Why do nail fungus appear? What are the signs of the disease? This disease destroys the nail plate and causes a lot of trouble. Our medical experts answered frequently asked questions and showed us how to cure it quickly with effective medicines.
According to statistics, 20% of the total population of the Earth is susceptible to nail infections caused by parasitic fungi. This condition is called onychomycosis and is caused by fungus on the nails.
What is onychomycosis?
The disease is infectious in nature, infection occurs from person to person, as well as through contact and family through objects of common use. A fungal infection attacks the nail plate and eats away at it, destroying the nail.
Nail fungus most often appears on the toenails, as the feet are more sensitive to negative influences. However, the beginning of the development of the pathology is preceded by a weakening of the immune system, leading to a decrease in the body's defenses, which does not allow the immune system to be sufficiently effective in the fight against pathogens.
Several types of fungal infections cause onychomycosis of the hands and feet:
- dermatophytes;
- yeast;
- moldy;
- trichophytosis;
- microsporia;
- athlete's foot
All fungal pathogens fall into two broad categories:
- Pathogenic.
- Conditionally pathogenic.
Pathogenic microorganisms are microorganisms that penetrate from outside and cause damage to human life. Conditional pathogenic agents are those that normally live on the skin, mucous and keratinous areas of the human body, for example, fungi of the genus Candida.
Normally, the body coexists symbiotically with opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. But with a decrease in immunity and favorable conditions, these organisms begin to develop in an uncontrolled manner, which leads to the appearance of a pathological process.
Why do nail fungus appear?
Common causes of ringworm may include the following:
- weakened immune system;
- accompanying chronic diseases (for example, eczema, diabetes);
- non-compliance with personal hygiene rules;
- visits to places where fungal infections are concentrated (bathroom, sauna, swimming pool, public shower, water park);
- wearing closed shoes, in which the feet are subject to heavy sweating;
- old age (after 65 years, natural immunity decreases);
- working environment conditions (work in a humid environment, at high room temperatures, when there is radiation, dusty and dirty environments).
In such conditions, nail fungus develops on the hands and feet. It has been noted that the disease is also distributed by gender - men suffer almost 3 times more often than women.
How does the pathogen penetrate the nail plate?
The keratin plate itself is not susceptible to penetration by fungal pathogens. In order for an infection to begin to develop, its integrity must be compromised. There are three main ways that fungal organisms enter:
- Through the nail plate due to injury and damage to the keratin layer;
- Through the subungual incision;
- Through the proximal nail fold.
Conditionally pathogenic organisms often cause inflammation of the cuticle.
What types of onychomycosis are there?
The disease appears in three types or stages, each of which varies in severity:
- Normotrophic type. Thin yellow-gray lines appear on the nail plate, fragility and fragility appear, but subungual thickening and hyperkeratosis do not occur.
- Hypertrophic type. Appears when there was no treatment or it was chosen incorrectly and ineffective. First of all, the phenomenon of subungual hyperkeratosis appears, which leads to thickening, which continues for a long time after successful treatment.
- Atrophic type. The most difficult stage of the disease. The nail becomes thinner, becomes brittle and fragile, changes its color to a dark gray-brown, over time its growth is disrupted and complete separation from the nail bed occurs.
Finding out the type of disease will allow you to decide how to treat nail fungus.
What are the symptoms of onychomycosis?
Signs that indicate a fungal infection:
- the appearance of light yellow or gray lines and spots on the nail plate, which makes its appearance painful;
- the change in the color of the plaque to yellow, brown and brown, which darkens over time to black;
- cuticle and proximal ridge become inflamed;
- the plate thickens and becomes brittle, fragile, crumbly;
- a specific characteristic odor appears;
- Over time, the nail plate peels off completely.
How to diagnose the disease?
Changes in color, roughness, and patches can help to suspect onychomycosis. However, similar symptoms are also characteristic of many other diseases (for example, eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus). Therefore, an examination by a doctor is not enough.
With this problem you should contact a dermatologist, podiatrist or mycologist. If it is difficult to differentiate the cause of the disease, you should contact your general practitioner or family doctor, who will refer you to a specialist. To adjust the treatment, you may need to consult a surgeon.
When a diagnosis is made, there is a need to verify the fungal origin of the infection. To do this, a microscopic examination of keratin thickening is performed. However, to determine the type of pathogen, it is necessary to make a bacterial culture for analysis.
How to cure nail fungus?
Treatment is a long process, lasting from several months to a year, and requires considerable effort from the patient.
Antifungal therapy depends on the route of exposure to the affected area and can be:
- local - the use of only local oils and creams that affect the pathogen at the site of the lesion;
- systemic - the use of oral antifungal drugs with systemic action, which are necessary if the infection has penetrated the affected area through the bloodstream;
- combined - a combination of local and systemic therapy, which gives the best result.
As the most effective medicine for nail fungus, systemic preparations containing the following substances are used:
- substance ketoconazole- the effectiveness of treatment with this drug is achieved in half of the cases, the approximate course is from 8 to 12 months;
- substance itraconazoleis a popular antifungal drug that is effective in 85% of cases. Its clear advantage is the short course of treatment - only 10 days;
- terbinafine hydrochloride substance- one of the best medicines that helps in 90% of cases. The course of treatment lasts up to 4 months for onychomycosis on the hands and from 6 months on the feet. However, the appearance changed by mycosis can persist for a long time - up to 50 weeks.
Systemic therapy is used in cases of moderate severity or more. Usually, oral antifungals are combined with the use of topical ointments. However, systemic agents have a number of side effects and can be toxic. Therefore, their use is not practiced in pregnant and lactating women, as well as in people with chronic metabolic and liver diseases.
Local remedies in the form of creams and ointments do not have a toxic effect, but are treated only in mild cases - when only ⅓ of the nail plate is changed and when there is no deep penetration of the pathogen into the keratin tissue. This is due to the fact that domestic products are not able to penetrate deep into the keratin layer.
In mild cases, when treatment was started at the right time, systemic agents can be dispensed. However, with an advanced clinical picture, it is sometimes necessary to get rid of the damaged area surgically and only after that to carry out local therapy. Removal is painless and with subsequent antifungal treatment leads to complete recovery.