Onychomycosis: Proper detection and treatment

Fungal diseases are the most common diseases on earth. We recommend considering how to treat onychomycosis, what professional preparations to use (tablets, ointments, creams, varnishes, other medicines) and folk remedies.Onychomycosis (also called "dermatophytosis" or "shingles") is the most common nail infection, affecting one in 10 people worldwide. Although this disease must be treated at home, this infection is difficult to influence from the outside world, and the infection is often accompanied by recurrence and inflammation.

Onychomycosis – what is it?

In medical terms, onychomycosis is known as onychomycosis. The nail plate becomes infected when it comes into contact with the spores, and the fungus begins to grow rapidly, affecting the depth and width of the nail.This pathological condition is most common in the elderly. The occurrence of the disease is affected by the following factors:

• being overweight;
• Digestive system diseases;
• weakened immune system;
• Impaired thyroid or adrenal gland function;
• Improper hygiene.

Experts identify several stages and forms of fungal infections.

Types and causes of toenail disease

Nail plate diseases can be divided into three types:

• Fungi;
• non-fungal;
• other illnesses.

non-fungal diseases

The following are causes of illnesses not related to fungal infections:

• Not knowing how to care for nail plates;
• Injuried;
• Unbalanced diet;
• Infection is present in the body;
• smokes;
• genetic predisposition;
• Presence of skin diseases, such as psoriasis and eczema;
• Acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, endocrine diseases.

Fungal diseases

Fungal problems occur due to infection by various fungi. This pathogen is very dangerous because of its rapid and easy spread. This disease must be treated. Fungi most commonly affect the nail plates of the lower limbs, as the feet are the most favorable environment for pathogenic bacteria to multiply.Factors leading to the occurrence and development of the disease include:

• Increased sweating of the feet;
• Inferior shoes: stuffy, not breathable, poor durability;
• Clothing made from synthetic materials;
• Neglect of personal hygiene;
• Do not take off your shoes in public places such as bathrooms, swimming pools, saunas, and public showers.

To recognize the onset of the disease, you need to know what a healthy nail plate should look like:

• Color: flesh pink;
• The surface is smooth and has no roughness;
• Uniform structure without compaction or thinning;
• The ends of the nails are intact and not separated.

If your nails are at least a little bit off, then you need to see your doctor for a consultation.

fungal form

The symptoms of the disease depend on the form of the fungus:

• shrink. A gray tint appears on the nails and the nail plate becomes pale and dull. The nails begin to shrink from the outer ends.
• Thick. The nail plate thickens by more than 2 mm due to active growth of skin scales. Nail deformation depends on the severity of the pathology. Color - gray or dark yellow. One of the characteristics of this fungus is thought to resemble a bird's claw.
• Nutrition is normal. Nails with this fungus change color, but the shine and thickness remain the same. In the first stage, white to yellow spots appear. If the disease is not treated, they will grow in size. In this case, the plate will not adhere to the nail bed.
• near end. The fungus can spread into skin folds. Pain may occur in the stratum corneum area.
• All of them. This infection can occur if treatment for other types of fungi is neglected. Along with loss of color and luster, fragmentation and fragility. The result was complete destruction of the deck.
• Surface white fungus. It is characterized by the formation of white spots and streaks across the entire nail.
• remote. The lesions are associated with dullness, discoloration, and changes in nail plate thickness. After the affected area dies, the nail becomes deformed and crumbled.
• side. Ridges of skin become swollen, red, and thickened. It is characterized by pain in the area near the nail. When a bacterial infection occurs, the purulent process begins.

Depending on the severity of the pathology, appropriate treatment is performed.

Practical advice

Preventing thumb and foot fungus is a very important task. Once you escape your bad luck, you immediately find yourself in a high-risk zone because. . . over time, the body becomes susceptible to this infection.

1. Medications are not always effective. Antibiotics kill the immune system and the body becomes more susceptible to fungal and spore infections. Minimize the use of such medications.
2. Any burns and frostbite require prompt treatment, otherwise the bacteria will quickly diminish;
3. Effective treatment is only half the battle, as you need to thoroughly disinfect all surfaces you come into contact with: bedding, floors, clothes, shoes, etc. ;
4. Although traditional treatments are good, they do not guarantee freedom from recurrence. It is recommended before starting this battle to see a doctor, who will analyze and tell you exactly what type of fungus you have and how to fight it;
5. Don’t medicate yourself;
6. Do not try to cover damaged nails with colored varnish - this will further damage the nails and slow down regeneration;
7. Doctors recommend regular foot soaks with peppermint and chamomile, which will greatly reduce the likelihood of infection;
8. People who already have fungal diseases cannot become blood donors;
9. This fungus is highly contagious, so consult your loved ones and take them to a doctor.

