If the nail plates are affected by a fungus, this will obviously not decorate the toenails.But one in five people encounters this disease at least once in their life.The nail changes color, thickens and crumbles.Symptoms of a fungal infection may disappear and treatment is not prescribed in a timely manner.
When the immune system is weakened, nail fungus can spread to the skin of the foot.And in some cases, fungi can spread through the bloodstream and cause damage to internal organs.Fungal infection is a common cause of allergies and exacerbation of many diseases, for example, bronchial asthma.A sick person is dangerous to others, especially children.
Treating a fungal nail infection is not an easy task.The patient will need perseverance and accuracy.Despite the apparent non-seriousness of the disease, it is important to recognize foot fungus in time and treat it.
Causes of fungal nail infections
Fungi that cause nail disease are normal inhabitants of the environment.But under certain conditions, fungal mycelium can begin to develop on human skin or nails.Onychomycosis, a nail fungus, occurs several times more frequently on the feet than on the hands.This is due to the fact that feet are injured more frequently and come into greater contact with contaminated surfaces.Nail fungus appears on the toes and hands in the same way.
You can get a yeast infection in common areas where people walk barefoot.There are beaches, swimming pools, baths, saunas, gyms, showers.Flakes of skin containing fungal spores peel off the legs of a sick person.The spores are very resistant and can remain viable for years.Fungi especially love moist environments and wooden surfaces.
Upon contact with the skin of a healthy person, the spores are activated and begin to multiply.The feet are usually affected first.Later, the infection can spread to the toenails and fingernails.The patient, in turn, becomes a source of infection for family members, especially children.
In a family, the disease is more likely to develop in one parent and the child than in both spouses.The reasons for this lie in genetic predisposition.
Signs and types of disease
Nail disease is not difficult to recognize;its symptoms are obvious.Depending on the appearance of the affected nail, three forms of the disease are distinguished: normotrophic, hypertrophic and atrophic.
| Form of injury | Signs of illness |
|---|---|
| Normotrophic. | The nail maintains its color and strength.Symptoms of the disease are limited to the appearance of spots on the surface of the nail. |
| Hypertrophic. | The nail thickens, becomes opaque and loose.Over time, it changes shape and looks like a “bird's claw”.This phenomenon is called griffosis. |
| Atrophic. | Destruction of toenails.The nail becomes opaque, crumbles and the nail bed is exposed.Over time, the nail plate can collapse completely. |
At the site of penetration of the infection into the nail, distal-lateral, proximal, total and superficial onychomycosis are distinguished.Distal-lateral onychomycosis is more common.This is an option when the infection enters the nail from the free end and affects the free edge of the nail and the nail bends to the right and left of the nail bed.In the proximal version, the growing part of the nail opposite the free edge is affected.In the superficial version, the fungus affects the entire surface of the nail plate from the outside.It looks like a fine, white powder spread across the surface of the nail.The total variant is the result anyway, when the fungus spreads and the entire nail is completely affected.
The first signs of the disease appear on the foot, as this is where the infection occurs.The skin on the foot peels off, the spaces between the toes become red and itching may occur.The first signs of nail damage: the appearance of stains on the nail plate.The spots may be white, yellowish, or bluish-black, which is typical of mold.Subsequently, the fungus penetrates deeper, the affected nail appears dull, thickens or crumbles.Adjacent nail plates are affected.
To accurately determine the causes of the disease, nail scraping microscopy is performed.Some laboratories have the opportunity to inoculate this material into nutrient medium to cultivate and study the culture of the fungus.
How is the treatment carried out?
Treatment of a fungal infection should be started as soon as the initial signs of the disease can be recognized.At the same time, treatment cannot be started until confirmation is received that the cause of the disease is a fungus.You shouldn't carry out expensive and harmful treatments like this!
