Fungal infection of toenails

The opinion that fungal nail infections are not dangerous to human health is quite widespread among the people.Onychomycosis (fungal nail infection) accompanies many people for a significant part of their lives, often going unnoticed due to the absence of acute symptoms.But this does not make treatment any less important for these patients.Also, everyone should imagine what the nail plates affected by the fungus look like in order to independently diagnose the pathology.

Infection by fungal microorganisms

Fungal infection can occur in situations that are completely familiar to humans.In most cases, not everyone realizes how they are exposing themselves to the risk of infection.The causes of nail infections mainly include the following:

1. Wearing someone else's shoes, especially with feet without socks or pantyhose.
2. Visit saunas, baths and swimming pools without individual slippers (slates).
3. Seek pedicure services in salons with questionable quality of work.
4. Using someone else's files and scissors to process nail plates.
5. Use other people's cloths and towels.

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

• Constantly wearing old stockings, stockings and tights.
• Wearing closed shoes in the hot season, which predisposes the feet to sweating (and this favors the proliferation of fungal microorganisms).
• Neglect to constantly wash your feet with soap, especially in summer, after wearing open shoes.
• Buy shoes made from artificial materials.
• Nails around the toenails, cracks and calluses on the soles of the feet.

What fungal toenails 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.Nail changes are also individual, but in general several common signs can be identified:

1. Change the color of your 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 further.
4. Appearance of nails, cracks and peeling of the skin close to the nail, in the spaces between the fingers.
5. Increase or decrease in the thickness of the nail (however, in some cases the thickness remains unchanged).

Nail fungus treatment

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

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

In general, there are two options for using antifungals - local (topical) and general (systemic).Local products are gels, ointments, creams, solutions and sprays for application to the skin and nails.Systemic therapy consists of intravenous infusion of medications and oral administration (orally, that is, “by mouth”) in the form of tablets or capsules.

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

Topical antifungal medications

• Solutions for external use.They must be applied twice a day to the affected areas with a brush.Before application, it is recommended to wash the areas with soap and water and dry.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, they will definitely have the nail completely removed.Fortunately, only in advanced stages of the disease (the fungus has affected most tissues) do they resort to this.In other cases, they can use pedicure instruments to remove part of the tissue, particularly those affected by microorganisms.

Surgery to remove the nail plate under local anesthesia has existed for a long time.In it, the entire nail is removed at once, and is first separated from the bed with scissors, and then “removed” 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 growth into soft tissues.

There is now an option to cure the fungus through laser removal of the infected nail plate.The laser does not reach healthy tissue and only destroys fungal cells located in the deep layers of the nail, preventing deformation of the plate.

In addition, there is a method of hardware removal, in which the nail is removed layer by layer using devices with cutters of different sizes.The procedure is carried out once a week or biweekly.Repeat this until the affected layers of the nail are completely removed.

Prevention of onychomycosis

Preventing infection by fungi that are pathogenic to humans is not that difficult for any patient.You just need to be more attentive to your lifestyle and remember about a disease like onychomycosis.Here is a list of basic measures to prevent foot fungus:

1. Don't wear, much less wear, someone else's shoes.
2. Only wear your own socks and tights, remembering to wash them regularly.
3. Have your own personal pedicure kit.
4. Use the services of a pedicurist only in proven, “high-quality” places of care.
5. Remember to bring and wear flip-flops or flip-flops in public bathing areas.

Everyone should remember that onychomycosis is far from a harmless disease, which can even deprive the nail plate or be complicated by a serious disease called “fungal sepsis” (blood poisoning).

Today, all effective treatment regimens for toenail fungus have been developed;it is enough to consult a dermatologist in time and identify the presence of pathogenic microorganisms.