The fungus of the nails on the legs is a current pathology, which is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms: grinks or stratification of the nail plate, a change of shade, pain, itching and other negative sensations.What are the causes of the disease, what types and stages are they?How to diagnose and eliminate damage to the nail plate?Is it possible to warn the pathological process?
What is onychomycosis, for what reasons it arises
The fungus of the nails on the legs, or onychomycosis is a disease caused by dermatophytes, mold, yeast and other varieties of fungi.It is a secondary infection that occurs after lesions of the skin of the feet.
The main factors affecting the development of pathology:
- man's age and sex;
- climatic conditions;
- concomitant diseases;
- occupation.
The disease may occur for the following reasons:
- The humidity contributes to the rapid spread of the fungus, especially if a person neglects the drying of the shoes;
- Visit a bath, a pool, a common soul without personal shoes, walk with bare feet;
- non-compliance with the basic rules of hygiene;
- Enter a favorable environment of dried particles of fungi, which are on the skin;
- Endocrine system pathologies, metabolic disorders;
- foot deformation and circulatory violation;
- Porter in the size of annoying and inappropriate shoes.
Mushroom varieties and their features
There are 3 main types of onychomycosis:
- Normotorophic.This type is characterized by a change in shadow of the nails, the appearance of scratches and stains from white color to yellowish color.The brilliance and strength of the nail plate are preserved.
- Hypertrophic.The shadow of the nails changes - they become dull, thicker and partially destroyed.Very often, patients with such a disease are painful to walk.
- Onycholithic.The nail plate is intensively colored in gray and gradually rejected by the surrounding tissues.
Onychomycosis varieties in place of the lesion:
- distal (the nail is assigned to the edge);
- Lateral - damage to sites on the sides;
- Proximal - The rear roller is affected;
- Total - the entire nail baking sheet suffers from the disease.
Onychomycosis stages, accompaniment symptoms
The fungus of the nails on the legs does not beat the phalanx immediately and completely, the disease gradually goes through several stages:
- early (initial);
- launched (late).
At the very beginning of a fungal disease, after a violation of the integrity of the skin of the feet, the sensations of itching between the fingers occur, cracks and bubbles appear.Little by little, the infection affects different parts of the nail.In most situations, at an early stage, pathology cannot be diagnosed independently due to the lack of pronounced symptoms.Small stripes and other interspersed on the nail plate are practically not visible to the naked eye.Laboratory diagnostics are shown.
The advanced stadium is important damage to the nail and the whole phalanx part.In the absence of a timely treatment, there is a complete loss of the nail plate, an integrity of the altered skin and the transition of harmful microorganisms which caused the hands of the infectious process.
The main symptoms of the late stage of the pathology: detachment and creations of the nail plate, the violation of its shape and its thickness.The last step in the disease is the complete destruction of the nail or its pronounced deformation, as well as the development of complications under the influence of a fungus which requires long and complex therapy.
Diagnostic methods
In order to diagnose onychomycosis, you must contact a dermatologist.The doctor will prescribe laboratory studies (mycological, microbiological and histological), will assess the results of the tests, symptoms and will carry out a survey and a personal examination of the patient.
Therapeutic tactics depend on the severity of the disease, its causes, the concomitant symptoms and the type of pathogen.The diagnosis is confirmed or refuted when using wooden luminescent lamp.Differential diagnosis is made to distinguish fungi from other diseases (psoriasis, eczema, red flat lichen, etc.).
Treatment characteristics
All fluctuations in the appearance of the nails (persistent and slowly progressive) of shape, color, thickness, structural characteristics are the reason for the immediate contact of the dermatologist.The sooner the patient will start a local treatment, the more the probability that the use of funds for oral use acts overall on all the systems of the body is necessary.
The folk remedies have proven their effectiveness in the first stages of onychomycosis, and their use is welcomed by doctors.However, all procedures, drug treatment, folk therapy should be agreed with the attending physician according to the results of laboratory research and equipment, by studying anamnesis and evaluating concomitant symptoms.
External use
If the disease has just started to develop actively and has not reached late stages with serious symptoms, we can limit you to the application of local antifungal pharmacy drugs.Just apply a cream, gel or a pathological area several times a day, morning and evening.
Before the local application of drugs, it is necessary to first prepare the nail plates.First of all, it is necessary to immerse your feet in a soap solution (in a half -filled basin with hot water, 1 tablespoon and 50 g of clothes soap must be dissolved).Thanks to such a 15 -minute bath, the nails layers are considerably softened, which should be removed with scissors or manicure pliers and pulled with a file.
During treatment, you should not use the same manicure devices for simultaneous care for patients and healthy nails.
