The word “fungus” shouldn’t always cause consternation. Take it from this Italian cook; there are good fungi — think mushrooms and truffles!
But when several of you recently asked about how I would deal with fungus, I assumed that I wasn’t being asked to share a recipe for Fettuccine al Tartufo.
The human body is host to many different fungi in our baseline microbiome. The problem arises when the delicate balance is disturbed. So, what can disrupt that balance? Sure … environmental influences and hygiene, but also drugs of commerce.
An overgrowth of fungi can cause many different conditions in and on our bodies. Although each type of fungal complaint is generally addressed differently, I can assure you that fungus can be successfully uprooted homeopathically.
We’ve covered yeast infections in a couple of blog posts: Vaginal Yeast Gone with Homeopathy and Strong Enough for a Woman: The Ultimate Remedy for Us. And more recently, we’ve looked at oral thrush (also caused by yeast).
As I mentioned, when the body’s fungal population mushrooms (pardon the pun) into overgrowth, each area of the body is generally approached with different medicines. Why? In homeopathy, more often than not, we don’t address specific microorganisms. Instead, we consider the organ being affected!
So, let’s look at another common fungal condition — the highly contagious fungus called Tinea pedis. Doesn’t that sound exotic and mysterious? Well, don’t be too impressed by its Latin name. We know it more commonly as athlete’s foot or jock itch (depending on the condition's location).
Damp conditions — as typically experienced in locker rooms (hence, the attribution to athletes) — is a breeding ground for this particular fungus. It is typically denoted by itchy, burning, scaling, cracking skin. Not nice.
I recently was introduced to a new method of dealing with athlete’s foot from Joe De Livera (Joepathy). Joe suggests utilizing Arnica 30 in an aqueous solution sprayed directly onto the affected skin. This is a completely different technique than what I have been using in years past, but it’s effective.
So, as of late, I have been creating an aqueous solution with Arnica 30 in liquid form* (either suspended in water or alcohol, rather than pillules in a tube). I then put one dose of the liquid in a bottle containing 15 ounces of water.
If you cannot purchase Arnica in liquid form, one could also create the spray remedy utilizing a dose of Arnica 30 pillules. (Remember, the number of pillules per dose varies by pharmacy and is printed on the outside of the remedy bottle.)
When it’s time to administer a dose, I shake the bottle 10 times before each application. Unlike the more precise scheduling of oral homeopathic medicines, one may use the spray solution directly on the skin as many times a day as is warranted — but at least twice a day. (Just be sure to allow the area to dry well before redressing. As we know, allowing the skin to linger in a damp environment could be counterproductive.)
There must be something in the air recently because I’ve been receiving quite a few questions about topics relating to fungus. So, in a future blog post, I’ll address a couple of other specific conditions, tinea versicolor and perhaps ringworm as well. Plus, later this week, I’ll share the most valued medicine for toenail fungus in a Memo to Mighty Members.
But if you want to learn more, fungal infections (and how to address them homeopathically) are more fully fleshed out in my course Good Gut, Bad Gut. Many conditions trace their origins back to the gut, so I recommend Good Gut, Bad Gut as a well-rounded first course covering a broad array of topics.
Don’t keep your successes a secret. Share here in the comment section, turn your friends and family on to this blog, and as always, pass on the good news of homeopathy!
Warmly,
* Arnica in liquid form can be purchased from Helios Pharmacy in the United Kingdom. Alternatively, it can be purchased here in the United States from a non-retail pharmacy, available only to my clients and students.
Liquid Arnica can be found on Amazon as well. But due to feedback I’ve received about inconsistencies with certain homeopathic medicines ordered through Amazon, I have decided not to link to them at this time.
And remember — all of my Mighties (Joette’s Mighty Members) qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you choose to enroll in Good Gut, Bad Gut and need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.
I have been growing and learning from Joette for around 12 years now, and recently have had some success that I would like to share! Last month my first grandchild was born prematurely due to my daughter’s preeclampsia. When he came home from the hospital he was jaundice and my daughter was learning to breastfeed at the instruction of a capable midwife. I had brought my entire kit of remedies with me as a precaution, not knowing what issues might arise.