Typical clinical manifestations

Clinical manifestations of fungal nail infection include:

• Burning and itching of the skin near the affected area;
• brittle nails;
• Swelling of the affected area;
• The board actively detaches;
• Color changes (black, yellow, gray, green, brown indicate pathological processes);
• Pain at the site of the fungus;
• Deformed nails.

If treatment is neglected or inappropriate treatment is observed, an increase in cornification and compaction of the plate will be observed.Fungal infections can only be diagnosed by qualified experts.

Places with risk of infection

Infections can occur in moist and warm places where the fungus grows rapidly. Therefore, you should be careful and observe the hygiene rules in public environments:

• sauna;
• Shower room;
• bath;
• Gym;
• sunroom;
• public locker rooms;
• beach;
• pool.

You can get nail fungus from trying on someone else's shoes. In addition, when performing a pedicure in a beauty salon, infection may occur if unsterile instruments are used or if the pedicure has fungus on the hands and the pedicure is performed without gloves.

Alternative treatments to fight onychomycosis

There are many alternative ways to fight fungal infections. In folk medicine, popular and effective procedures that help eliminate fungi are:

• compression;
• foot bath;
• lotion;
• Use herbal ointments.

Effective antifungal alternative treatments are:

1. Garlic ointment. To prepare it, mix butter with grated garlic. Apply to the affected nail for a few hours.
2. Take a bath with sea salt. Make a warm solution and leave your feet in it for thirty minutes. After the procedure, it is recommended to apply olive oil to the nails.
3. Make a foot bath with calendula, celandine, horsetail or milkweed soup.
4. Mint and salt compress. Mix a spoonful of salt with the crushed plant and apply to problem areas for a few hours.
5. Propolis lotion. Soak a cotton pad in the tincture and apply to the affected nail.
6. Lubricate the diseased nail plate with celandine juice.
7. Egg-honey mixture. Add honey, birch tar, and sulfur to the egg whites. Mix well and apply to nails.
8. Ammonia compression. Dilute a spoonful of ammonia in a glass of water. The materials used in this process are soaked in liquid.
9. Apricot resin. Alcohol tinctures are made with equal parts resin. Use this remedy to compress.
10. Coffee bath. They brew strong coffee and pour it into basins. It is recommended to soak your feet in this product for twenty minutes.
11. Tar compression. For this process, use birch tar.
12. Body wash based on Listerine, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.
13. Hydrogen peroxide compress. It is recommended to take a soda foot bath before use.
14. Apply onion pulp to sore nails.

An effective folk remedy for fungal infections is a remedy made with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. To prepare it, you need the following ingredients:

• Apple cider vinegar – 250 ml;
• Baking soda – 150 g;
• Water (hot) – 3 liters.

Foot baths are made from this medicine. What's unique about this procedure is that you first put your feet in a vinegar solution for twenty minutes. After a while, they took a bath with soda water. It is recommended to perform this procedure several times a day.

• Compresses can also be made from:
• chopped horseradish (root);
• Sunflower oil and vinegar (product ratio 1: 1);
• tea tree mushroom;
• orange juice;
• tea tree oil;
• Rowan Mud.

It is recommended to apply these products to the affected areas at night. Herbalists recommend placing crushed herbs in socks to treat foot fungus:

• Mint;
• chamomile;
• nettle;
• wise man.

Soaking your feet in a laundry soap solution can overcome the first symptoms of this disease. It is important to remember that alternative medicines should only be used on clean feet. The dead layer must be removed every time using a nail file or scissors.

other illnesses

This section includes diseases that may be signs of fungal or nonfungal pathology, but are in this case independent.

Fat

Most of the time, hypertrophy is hereditary.This disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Nail thickening;
• Extended to several centimeters;
• The very long legs began to bend downward, like bird claws;
• Nail color changes from yellow to dirty yellow;
• In this condition, the nails rarely grow into the skin on either side;
• If the ingrowth is left untreated, an inflammatory process begins.