Treatment of fungal infection includes a number of measures:
- removal of the affected nail;
- take antifungal medications;
- treatment of the nail bed with local agents;
- additional treatment methods: laser irradiation, physiotherapy, vascular agents.
Nail removal is performed when the nail plate is thickened and medications passing through it cannot penetrate the subungual layer.You can remove the affected nail using a special adhesive.The patient can perform this removal independently.A special putty is applied to the nail plate, fixed with a plaster and removed after two days.The nail plate can be removed by scraping it layer by layer.
However, it has been proven that the treatment is more effective when the nail is surgically removed.The surgeon removes the nail under local anesthesia.The nail plate can usually be removed with tweezers.Removing the nail allows you to significantly increase the effectiveness of therapy.
Treatment with antifungal drugs is carried out for 3–6 months.For local treatment of the subungual region, pharmacies have different types of preparations in the form of varnishes, sprays and lotions.It is preferable to choose a medication with the same active ingredient that the patient takes orally.Physiotherapy and vascular medications complement the treatment.All these measures allow you to increase the blood supply to the foot and increase the delivery of medicinal substances to the site of the fungal infection.
Even if all symptoms have disappeared, 2 and 4 months after the end of treatment, it is necessary to carry out control tests to determine whether there is a recurrence.
The reasons for ineffective treatment may vary.Perhaps the fungus is insensitive to the medicine used in therapy.It happens that a person does not fully comply with medical recommendations.Reinfection is possible.
Onychomycosis of the feet in children
The risk of infection for a child is mainly associated with fungal infections among adults in the family.Children are often infected in swimming pools.In children, immune defense is not formed, therefore the risk of infection for a child is higher than for an adult.At the same time, regeneration processes in children are faster.Therefore, the nails grow back faster than the fungus spreads over them, and the child may not develop the disease.
In children, the symptoms of the disease are no different from those in adults and the principles of treatment are the same.The first symptoms of the disease, as in adults, appear on the skin of the foot: itching, peeling and the spaces between the toes become wet.And only then does the infection spread to the toenails.
Treatment for children is gentle.For a child, only local treatment is possible, without the use of tablets, which are not harmless to young children.
To prevent other family members from being infected by a sick child, special measures must be taken.Shoes and toys should be treated with antiseptics, and bedding should be ironed with a hot iron.
The fungus in a breastfeeding woman is dangerous for the baby.But treatment in this case is only possible locally, since antifungal drugs penetrate into the milk during breastfeeding.This is harmful to the child.A woman can complete the full course of treatment when she weans the baby.
Preventing fungal infections on the feet
The reasons for reinfection with the fungus often lie in the fact that prevention of the disease is not carried out.Prevention of onychomycosis includes the following measures.
- Wear comfortable shoes made from natural materials, especially in the hot season.
- Daily change of socks, stockings, tights.They should be washed daily and, if possible, ironed.
- In the pool and sauna, wear flip-flops on your feet and do not go barefoot.
- Never wear someone else's shoes - this is especially important for a child.
- All pedicure utensils and foot towels must be individual.
If there is a patient with onychomycosis in the family, targeted prevention of infection of other family members should be carried out.To do this, the patient must use local antifungals: varnishes, creams, sprays.They help prevent the spread of spores as a cause of infection.
The patient's shoes and insoles need to be treated.Each piece of footwear must be cleaned inside and out with a disinfectant solution.It can be 25% formaldehyde or 40% ordinary acetic acid solution.There is a special spray for antifungal shoe treatment.After cleaning the shoes, a tampon is inserted inside and the shoes are wrapped in a plastic bag for a day.Then you need to clean each shoe with ammonia and ventilate it.
The patient should choose stockings and tights made from natural materials.Each time you wash them, you need to boil them with soap and soda for 20 minutes.A soap and soda solution is prepared as follows: 50 grams of detergent are diluted in 10 liters of water and 200 grams of soda are added.
Prevention will prevent illnesses among family members and reinfection of the patient himself.