The midwife had some knowledge of homeopathy and mentioned that there was a remedy for jaundice (of course there is😊!). I also had my books, and I found the solution to be Chelidonium, which I had! We popped a pellet in little Freddy’s mouth and within the next half hour he had his most vigorous feeding yet! Later that day he was not feeding well and becoming lethargic, so after further investigation, the midwife recommended giving the Chelidonium every two hours for 24 hours. Well, Freddy just came to life and began nursing like a champ and has never looked back! He is now 4 weeks old and thriving❤️ I’m constantly amazed and thankful for this tool of homeopathy! Gentle, effective, and as you say Joette, elegant!
Brilliant!
Will this work for yeast under the belly fold or under the breasts?
Perfect timing! I have been dealing with stubborn toenail fungus on two of my toes for a few months now. I tried tea tree oil and oregano oil, and soaking in apple cider vinegar. The tea tree oil seemed to help at first, but now the fungus is returning. Ugh! I will give the Arnica solution a shot, and I’ll be on the lookout for the Mighty Members post.
Thank you so much. As a mighty member I love being able to access your Facebook live broadcasts as they are a wealth of knowledge for those of us trying to help heal our families with homeopathy.
My daughter has been suffering with this for over 20 years and asked if I could find a homeopathic remedy for it. I couldn’t find anything on your blog so looked through my Banerji book and found a protocol for Tinea Corpus/Tinea Cruris. I have been treating her according to their protocol: Graphite’s 200c and Kali Sulph 3x. for almost 8 weeks and looking for a slight improvement before moving on to another remedy.
My question is, will using the Arnica 30c topically root out the problem or just address the surface problem of itching, burning, and yellow thickened toenail that comes of the nail bed?
Thank you again!!
Even if it is a feel good modifier along the way of an “uprooting” it would be a priceless treatment! The internet is rife with things that work less well… But here is my account. I took a cotton ball dampened with the aqueous solution of Arnica 30c and taped to a thick yellow big toenail overnight. It was so soft the next day I peeled a bit of it off! Carefully after a few days of the same I have removed the nail and it’s not pretty but now what to do. After years of this “thing” being yellow I still do the cotton ball overnight once a week AND the nail is starting to grow back in not yellow! The “experts” say it may take a year to regrow but I apply Dr Christopher’s Complete Tissue Ointment that feeds good herbs right at the site of injuries and it has grown almost halfway back in a couple months… Thanks to Joepathy!! and Joette!
First, I’d like to say thank you, Joette, for all the information you’ve shared on your website over the years and for the courses you’ve offered.
When I first found you from a comment made on a blog, I started at the beginning of all your articles and read each and every one. I started a notebook with topics/issues/ diseases and the remedies for each one, my own repertory.
My problem with homeopathy was the sugar pills threw me into migraines. It is hard to find aqueous solutions in a higher potency and they are much more expensive. What to do? Then I found the book, Homeopathy A to Z. The author said put one dose in a bottle with 20% alcohol and 80% pure water. This saved me, and it works wonderfully well for topical or internal. I have never looked back. My office walls are full of nail polish shelves full of bottles. When the bottle gets about half empty, I refill it with my 20/80 solution and as I get further away from the sugar, I cut it to 10/90. I realize this increases the potency but only by a tiny bit, and you don’t use up your pills.
One other thing I’ve started doing is self testing. (Google how to self test. There are several ways to do it.) It is much like what a kinesiologist does when muscle testing. My body knows what it needs so I ask.
I’ve been battling toenail fungus for quite some time. The “normal” remedies were not working. My toenail fungus has cleared by about 90% so far using Nail Fungus Nosode.
I get my remedies from Ainsworths in the UK. They have most any remedy you could want and they are great to work with.
Thank you, Pam, for your post. I appreciate the suggestions you have made.
I am really curious how you do the ‘self testing’. Thanks for posting.
Is the book you referred to: Homeopathy, An A – Z Home Handbook by Alan V. Schmukler? One very good book, I do agree.
Hello Pam, may I ask if you take the nosode orally or topically onto the nails? I’ve been doing both using a liquid form. Also how often do you use it?
And thanks for the Ainsworth tip.
Thank you.
I need to add one item I forgot to my comment … after the sugar pills dissolve in the vodka water, the solution needs to be shaken 50 to 100 times to potentize the remedy. Then it can be shelved, ready for use at any time. Shake it a few times before using.