To combat this disease, vitamins and physical therapy are required.If inflammation is present, rinse with peroxide and chlorhexidine.Traditional medicine recommends massage with olive oil. If there is severe deformation that seriously damages the person's appearance, they will resort to cosmetic correction methods.

shrink

Toenail atrophy is usually congenital.In a newborn baby you can already see the following symptoms:

• The nail plate on one or more fingers is deformed, smaller in size, brittle, and distorted in shape;
• Nail color is white and cloudy;
• Surface defects: roughness, micro-cracks;
• No nails on one or more fingers;
• There is a membrane between the fingers;
• deformation of fingers;
• The hair growth rate is low and the growth is sparse.

This congenital disease is difficult to treat. It is recommended to take vitamins, eat collagen-rich substances, and eat a balanced diet. Patients should take good care of their nails and avoid injury and exposure to corrosive substances.

peeling nails

The most common problems people face.The reasons for its occurrence are as follows:

• Improper manicure and use of low-quality decorative cosmetics;
• Half of the women who undergo regular shellac surgery face this problem;
• lack of vitamins;
• Endocrine disorders, especially decreased thyroid function;
• Chronic diseases that consume the body;
• Synthetic clothes and wrong shoes.

This problem can be eliminated through a series of measures:

• cosmeticSpecialty nail polishes and nail polishes.
• paraffin therapyYou need to buy paraffin wax and melt it until it is liquid, but not hot. The feet must first be washed and dried thoroughly. Dip your finger into the paraffin wax, allowing it to harden, then lower it again. This sequence must be repeated several times until the nails are coated with 3 to 5 layers of paraffin. Next, you need to wrap it in plastic and wear warm socks over it. Keep this compression for 30 minutes. Then the paraffin must be carefully removed and a thick layer of cream is applied to the nails.

Traditional medicine recommends using sea salt for massage. It needs to be dissolved in a ratio of 2 teaspoons per 200ml of warm water. Feet should be soaked in the liquid for at least 15 minutes. Then you need to massage the skin around your nails. You can then apply olive oil or other unrefined vegetable oil.

pterygium

This term refers to the thin film located in the crescent area of the nail. It is the bottom layer of the stratum corneum. It exerts a physiological protective function and is not a pathological phenomenon. It comes in different lengths and thicknesses to suit different people. Pterygium starts to cause problems when it comes to getting a professional manicure. It especially interferes with coatings hardened under UV light.If a woman decides to remove it, it must be done correctly to avoidDamage the cuticle and avoid bringing dirt into the fragile epidermis:

• Soften pterygium with water;
• Carefully remove excess with apricot stick;
• Treat the area with a disinfectant (chlorhexidine or miramidine).

To ensure that the pterygium always remains soft and easy to remove, every night before going to bed you need to treat your nail plates and cuticles with special oils from pharmacies and cosmetic stores.Untreated nail disease can have serious consequences. Complications include suppuration, abscesses, abscesses, and malignant formation in the legs. You should consult a dermatologist for any changes in the appearance of your nails.

General treatment options

Successful treatment requires several months of complex treatments. This includes topical and systemic medications, diet, and immune system strengthening. Use the following methods to treat toenail fungus:

• Systemic antifungal drugs;
• Physical therapy procedures to improve blood flow to the feet and hands;
• Treat the affected area with a topical anti-infective (antifungal varnish, ointment, gel) and cover the surrounding skin for prophylaxis;
• If severe thickening or complete damage is confirmed, conservative or surgical removal of the affected tissue is performed;
• Use medicines that improve blood flow to the tissues around your hands and legs.

Taking systemic antifungals

For reliable and effective treatment of fungal diseases, systemic antifungal drugs are required. Their actions are aimed at destroying pathogens. Fungal spores can linger in the growing area for long periods of time while remaining viable, so it is important to ensure they are eliminated.

