Is CBD oil worth giving a try when it comes to fighting off toenail fungus? Could this be a miracle cure? Or is it something that is just going to be a waste of time and money?
CBD oil has been on an absolute surge of popularity recently. More and more scientific studies are being published showing the many benefits of this incredible compound and is being used for everything from epilepsy, to depression, anxiety, inflammation, pain relief, appetite, memory, acne and so on… So why not for toenail fungus as well?
Well… Unfortunately this is probably not the best choice to fight off that nasty unwanted fungus that has been plaguing your toenails. While it may be somewhat effective, at this point it is still a gamble and you will understand what I mean by this in a bit.
What is CBD oil in the first place?
Lets first start off by discussing what exactly CBD oil is. In a nutshell, it is a strong extract from the cannabis sativa plant. It can be extracted from either the marijuana or the hemp plants, because both are in the same species, but is usually taken from hemp plants since they are less modified.
CBD is just one of over 100 cannabidoids in cannabis. Some other popular ones you may have heard of include THC, CBG, CBC and CBN. THC is the compound in marijuana that causes the "high", yet CBD is non-psychoactive and you don't have to worry about anything like that.
Antimicrobial properties
While doing research into the antimicrobial powers of the cannabis plant, I read an interesting article that brought up the point of how the plant is often referred to as "weed" due to its ability to grow rapidly and very easily, which is at least in part due to its resistance to microbes such as bacteria, fungi, etc.
Compare this two bamboo for example, which is the fastest growing plant on earth and is well known to have strong antimicrobial properties.
And when it comes to the resistance against microbes that the cannabis plant presents, there is scientific proof to back up such claims. For example, as an antibacterial it has been shown to even be effective against antibiotic resistant MRSA.
However, there is a problem…
The problem with this theory
While the cannabis plant in all of its entirety may hold some very strong antimicrobial properties, and antifungal properties in particular, there are so many different compounds in the plant that you cannot simply attribute them to the CBD cannabinoid just for the heck of it.
In fact, according to an article in the British Journal of Pharmacology CBG and CBC have been proven to be mildly antifungal, yet there was no information regarding CBD's antifungal properties.
Limited Info
The bottom line here is that when it comes to the effects of CBD on fungal infections, there is limited information.
It could very well be true that CBD oil is effective at treating such infections, such as those dealing with the nails, but there just isn't enough proof as of yet.
That said,it can generally be said that cannabinoid compounds do show antifungal activity.
Alternative approachs
However, there is still some promise that CBD oil could potentially be a cure due to its immune system boosting ability.
Boosts Immune System
Well… When I say "immune system boosting" is actually quite the opposite. In fact, CBD has actually been shown to suppress the immune system.
However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It sounds like it would be the opposite of what you want, but often times unwanted conditions are the result of an overactive immune system, an immune system doing too much and attacking your own body.
Worth giving a try?
May be in the future this will be a recommendation for treating nail fungus, but as of now I wouldn't really recommend it unless you are very desperate and have tried just about everything else. The fact of the matter is that there just hasn't been enough research into it to show whether or not it is effective.
Out of all the information I could find, there was only one article I came across that reported some patient getting rid of nail fungus with cannabis oil, but could be due to the other cannabinoids it contains, like CBG and CBC which are known to have some antifungal effects. But even these cannabinoids are very understudied and not well proven for such treatments.
My best recommendation at this point would be to use something that has been well proven for its effectiveness against nail fungal infections, like Emuaid MAX.
Thank you, for your research regarding Ring Ease
I am putting 2 drips of Jacob hooy cbd evry day on to infected nail waiting to see if it gets any better
I have tried for 10-years to get rid of toenail fungus which I got after a pedicure in Asia. I started on CBD oil for pain recently and my toenail fungus has all but gone. So maybe there is something to it.