Since currently more than 20% of the world's population is infected with fungus on the feet, and sometimes on the hands, many know how unpleasant this disease is and what consequences it leads to. However, not everyone is familiar with the information about which microorganisms cause this disease and what types of nail fungus exist.
In addition to the forms of the disease, its features and methods of treatment, it would be useful to know how many different types of fungi lead to the destruction of nails and damage to different areas of the feet and hands.
Causes of the disease and its symptoms
With the causes of the disease, everything can be quite complicated, since a person easily becomes infected with fungi, both due to the weakness of his body and due to the fact that he is exposed to constant contact with infected people or objects.
Currently, the main causes of the disease are the following:
- Visiting saunas, showers and public pools;
- Increased sweating of the feet;
- Using other people's shoes or hygiene products;
- Weak immunity and so on.
Manifestations of the fungus in the affected areas include the following symptoms:
- Scaly formation on the skin of the feet and nails;
- Skin peeling and itching;
- Appearance of cracks;
- Thickening of infected skin and nails;
- Changes in nail color;
- Destruction of the nail structure.
important!
In any case, toenail fungus and any other forms of its manifestation cause a lot of problems, and therefore it is worth taking up the prevention and treatment of the disease in a timely manner.
Forms and types of disease
In this case, everything is quite complicated, since the types of fungal diseases of the nails are distributed according to different criteria.
The classification is as follows:
- According to the depth of penetration and the location of the fungus;
- According to the size of the nail thickening;
- By type of pathogen;
- By stage of development (early, second, advanced).
If we take the type of pathogens as an example, then in this case the patient will have to study the names in Latin for a long time, therefore it is not worth delving too deeply into unnecessary information with names, it is better to understand in detail the manifestations of the funguson the nails and how all this affects the nail plates.
Classification by depth of penetration and location on the nail
In this case, the forms of the disease are divided into the following points:
- Distal. This type of onychomycosis occurs at the end of the nail (free) and is characterized by a change in color and the beginning of delamination with destruction of the structure. Also, the place began to grow in size;
- Sideways. The main signs are similar to the previous form, but the color of the nail changes on one or both sides of the nail;
- Surface white. This form of fungus is expressed in the appearance of several spots on the nail, which eventually leads to its complete destruction;
- Proximal. The disease originates from the cuticle (it becomes inflamed) and gradually spreads to the entire nail, destroying it;
- Total onychomycosis. The color of the entire nail plate changes, which leads to faster destruction.
Classification according to the size of the nail thickening
This classification has only 3 forms, which allows you to separate the levels of compaction to which a nail infected with fungus is susceptible.
In this case it is:
- Normotrophic form. In this form of the disease, separate foci of the disease appear on the nail, which have a slightly different color. The thickness of the nail does not change;
- Hypertrophic form. The nail begins to thicken, change color, deform, gradually collapse and it is no longer so convenient for a person to walk;
- Onycholithic. With this form, nail fungus leads to the separation of the layer from the finger, and if you delay the treatment, bringing everything to this point, you do not need to think about saving the nail.
Of course, the types of toenail fungus themselves are distributed depending on the pathogen. There are three main types of microorganisms, but they have their own varieties.
Classification by type of pathogen
In this case, three types of pathogens can be distinguished, each of which has its own subspecies. It is worth noting that these microorganisms can also appear on the hands, but since hand hygiene is more common, this happens less often.
The distribution looks like this:
- Mold. This is one of the simplest forms of fungus, as the mold is unable to penetrate deeply into the affected area. However, toenail manifestations are still possible. The main signs are a change in color ranging from black to green. Sometimes spots of the same color may appear on the skin of the fingers. There are more than 5 types of mold;
- Dermatophyte. There are 3 main pathogens that cause more severe symptoms. The appearance of streaks of gray and yellow color, separation of the nail and, what is even worse, microorganisms of this type are able to infect the entire foot;
- Yeast fungus. This fungus is well known because it belongs to the genus Candida, which is also responsible for the development of thrush. The characteristics of the symptoms of infection with such a fungus are a decrease in the thickness of the nail, a change in its color to gray, peeling and damage to the finger, to its inflammation.
It is worth noting that due to the presence of subspecies, only a specialist will be able to prescribe the correct drugs for the fungus, independent selection of drugs will be simply useless.
Finally
Some experts identify other forms of the disease, taking into account the manifestations of the disease on the hands, but, guided by the species that are known to science, you can find out what kind of fungus it is by looking at the symptoms that appear.
But this does not mean at all that you can self-medicate in this way, since there are other diseases that lead to a change in the color of the nail, as well as to its peeling. For this reason, if a fungus suddenly appears on your nails, you should immediately go to a doctor, for example a dermatologist, and take a comprehensive approach to solving this problem.