• Fungal diseases: symptoms and treatment
• Onychomycosis: effective treatments
• Fungus under the nails: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention methods

As the plate grows, the spores rise and enter an active phase, continuing to cause pathological processes. Therefore, long-term systemic antifungal treatment is required to allow adequate growth of healthy new nail plates. This will indicate that the bacterial zone has been cleared of spores.

topical treatment

This is another component of complex treatment that is administered in addition to and not as a substitute for systemic medications. Topical treatments alone will not help achieve complete recovery, so antifungal medications in tablet, solution or capsule form cannot be avoided. This is due to the ability of spores to remain viable in damaged tissue for long periods of time. Topical medications cannot penetrate these areas. The purpose of treating onychomycosis with this method is to treat the nail bed or nails with a product in the form of a lotion, varnish, cream, ointment or spray. Recommended at this stage.

nail plate removal

There are two options for this surgery: conservative treatment and surgical treatment. The first method is to use keratolysis patches that soften the tissue. After applying these products, the affected area can be painlessly and easily removed using a gentle scalpel or regular scissors. For conservative deletions, the patch option is currently used.Such products can be purchased at pharmacies or ordered from prescription departments. Before using this composition to fight fungal diseases, apply an ordinary adhesive plaster to healthy areas of the skin near the affected area to prevent the action of keratolytic agents. Next, apply a 2 mm thick layer of the mixture and set it in place with a simple plaster for 2-3 days. It is then peeled off, the remaining product removed, and the softened tissue scraped away with a scalpel. Repeat this process until the entire nail surface is removed, leaving only the bare nail bed.The surgical approach is considered more effective than conservative methods because it not only removes the affected area but also clears the bed of keratinized scales, where fungal spores can continue to survive and cause disease recurrence. Clinical studies have confirmed that the therapeutic effect of surgical resection is significantly higher; the surgical process is as follows:

1. Place the tourniquet at the base of your finger.
2. Treat the surface with a preservative (any).
3. Inject local anesthetic into the side of the finger.
4. Insert the tweezers under the free edge from the left or right corner.
5. Push the instrument into its base.
6. Use a flipping motion to separate the plates.
7. The bed was cleared of cuticle buildup.
8. Flush the nail bed with a powdered adsorbent containing antibiotics.
9. It has a sterile bandage on it.

Shoe material processing

Disinfection of shoes during onychomycosis treatment is very important because shoes contain fungal pathogens that can lead to recurrence of the disease later. To eliminate them, you need to use chemical disinfectants. This cleaning procedure should be done at least once a week. The following compositions can be used for disinfection:

• 25% formalin solution.
• Chlorhexidine digluconate solution 1%.
• Acetic acid 40%, etc.

As a precaution, you should regularly use special equipment designed for drying shoes at home. Fungus grows in moist conditions, so don't leave your shoes wet.To eliminate this disease, you must strictly follow all the instructions of your doctor. Medications must be used exactly as directed. Home remedies can help speed up the treatment process for onychomycosis, but only if used as a complementary solution in conjunction with traditional medical treatments.

possible complications

Pessimists who don't believe onychomycosis can be cured should remember that, fortunately, they are wrong. However, problems can arise if a disease is ignored or self-medicated without establishing a correct diagnosis.Possible complications include:

• Fungal eczema occurs over a large area affected by fungi;
• Burns caused by improper use of horn-dissolving cream;
• Dysfunction of the liver and gastrointestinal organs due to accumulation of toxins in the body;
• Allergic reactions also occur due to the body being "overloaded" with harmful substances;
• Psychological problems caused by a person's inability to live a normal life - for example, going to the bathhouse, going to the beach without hesitation.

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Laser Treatment

This is another physical therapy technique designed to improve blood circulation. This procedure is performed as part of complex treatment together with the use of antifungal drugs. Laser alone will not help cure the disease as it only improves blood flow in the tissue. This is necessary for efficient delivery of antifungal agents to hard-to-reach cells. Laser treatment will not provide any therapeutic benefits without taking systemic medications.

Disinfection and personal hygiene

Noticing the discoloration of the nails and suspecting the initial form of fungus, comparing the symptoms with photos, complex treatment is necessary. To effectively remove fungus, you need:

• Thoroughly disinfect socks and shoes every day;
• Boil linens and towels;
• Clean the tub thoroughly after bathing.

All wardrobe items that come into contact with the affected nail during the day must be boiled in a soapy solution at night. It's best to use laundry soap. Shoes should be wiped daily with an antiseptic or special antifungal solution.Onychomycosis is often observed in the same family due to frequent exposure to pathogens of fungal infections and the use of general hygiene products. If a person scratches the affected area and then touches household items with their hands, fungal spores and pathogens can now be transferred to the items and the risk of infection increases.