Nail fungus (onychomycosis) is a widespread disease that spreads easily in unsanitary conditions, public places, and can also be caused by excessive sweating of the feet as a result of wearing poor quality shoes. If the rules of personal and general hygiene are not followed, onychomycosis quickly affects the toenails and then one has to undergo long and expensive courses of treatment, which do not always guarantee a complete cure of the disease.
How to recognize the fungus
Sometimes one does not pay attention to the fact that the nail has changed color, structure, become brittle or, conversely, thick and hard. In addition, the main symptoms of onychomycosis are not obvious, although at this stage treatment can still help to resolve the problem quickly.
Treatment should be started immediately if the following symptoms are found:
- the appearance on the nails of inconspicuous streaks, dots or whitish spots;
- loss of natural nail shine and the formation of cloudy, whitish or brownish areas;
- stratification of the nail plate;
- inflammation of the skin near diseased nails.
Typical signs of onychomycosis are itching, burning, dryness and flaking. If at least two or three of these signs are found, this indicates that it is time to start treatment.
Effective traditional medicine
Various means are used to treat nail fungus - from drugs that are sold freely in pharmacies and chemicals, to medicinal plants. You often have to try different methods or combine several of them to achieve a positive result. The main thing in such treatment is not to stop and bring the course to an end, as untreated onychomycosis tends to manifest itself in the form of relapses and lead to the defeat of new, healthy nails.
Available drugs and medicines
Some makeshift remedies that are available in the closet or first aid kit in each apartment are effective antifungal drugs. These remedies include ordinary iodine, with constant rubbing of which into the affected nail, you can quickly achieve a complete cure of the disease, but only in the early stages of onychomycosis.
The standard course of iodine treatment includes daily use of 5% solution, which should be rubbed into the nail twice a day (morning and at bedtime) for a month. After a few weeks of treatment, you may feel pain in the skin around the diseased nail, but this is not a chemical burn, but a sign of the beginning of the healing process.
An alternative to iodine is a strong solution of potassium permanganate. This drug, diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1, is also rubbed into the diseased nail with the same frequency and after the first week you can see changes for the better.
Hydrogen peroxide is considered to be of better quality: cotton swabs soaked in this product should be applied to inflamed nails so that such compresses can be easily fixed by wearing a sock. It is necessary to change the discs twice a day, provided that you constantly wear shoes (for example, at work). This will soften the affected nails, after which the diseased segments and areas are easily removed.
Popular antifungal drugs among people are soda and propolis, which can be used in many ways.
- Carbonated drinks. Baking soda is added to a bowl of hot water at the rate of one tablespoon per three liters of boiling water. After steaming the feet in such a liquid for thirty minutes, nails affected by onychomycosis should be lubricated with essential oil of celandine after the feet are wiped. Apply until complete recovery.
- propolis. 10 grams of propolis are added to one hundred grams of alcohol, the product should be filled as tightly as possible under the affected nails after steaming. The tool can also be applied to the surface of the diseased nail, after which a sock is placed on the foot or a tight bandage is applied. You can change such a bandage only after one day. It is used until complete healing of onychomycosis.
- 20% alcoholic solution of propolis. The affected areas of the nail are lubricated daily with the product. It is applied for two weeks.
These funds usually give results 7-10 days after the start of the course. If these methods do not work, you should try other recipes.
Herbal treatment
Herbs are the safest natural ingredient, which in certain recipes helps to quickly cure onychomycosis. The golden mustache is most often used as such a natural remedy. It is necessary to cut about 50 segments of the plant and insist on 500 ml of vodka. One week later, the finished infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3 and applied to the affected nail two or three times a day every day until the fungus is completely eliminated.
Ordinary lilac flowers are also antifungal if properly prepared. It is enough to pour 10 grams of freshly picked flowers from this plant with one hundred grams of pure alcohol and leave it to infuse for two weeks - and the product is ready. It must be applied in the same way as before.
An interesting method that involves not external but internal use. To prepare such a drug, you need to take ten grams of the following plants:
- blackberry leaves;
- Oak bark;
- horsetail;
- marigold flowers;
- willow.
A mixture of these herbs is poured into a glass of boiling water and boiled on the fire for fifteen minutes. The drug is taken 4 times a day on one tablespoon.
Other folk remedies
For treatment you can use birch tar, which can now be purchased at any pharmacy. This tool is used as follows:
- In the evening, the feet are steamed well and rubbed with laundry soap for 15-20 minutes.
- Softened nails should be trimmed, paying special attention to the removal of diseased exfoliated areas.
- The nails are smeared thickly with birch tar, which should stand for an hour and a half to two.
- After this time, the feet can be wiped off the tar and washed thoroughly, the procedure is repeated once a week until the nails heal.
Kombucha is effective against onychomycosis. This tool is used for compresses: a tight bandage, gauze or a piece of cloth is impregnated in kombucha, which are superimposed on a sore nail.
To make kombucha, you will need three liters of tea and one and a half cups of sugar. The tea should be poured into a three-liter jar and left in a warm place for several days: during this period on the surface of the liquid forms a film that looks like ordinary mold. At this time, sugar is added to the jar, which accelerates the growth process of the kombucha. Maturation usually takes no more than a month and a half.
Then the whole foot is rewound with polyethylene: this is an additional factor that deprives the fungus of access to oxygen, which accelerates the process of destruction of the parasite. Warm socks are put on the polyethylene and in this form you can go to bed by removing the compress in the morning. The procedure is repeated daily until complete recovery.
If the previous methods did not help, you can try to use essential oils. In fact, these cheap drugs are almost exact analogues of expensive antifungal drugs, therefore in their properties and effectiveness the main drugs are close to all pharmaceutical antifungals.
The advantage of essential oils is that they act in a complex way, providing antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, cleansing and regenerating effect, so recovery is quick and painless. Unlike many antifungal creams and gels, which completely destroy the affected nail plate, essential oils clean the affected areas.
You can use such products in different forms, for the preparation of the product the whole container with essential oil is fully used:
- As a compress: the essential oil should be heated to a temperature of 30 degrees in a water bath, then add a few tablespoons of water to dilute the viscosity. In such oil are impregnated tampons or cloth, which are fixed on the diseased nail for no more than an hour. After removing the compress, you can see that the affected part of the nail has peeled off, but the cleaned main part remains (it will later be covered with a new protective layer).
- For baths: three liters of hot water is poured into a basin and add ten drops of essential oil. It is enough to keep the feet in a basin for 20-30 minutes, after which they should be wiped dry and wrapped in a thick towel for some time.
- As an ointment: essential oil is applied in any amount on pre-steamed diseased nails. Subsequently, it is not necessary to remove the oil, it is necessary to apply an amount that is completely absorbed into the nail plate (this is revealed empirically).
You can use absolutely any essential oil to your liking:
- tea tree oil;
- ylang-ylang;
- rosemary oil;
- anise oil;
- bitter orange oil;
- basil oil;
- bergamot oil;
- immortelle oil;
- vetiver oil and all sorts of others.
The only contraindication in this case may be an allergy to the components of a particular type of oil.
Such recipes are used until complete recovery.
Fungus is a dangerous and common disease that requires immediate treatment. In the absence of adequate measures, such a disease can become a chronic form, which is sometimes absolutely impossible to get rid of. Experts often recommend to abandon the use of folk remedies, but according to statistics, onychomycosis is most often treated with the help of traditional medicine, but to get a positive effect, you need to choose the right recipe that is right for you.