In the first stages of fungal damage, you can use special antifungal varnishes.The duration of therapy is approximately a year.
Oral preparations
If the disease has succeeded in the initial stage and develops every day, the oral use of drugs in the form of a tablet is indicated.These drugs help overcome the disease even at the most advanced stages.Entering the blood, the active components of drugs affect all body systems in a global way, which does not allow the fungus to penetrate healthy organs.
Physique
An effective method of physiotherapeutic treatment is laser therapy.However, to make a persistent effect of laser therapy, this procedure is shown in combination with taking medication - the laser is not able to independently kill the fungus without pharmacy.Laser therapy helps prevent relapses of the disease due to the penetration of the rays into the deepest layers of the skin, reaching distant foci of the lesion.
With advanced forms of onychomycosis, electrochemical methods of physiotherapeutic effects are effective.These are procedures such as electrophoresis and ionophoresis.Physiotherapy helps to penetrate drugs to affected areas of the skin and to the destruction of mushroom varieties such as yeast and other fungi.
Surgical elimination of the nail plate
Many experts recommend surgical elimination of the nail plate damaged by a fungus if the disease is at an advanced stage, while other methods have shown their ineffectiveness.The operation is carried out on an outpatient or in the hospital with preliminary anesthesia.
Possible complications after surgery:
- pain;
- penetration of infection into the wound;
- Additional growth of irregular nails.
The realization of a surgical intervention is contraindicated in people:
- with slowly healing injuries;
- have lameness;
- With bad filling capillaries with blood confirmed by diagnostic studies.
Recommendations after the operation:
- Do not load your fingers for several days;
- Do not wet the bandage for a week;
- Avoid tight shoes;
- Treat the injury regularly with an antiseptic, make dressings;
- Periodically visit a dermatologist to assess the quality of treatment and prevent relapse of the disease.People's means
Even specialists welcome treatment with folk remedies.The main condition is a preliminary consultation with the attending physician to calculate doses and reception recommendations.
Effective folk remedies for nail fungi:
- Vinegar.The harmful microorganisms that cause a pathological process die in an acidic environment.Just make vinegar baths daily (water at room temperature with vinegar in a proportion of 8: 1) for 15 minutes.Before the procedure, you should cook your legs steam.
- Propolis.The tool is only effective with systematic use.You must take a dye of 25% bee glue, moisten a cotton, attach to the pathological site and fix the gauze bandage at night.
- Iodine.This is the simplest and most effective method for treating fungus in nail plates.On well washed and dried nails, iodine must be applied with a cotton swab, affect only the damaged area of the nail.Therapy should last for about a month.
- Soda.In 2 liters of lukewarm water, 1 tablespoon must be dissolved.L.soda.In such a bath, you should keep your legs for about 15 minutes.
- Essential oils.The greatest efficiency has been shown by tea tree oil.The substance should be rubbed in the damaged nail plate twice a day for at least 3 weeks.
- Herb -based products.The most effective are the following herbs: Célandine, Thym, Bardane, Golden Mustache.
Processing errors and their consequences
3 current errors made by many patients during the treatment of onychomycosis:
- poorly prescribed drugs;
- Obsolete approach to treatment;
- Failure to carry out preventive measures to prevent infection.
The fungus of the nails on the legs with insufficient treatment or its absence can cause eczema, lymphostasis, fixing a bacterial infection by the development of inflammation, the complete loss of the nail plate, the inflammatory process in the lower extremities and other pathologies.If fungal infection spreads throughout the nail plate, it is urgent to start treatment in order to avoid the appearance of complications.If the patient has strong immunity and there are no onychomycosis pronounced symptoms, the body is able to deal with infection without external help.
Preventive measures
In order to prevent the appearance of onychomycosis, it is necessary to adhere to the following rules:
- Wash your legs daily with lukewarm water with soap or other skin washing;
- Use a special pum or brush to remove keratinized and dead skin layers;
- Wipe your legs well after washing, paying particular attention to the intervals between the fingers;
- Start a separate leg towel, wash it regularly at high temperatures;
- Use the talc and other cosmetics for intensive legs sweat;
- Do not neglect the rules of personal hygiene, especially after physical effort and in the hot season;
- Choose comfortable shoes in natural materials, in size, which do not rub and do not compress the phalanges of the toes;
- After wearing, giving shoes to dry humidity;
- Do not put socks and shoes on the wet legs;
- In the rain or the snow, always change shoes, falling into a hot dry room.
The fight against the fungus of the nail should begin, armed with knowledge on this subject.Thanks to this selection, you can decide independently of the pathogen, the location and the severity of onychomycosis and start taking measures in time.