My 11 yo daughter has a terrible dry skin raw rash on the backs of her hands that occurs EVERY fall when the weather turns cool. We try to make sure she isn’t using any soaps with triclosan or antibacterial additives, and had sent her to school with dawn dish soap, the blue kind, in a little bottle, that’s the only type which wouldn’t hurt her or a bar of natural soap, those don’t seem to irritate her hands. But it got real bad this year no matter what we tried, creams, lotions, olive oil, etc. So I started with something I had in my homeopathy first aid kit (Arnica Cream!) as she was desperate, wasn’t sure if it would even do anything but knew it wouldn’t hurt, so now we have been rubbing Arnica Cream on her hands at night! Then we cover them with sock/gloves (we cut the toe off of some cute little socks for her fingers and a little thumb hole) and then also I gave her the remedy for cracked skin Petrolatum 6 at night and in the morning for 2 days, already improvement, then Petrolatum 30, and 2 days later the scabbing and irritation has gone away! She’s sooo happy!!
It’s about ditching the fake and replacing it with the genuine.
Nice job.
Hi Pam, Who is the author of the book you mentioned?
Hello Joette, would an aqueous solution potentially work for other skin conditions just as well as dry dosing, or is this specific to this condition? I’m thinking, for example, of Antimonium Crud. 6c for Molluscum. Could this just as effectually be sprayed on 2x daily, instead of dosed by the mouth 2x daily. Thank you.
Regarding this from your blog. How many ounces of water do you suggest using? Two ounces or 8 ounces? What size bottle or ounces should one use? “If you cannot purchase Arnica in liquid form, one could also create the spray remedy utilizing a dose of Arnica 30 pillules. (Remember, the number of pillules per dose varies by pharmacy and is printed on the outside of the remedy bottle.)”
Marni, The author is Alan V. Schmukler and the title is, “Homeopathy An A to Z Home Handbook”
Thanks so much, Pam! I’ve found it on Amazon.
Not homeopathy, but natural, I have found lemongrass essential oil to fix my toe nail fungus. It does turn the affected part an ugly golden brown color….
Hi Anita,
How many times a day do you apply the lemongrass essential oil to your infected nails and do you cover them? Does the brown discoloration grow out with the new nail? Thanks for your help!
Hi, I’m confused. Newbie here. I am giving my patients remedies for bursitis instructions are one pellet of symphytum 200 and one of cal phos 2xday. But in this post you are saying to use the amount on bottle? Which is correct please?
Thanks.
The number of pills that comprise a dose is printed on the side of the bottle which is usually but not always 4 pills.
Thank you for this Joette! I have a rash on my hands that is concentrated between my fingers and smells like yeast so I wanted to try this. I had some arnica gel from Hylands that I tried and it worked great!
Does the spray bottle have to be glass or can it be plastic?
I have dealt with athlete’s foot for a while. I have found sulphur 200 helps me. I tried various things, many of which kind of “took the edge off”, but wouldn’t make it go away completely. I noticed it was worse in a hot bath and tried the sulphur. It was stunning how fast the sulphur helped!
I may be misunderstanding, but I’m looking to dissolve arnica pellets to create my own liquid form, but I’ve can’t seem to figure out what proportion of water to pellet dose to use. Please advise?
Pls. read the article again. Thn answer is there.
Sorry, I did see the mention of 15ml of water, but I only have the pillules and I wasn’t sure if I drop them right into that amount and dissolve them in that or if I need to create an aqueous form first and then add that to the water. I may be over thinking it. I’ll look it all over again, Thank you ☺️
My focus is to teach the fastest, most readily learnable method . There are no hidden, esoteric methods here.
What is the liquid and how much of that liquid do you need in order to create that aqueous solution with the 15 pillules? I understand that once that solution is mixed then you add one part of that mixture into the 15 ounces of water or alcohol for the spray. Am I understanding this correctly? Thank you.
Liquid remedies may be purchased directly from homeopathic pharmacies. The directions are printed on the bottle. If you’re making youre own you may use the method I describe here.
How about when the lovely fungal bloom decides to spread across the body, say from neck to ankles?
In this article, I discuss fungus in a region of the skin, but that doesn’t preclude applying this reasoning to other areas of the skin.
If you need to explore the topic further, go to JoettesLearningCenter and scroll down to my online course, “Skin, the Ugly Truth.”
Excellent, thank you!
Excellent, thank you!