Treatment of nail fungus lasts at least six months, and this is subject to properly prescribed therapy. Many people, especially on the eve of summer, are concerned about the question: how soon will the nails return to their previous healthy appearance? What will they look like immediately after starting treatment? And in a month or two?
In addition, whether the treatment is effective or not, can also be determined by the appearance of the nails. Let's see what you should pay attention to in the appearance of your nails after treating the fungus.
Why is nail fungus difficult to treat?
Onychomycosis (fungal infection of the nail plate) is very difficult to treat in all people. There are three reasons for this:
The microbe enters the nail bed and not all local drugs can reach it. In addition, most fungi provide themselves with "protection" in the form of thickening of the nail plate.
In most cases, onychomycosis is accompanied by a fungal infection of the foot. And as soon as a person heals his nails, the fungus again enters the nail bed from the skin of the foot.
Re-infection also occurs through socks, shoes and also when bathing/showering.
Classical types of treatment for onychomycosis
Currently, medicine uses three main ways to treat nail fungus:
Systemic drugs in the form of tablets or capsules. They can help, but for this they have to go through a long course - from 4 to 18 months. All these medications are toxic to the liver; their intake can be complicated by the development of diarrhea, skin rashes and changes in taste. Therefore, during treatment you must strictly follow a therapeutic diet, stop drinking alcohol and periodically do blood tests - "liver tests".
Local remedies (creams, varnishes). They do not always penetrate the nail plate well. Therefore, it must be prepared in advance: cut the excess nail mass with scissors or remove it using a cutter. You can't do this yourself: you can damage the cells that make up the nail plate.
Combined therapy: the simultaneous administration of a systemic drug and the application of a local antifungal agent to the affected nail. It is used in severe cases to slightly minimize the severity of side effects from systemic drugs. The effectiveness of such treatment is also not very high.
In some cases, dermatologists remove the affected nail plate before prescribing local treatment. Now they are trying to do this less and less, limiting themselves only to cleaning the affected area - in order to avoid infection of the nail bed with bacteria.
It seems that onychomycosis can be left untreated, but in fact it represents something more than an aesthetic defect. It can lead to a severe mixed infection (fungal and bacterial) of the foot or hand, which can also lead to gangrene.
How do the nails look after treating the fungus?
In the first 2-3 months after starting to use local drugs, the nail plate will not change significantly yet. The remaining fungi in the subungual space continue to multiply, and thickening or, conversely, thinning is formed again in the nail. The growing plaque retains its pathological color for some time: yellow, milky white, black or brown. It may still be scaly, ribbed or curved. There may be chips on it, or an area where it leaves her bed.
When treated with tablets, pathological changes in the growing nail plate can be observed in less than two months. Then, after treating the fungus, the area of the nail closest to the hole should take on a healthy appearance:
- become smooth;
- change color to pink or reddish, uniform color;
- gain normal thickness.
If the nail grows back after you have removed the entire nail plate, it has the right to be a little thinner. This is also an indicator of his health.
If, despite the treatment, after 2-3 months the nails remain changed in color, thickness or softness, then the therapy should be reviewed.
How soon the whole nail will become healthy
It depends on the growth rate of the nail plates. It is affected by:
- age: the younger the person, the higher the speed;
- the nature of nutrition: insufficient intake of vitamins and microelements reduces the rate of nail growth;
- Ambient temperature: in warm climates, nails grow faster;
- the frequency of nail injuries: they slow down the growth of plaque;
- hormonal status: for example, during pregnancy, the rate of plaque growth increases;
- the presence of common chronic diseases: they make the growth of nails slower;
- taking medications that affect the rate of cell division.
On average, a healthy nail after treating the fungus on the hands grows in 6 months, on the feet in 12-18 months. Nails on thumbs and toes grow slower than others. So, if the nail plates on the 2-5 fingers of the lower extremities grow at a speed of 1 mm / month, then on the first finger this speed is up to 0. 7 mm / month.
How can you speed up the treatment of onychomycosis?
To make nails grow faster after fungal treatment, laser therapy can be used. It involves the treatment of the nail plate with a neodymium laser device with a wavelength of 1064 nm. Its radiation freely penetrates the nail bed and there heats the fungal cells to high temperatures, as a result of which they die. In addition, the heat from the laser activates blood circulation in the nail bed, which accelerates the growth of a healthy nail plate.
The laser is used in conjunction with local therapy. After a laser treatment session, the patient should apply the recommended cream or varnish to the nails and also carefully treat the shoes with an antiseptic to avoid re-infection.
The effectiveness of the treatment of onychomycosis with a neodymium laser has been tested in several foreign multicenter studies. This is an excellent addition to local treatment, has a short duration of the procedure and is not accompanied by side effects.
Thus, a healthy nail plate should begin to grow in the first months from the start of treatment. It may be slightly thinner than usual, but have a uniform pink color and softness. The treatment process is significantly accelerated when the affected plaques are treated with a neodymium laser.