The manifestation of mycosis of the feet is a common phenomenon. In most cases, mycosis of the toenails or toenails does not have life-threatening consequences, but causes a lot of inconvenience.
Onychomycosis occurs in 25% of the world's population.
Trichophyton colonies often cause fungus on the feet, the fungus on the feet may not be visible at first, but soon the symptoms are felt. Often the foot is affected by several pathogens, including mold and yeast.
As a result of the activity of the fungus, toxins accumulate in the body, disrupting metabolism, reducing immunity.
Under favorable conditions, the fungus affects not only the toenails, toenails will not be enough for it and it will spread to the feet, can enter the bloodstream in the presence of wounds and affect various organs.
The fungus can start with an infection from abrasions and cuts, cracks on the skin of the feet. Sweating feet, neglecting hygiene, wearing tight shoes - for example, how toenail fungus starts in most cases. However, if you follow preventive measures and treat onychomycosis of the nails in time, you can not remember the unpleasant disease.
Where can you get the fungus
The appearance of fungus is associated not only with reduced immunity. Of course, much depends on the body's defenses, but there are other reasons for the appearance of the fungus that must be taken into account.
First of all, mycosis can get on the nails of a sick person. In about 30% of patients, mycosis of the toenails is due to infection by a relative. In everyday life, skin flakes of a sick person fall on carpets, towels, slippers and other household items.
If a person's bare skin comes in contact with surfaces, discomfort, itching and other signs of a fungal infection will begin to appear.
Determining why toenail fungus occurs, the causes can be determined in the bathroom, sauna and pool. High humidity at times increases the likelihood of infection and almost every visitor to the public institutions listed above can understand what is toenail fungus.
The spores of the fungus are resistant to extreme temperatures and remain viable for a long time. In order to prevent it, everyone should know what the fungus is from and take measures to prevent infection.
The fungus usually enters the body through wounds and cracks in the skin. If there are no wounds, then the fungal infection can manifest itself as flaking of the feet and itching. If these and the following symptoms start to bother you, you should visit a doctor who will tell you how to beat the fungus quickly and cheaply.
Symptoms of fungus
The first signs of toenail fungus are the cloudy color of the plate, perhaps a feeling of dryness on the feet, flaking of the skin. Later, symptoms of toenail fungus will appear, such as thickening of the plate, its fragility and discoloration.
The doctor will prescribe a diagnosis - take a scraping of the skin and nails, send it to the laboratory. There, experts know how to determine nail fungus and their sensitivity to drugs. Based on the results, the doctor will tell you how to get rid of the discomfort and how to start treatment for onychomycosis of the toenails.
Those who were once ill already know approximately how to diagnose toenail fungus and in case of recurrence they go to the doctor immediately. If you do not start treatment on time, mold on the toenails can go from acute to chronic, worry about recurrences during the warm season, with exacerbation of chronic diseases, etc.
Often the fungus of the miniature is accompanied by mycosis of the skin, then it is likely the appearance of weeping ulcers, blisters with pus. If the rapid treatment of the nails is unsuccessful, the spores are embedded deeper in the nail plate.
It is filled with yellow spots, the nail crumbles, the affected areas emit an unpleasant odor. You often have to remove the nail to get to the focus of the disease. In this case, the fungus can be removed after removing the plate (laser, chemical or mechanical). Adequate treatment of the fungus includes a range of medications, including hygiene procedures and nutrition.
The specialist will assess the symptoms and prescribe treatment on an individual basis, as not all drugs are universal, not everything can be taken by everyone. In the initial stages, creams are usually prescribed that remove the symptoms and the fungus itself from the nail.
If several nails are affected, the disease has spread to the skin, the doctor will begin serious medical treatment for nail fungus and will control all stages. The addition of a bacterial infection can complicate the situation. In this case, you will need to decide not only how to remove the fungus under the nails, but to take effective treatment of eczema, psoriasis, etc.
Types of nail fungus
The vesicular type begins with the plantar part of the foot. With the course of the disease there is swelling, dispersal of bubbles with fluid. Later, the fungus can develop on the toenail of an inflamed toe, and if the toenail fungus is not recognized in time, the disease will go higher, spreading to other parts of the body. The vesicular type is characterized by the addition of a bacterial infection.
The type of membrane starts between the 4th and 5th finger, in the folds of the skin. As the toenail fungus develops, it severely affects the skin - flakes, cracks, ulcers appear.
The moccasin-like type starts from the sole, the heel. The symptoms of this type of nail fungus begin to appear after the disease damages the skin. Cracks, peeling of the skin, painful sensations will appear.
In all three variants of the disease, over time, a fungus can appear under the toenail, causing it to thicken, break and often lose. The doctor knows how to recognize nail fungus early, so do not self-diagnose. The main thing is to find a good specialist who will tell you how to get rid of toenail fungus faster.
How to treat the fungus
To get rid of the fungus on the toenails and not "fly in the tube", you must use the medication prescribed by the doctor in a certain dosage and exactly as much as the doctor prescribes. Otherwise, the recently removed fungus will return again withnew force.
Nowadays, complex treatment is popular, including the method of pulse therapy. This implies an active fight against toenail fungus with large doses of antifungal drugs.
