-release/chitin-synthesis-inhibitor/ – candida infections increase the likelihood of fungal infections everywhere on the body.
I’m having this fungus in my hands and feet. I spend almost 10k for this I hope this will help. I’m suffering through this in 6 months in time.
I have been suffering for over 10 months with what i am beleving to be some type of fungal infection.
Blisters, burning, peeling patches that started on one foot then progressed to my hands, and now spreading to other foot. I have been to two doctors and a dermatologist. All tell me it’s dishydratic eczema
The steroid creams and ointments are not working. I am so frustrated treating this nasty. Painfulll condition. What can I do to kill the infection if prescriptions aren’t working.
Do you have any recommendations (or products in your etsy store) for systemic yeast issue? I was bad and let myself get out of balance and am now suffering the consequences. 🙁
Can also can rub in mixture of crushed garlic mushed with a little olive oil and rub into feet well. Use plastic disposable gloves to avoid passing fungus to hands. Good luck!
When I was 6 months pregnant, I developed athletes feet & the doctor was unable to prescribe any medications or creams for me to use, because of my pregnancy. At this time I only had some mild redness & itchiness. She said I could only use foot powder & do salt soaks. I did this, but it did not help.
When I was 8 months pregnant, I was hurting. My feet were really itchy & raw & I had cracks with some bleeding in between my baby toes & 2nd fingers of my toes. That’s when my brother was visiting me & he told me to “Pee” on my feet. He said when he was in jail, they had to do that in order to get rid of it. I guess because of the acidity & ammonia?? But I was kinda disgusted with that thought, thinking that can’t be an option.
But as time went on, while I waited for my next doctor appointment, I kept thinking of what he said. So when I seen the doctor, again, she said there wasn’t anything I could get & I was getting near my due date, so she kept suggesting the baths/soaks & powders. I asked her if she heard of the peeing on the feet worked & she just shrugged her shoulders & said ” I don’t know?”
That’s when I decided I had it, and I might as well try this “Pee” method. Like seriously, what’s the worst that can happen?
I tried it on myself & it burned for like 10 seconds, but that was it & because I pee’d so little(the large baby on my bladder), I really didn’t have much pee anyways. So my brother told me to get my husband to pee on my feet. We cracked up laughing & saying no way, but in all honesty, when I went for my next shower, I made my husband pee on my feet. It burned so bad for the first minute & then after the water rinsed it away, the pain felt better.
Amazingly my feet felt so much better after that, for the “WHOLE DAY”, so I got my husband to pee on my feet like 3 times again after that & my athletes feet was gone! I was so happy. Mind you this wasn’t a story of delight I shared with my friends. lol. But never the less, I will resort to the “pee” method if all else fails. Other than that, I have used Listerine a few times too. lol & that worked too, but now I am getting into all this herbal stuff, so I should be all good 🙂
i have had athelete foot since i was 17 years and now am 48 years ,they could get cured and return after a week or two , the infection is only in the two outer feet of both legs. I have used over the counter powder and creams and have had Dr prescriptions of oral capusles with no succes. i use clean socks every morning.Can some one over there tell me how i have have my problem solved .
The antifungal salve recipe calls for Black Walnut Hulls and the supplier you suggest is Mountain Rose Herbs, however they only carry Black Walnut Hull *powder*. Would I still use 1 oz. of powder or should I look for a supplier that has roughly chopped Black Walnut Hulls?
Also consider using Ceylon Cinnamon leaf oil to treat your athletes foot and toenail fungus. Get a real Ceylon Cinnamon leaf oil with at least 75% Eugenol, which is the stuff that makes it a powerful anti fungal and anti bacterial. All you need 1% Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil mixed with 99% water and spray on your foot. It’s that powerful and versatile enough for so many others uses like repelling black ants, disinfecting, odor control, massage and so much more.
A fungal infection in many cases is symptomatic of an internal cause, primarily a Candida yeast infection caused by a high sugar and dairy diet. Candida propagates fungal infections on a massive scale. Taking a cup of Ceylon black tea infused with Ceylon Cinnamon Bark Oil (the uber expensive cousin to Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil which is best for internal consumption) is a really great treatment option and tastes fabulous to boot. Or boil some Ceylon Cinnamon sticks and make a tea. Low Coumarin Ceylon Cinnamon won’t damage your liver like Cassia Cinnamon and just tastes amazing.
I have really severe athletes feet. I don’t wear closed shoes because of it. Is there a receipe to make a foot spray using coconut oil? Can surgical spirits be used as an antifungal and how would I use it if so?