Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums

You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members, upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, access other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisements in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!

  1. Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
Dismiss Notice
Have you liked us on Facebook to get our updates? Please do. Click here for our Facebook page.
Dismiss Notice
Do you get the weekly newsletter that Podiatry Arena sends out to update everybody? If not, click here to organise this.

Vicks VapoRub may actually work for onychomycosis

Discussion in 'General Issues and Discussion Forum' started by NewsBot, May 27, 2011.

  1. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1

    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    Novel treatment of onychomycosis using over-the-counter mentholated ointment: a clinical case series.
    Derby R, Rohal P, Jackson C, Beutler A, Olsen C.
    J Am Board Fam Med. 2011 Jan-Feb;24(1):69-74.
     
  2. Admin2

    Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

  3. stuartanton

    stuartanton Welcome New Poster

    I recommend the use of Vicks to my patients with Onychomycosis and have seen some excellent results. Good to see a study confiming its efficacy.:drinks
     
  4. Paul Bowles

    Paul Bowles Well-Known Member

    This should read:

    "Vicks VapoRub seems to have a positive clinical effect in the treatment onychomycosis....but you may die waiting for it to take effect."

    :D

    Thats a pretty big "maybe" for 48 months of vicks smelling toes!!! I have to question results like this and ask about natural attrition? It doesnt say they all resolved and it only says patients were satisfied with appearance, not that the nails had returned to normal appearance. Hard to double blind the smell of vicks as well I would assume!!!
     
  5. zsuzsanna

    zsuzsanna Active Member

    Only 18 individuals? Surely that is not a result.
    How did they use the Vicks chest rub? There is no reference to that.
    Also there are degrees of onychomycosis. How long did the individuals have the condition?

    I am waiting for more proof. In the meantime I will have a go at recommending the method.
    I have also heard good reports of Listerine...
     
  6. dragon_v723

    dragon_v723 Active Member

    think its a very subjective method, how do they find 18 ppl with supposedly same degree of mycosis to start with?
     
  7. andersonkchan

    andersonkchan Active Member

    Wow!
    One must love the smell of Vick's Vapour Rub to continue with this regime for an extended period of time.
    Anyone else go with the tea tree oil option for their aged onychomycotic patients? The choice of TTO seems to have dropped off throughout the last few years :(
    Pity - I love the smell of tea tree oil . lol
     
  8. DaVinci

    DaVinci Well-Known Member

  9. andersonkchan

    andersonkchan Active Member

    I guess i missed the new research.
    Seems a bit dissapointing.. it was hammered into us whilst on some clinical placements (back in the student days), but with research , everything changes so fast.
     
  10. blinda

    blinda MVP

    You`re both right.

    This study showed that TTO is no more effective than placebo in achieving a mycological cure.
    http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119316184/abstract

    ...and this paper explains how Terpenoids, which are the active ingredients (terpinolene, ascardiol, a-terpinene, etc) in TTO, are documented as sensitizers for contact dermatitis.
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-0960.2007.00341.x/full

    So, yup. Useless and unsafe, IMO.

    Cheers,
    Bel
     
  11. blinda

    blinda MVP

    No, the `study` cited at the start of this thread did not confirm its efficacy. It concluded;

    Clinical effect is poles apart from mycological cure.
     
  12. footdrcb

    footdrcb Active Member

    I have been recommending Vicks for some years now to patients and it works well.

    I heard about it from an old farmer (who was a patient) back in 2001 ..
     
  13. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Is Vic there?

    OK, it's Friday night and maybe i shouldn't reply after 2 glasses of red... But, WT? Here we are, busting our balls to gain independant prescribing rights and recognition as a medical profession delivering evidence based medicine/ treatment...and you recommend an off label use of a decongestant because 'an old farmer' told you about it?!
     
  14. andersonkchan

    andersonkchan Active Member

    great find bel!
    I will be changing fungal nail education from now on :)
     
  15. blinda

    blinda MVP

    Cool. Personally, I don`t believe you can completely eradicate the infection (blame those fickle antimicrobial peptides....) and recurrence rates are incredibly high. So I encourage pts with OM or TP to continue to treat their feet to a fungicide (eg Lamisil Once) 3 or 4 times a year to keep the dermatophytes under control.

    Cheers,
    Bel

    PS I notice that Vicks have brought out an air purifier;
    http://www.vicks.com/products/air-purifier/v9071-hepa-air-purifier/
    Dentron had better watch out, eh? What with the combination of those clever anions (that can decipher between virally infected cells and those that are not) and the`anti-fungal properties` of camphor....Still, have to admit that I`m partial to a bit of Vic, smells better than TTO ;)


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlbcNvlseVI&feature=related
     
  16. andersonkchan

    andersonkchan Active Member

    hhaha nice!
    bit off topic - but doesn't vaccuming carpets with a good vaccum cleaner which has a HEPA filter do the same trick as the hepa air purifier?
     
Loading...

Share This Page