Fungal infection of the toenails

It is a common belief among people that fungal nail infections are not dangerous to human health.Onychomycosis (fungal nail infection) accompanies many people for a significant part of their lives, often remaining unnoticed due to the lack of acute symptoms.But that doesn't make treatment any less important for such patients.Also, everyone should imagine what the nail plates affected by fungus look like in order to independently diagnose the pathology.

Infection with fungal microorganisms

Fungal infection can occur in situations that are completely familiar to people.In most cases, everyone does not even notice how they are putting themselves at risk of infection.Causes of toenail infections mainly include the following:

1. Wearing other people's shoes, especially on feet without socks or tights.
2. Visiting saunas, baths and pools without individual slippers (tiles).
3. Looking for the services of a pedicurist in salons with questionable quality of work.
4. Use of foreign files and scissors for processing the nail plates.
5. Using towels and other people's towels.

In addition to the direct causes of onychomycosis, there are factors that contribute to easier infection:

• Constant wearing of stale socks, stockings, tights.
• Wearing closed shoes in the hot season, which predisposes the feet to sweating (and this is favorable for the reproduction of fungal microorganisms).
• Neglecting to constantly wash the feet with soap, especially in summer after wearing open shoes.
• Buying shoes made of artificial materials.
• Hanging nails around the toenails, cracks and calluses on the feet.

What does toenail fungus look like?

Nail changes develop slowly, progress continuously without antifungal therapy, and can lead to complete detachment of the nail plate, which is known to be irreversible.At different stages of the progression of onychomycosis, all its clinical manifestations have varying degrees of severity.Changes in the nails are also individual, but in general, a number of common signs can be identified:

1. Changing the color of the nails to brown, yellow, white, greenish and their shades, combinations with each other.
2. The appearance of brittle nails, their separation.
3. The edge of the nail plate crumbles more.
4. The appearance of nails, cracks and peeling of the skin near the nail, in the spaces between the fingers.
5. An increase or decrease in the thickness of the nail (but in some cases the thickness remains unchanged).

Treatment of nail fungus

It is recommended to start all therapeutic measures aimed at eliminating onychomycosis of the foot when the first suspicious signs of the disease are identified.

What to treat, what drugs and how they will be used, determines the stage of development of the disease and the degree of damage to the nails.

In general, there are two options for taking antifungal drugs - local (topical) and general (systemic).Topical products are gels, ointments, creams, solutions and sprays for application to the skin and nails.Systemic therapy is the intravenous infusion of drugs and their oral intake (orally, ie "by mouth") in the form of tablets or capsules.

These options can be used not only in isolation, but also in combination with each other.In addition, there is a mechanical removal of the infected tissue, but only in cases of advanced fungal damage.

Topical antifungal medications

• Solutions for external use.They should be applied twice a day to the affected areas with a brush.Before application, it is recommended to wash the areas with soapy water and dry them.After applying the solution, cover the area with an aseptic dressing."
• Antifungal ointments and creams are applied in a thin layer to the affected area once or twice a day.

Mechanical removal

Most patients believe that when it comes to this type of treatment, the nail will certainly be removed completely.Fortunately, only at an advanced stage of the disease (fungi have affected most tissues) they resort to this.In other cases, they may use pedicure tools to remove some of the tissue, namely those affected by microorganisms.

Nail plate removal surgery under local anesthesia has been around for a long time.With it, the entire nail is removed at once by first separating it from its bed with scissors and then "pulling" it out with pliers.But such an operation damages the nail matrix, that is, the basis of its regeneration, which leads to improper growth of new tissues and their frequent ingrowth into soft tissues.

It is now possible to cure the fungus by laser removal of the infected nail plate.The laser does not touch the healthy tissue and destroys only the fungal cells located even in the deep layers of the nail, avoiding the deformation of the plate.

In addition, there is a hardware removal method where the nail is removed layer by layer using devices with blades of various sizes.The procedure is carried out once a week or every two weeks.Repeat this until the affected layers of the nail are completely removed.

Prevention of onychomycosis

Preventing infection from fungi pathogenic to humans is not so difficult for every patient.You just need to be more careful about your lifestyle and remember about such a disease as onychomycosis.Here is a list of the main measures to prevent foot fungus:

1. Don't wear, let alone wear, someone else's shoes.
2. Use only your own socks and tights, making sure to wash them regularly.
3. Have your own personal pedicure kit.
4. Use the services of a pedicurist only in proven and "high-quality" service places.
5. Be sure to wear and wear flip flops or slippers in public bathing areas.

Everyone should remember that onychomycosis is far from a harmless disease that can even deprive you of your nail plate or be complicated by a serious condition called "fungal sepsis" (blood poisoning).

Today, all effective schemes for the treatment of toenail fungus have been developed;you just need to consult a dermatologist in time and identify the presence of pathogenic microorganisms.