There are long breaks between courses of therapy. To remove the fungus under the toenails, treatment should include the use of varnishes, films, ointments. They are based on fungicides, which, unfortunately, do not always work.
To successfully treat toenail fungus, you need to determine the type of pathogen, skin type and severity of the disease. This is the only way to destroy nail fungus, nail fungus spores should have no chance.
The doctor will tell you how to treat onychomycosis on dry skin, how to properly prepare for the procedures. For example, an oily cream is ideal for dry skin, ointments are chosen to treat the soles, suspensions are applied between the toes, and nail polish is applied. You do not need to think about how to remove the fungus yourself. The doctor will take care of that.
When toenail mycosis is diagnosed, treatment often involves removing the toenail. This is necessary because the nail prevents the drug from affecting the fungus below. The doctor at the reception will explain how to properly treat toenails with topical medications and pills.
Only external drugs can be used only at the beginning of the disease and when the use of systemic drugs is prohibited. How do you know if systemic medications are not appropriate? The doctor will tell you about it. In particular, the pills are not prescribed to pregnant women, children, people with kidney and liver pathologies. Special instructions have been prepared for them on how to get rid of toenail fungus. The therapy is likely to be long-term.
External preparations are used twice a day, after 2 weeks the ointment is replaced with another preparation so that the fungus does not develop resistance. In order for a new toenail to grow healthy, the treatment period for toenail fungus will last about a year. If the disease has affected only the foot or the interdigital spaces, there are enough ointments for a month.
In case of severe nail damage, systemic medications are prescribed. Such treatment of toenail mycosis will be very effective, but medical monitoring is required due to the toxicity of the drugs.
Systemic drugs act on the stomach, kidneys and liver. Before starting the therapy, the removal of the toenail with fungus can be prescribed in an appropriate way. The doctor will tell you how to remove the toenail fungus with the least injury and get back to work faster.
Get rid of the fungus with folk remedies
Until then, how to deal with toenail fungus by folk remedies, you should consult with your doctor about their safety and appropriateness of use in a particular case.
The fact is that the recipes generally describe how to get rid of nail fungus, but do not take into account the individual characteristics of the body, the patient's age, comorbidities and contraindications.
Only a doctor can tell the patient how to treat toenail fungus with pharmaceutical drugs and improvised means, medicinal herbs. Below are popular guidelines for those looking for how to treat toenail fungus.
Washing powder, judging by the reviews, helps due to the content of alkalis, which are harmful to fungi. To treat nail fungus in this way, you need to take 100 g of powder, dissolve in a bowl of hot water and steam your nails for 15 minutes. Examinations say that it is possible to cure the mild stage of the disease in 10 days.
Another recipe recommends treatment with hydrogen peroxide in diagnosing toenail fungus. First, you need to steam your feet in a soda bath (1 liter of heated water = 1 tablespoon of baking soda). As soon as the toenails evaporate, you can soak a cotton swab in peroxide and apply on the affected areas.
To prevent the peroxide from evaporating, you can wrap the compress with stretch film on it. The duration of the procedure is about an hour, you need to repeat it 2 times a day. The course of therapy continues, taking into account the depth of the lesion of the nail plate.
Garlic is a plant rich in phytoncides. It can be dipped in salt and rubbed on the affected area. The porridge, which is applied in the form of a compress, is also useful. It is important that there are no wounds or cracks on the skin, otherwise the garlic will cause pain and the wound will not heal.
Ammonia is used as a compress, but not pure, but diluted with water. As soon as the symptoms of the fungus begin to appear, 1 tbsp. the ammonia is stirred in a glass of water. Then a clean bandage is dipped in a solution and applied to the affected areas overnight in the form of a compress.
Many times in the reviews it is mentioned about the nail fungus, defeated with the help of ordinary soda. Soda creates an environment that is unfavorable for fungi. The powder is diluted with water to a slurry, applied to the affected nails for 20 minutes, rinsed and dried. This is not only an effective therapy, but also an effective prevention of toenail fungus in case of visiting swimming pools and saunas.
Boric acid is used after the feet have been evaporated in a soda bath. After the water procedures you should dry your feet and nails well, sprinkle with boric acid powder, put on socks and leave overnight. The procedure is repeated throughout the week.
Prevention of onychomycosis
Your doctor will explain how to quickly cure toenail fungus and what to do to avoid contracting this nasty disease. First, you need to beware of walking barefoot in public places (saunas, gym, pool) - wherever you need to wear rubber slippers.
If, however, an accident occurs and you do not want to learn from your own experience what is the danger of toenail fungus, you should use a preventive varnish when you return home or take a shower with antifungal shampoo.
Secondly, if the skin on the feet is damaged, the risk of infection increases significantly. Before restoring the skin, you should cancel the trip to the pool, training and more. If there has been contact with a surface that can be infected, and then the skin itches, you should immediately treat these areas with a fungal ointment.
Third, in order not to worry about whether toenail fungus can be cured, it is important to choose shoes for the season, dry them and keep them clean. Your shoes should not be allowed to be worn by other people.
You should not take shoes from someone, and when you try on shoes in a store, you should wear your socks or stockings so that you do not come into contact with bare skin with the shoes. After buying a shoe, you need to disinfect it - put inside a cotton swab dipped in tea tree oil, put it in an airtight bag for a day.