Onychomycosis is a disease in which a fungal infection affects the surface of the nail plate. There are 3 types of pathogens that are most often detected in analyzes: yeast-like fungi, molds, dermatophytes.
Why does the mushroom appear?
The mushroom itself cannot appear. The disease is always preceded by some push factors, such as:
- Use of household items with fungal spores. If a family member has nail fungus and others use a towel, slippers, or socks, the risk of infection is quite high.
- Visiting public places with a large flow of people. Saunas, baths, swimming pools, solariums, showers, fitness clubs, beaches - all these places can become a place of onychomycosis infection.
- Constant high temperature and humidity of the shoes. The fungal infection often overtakes office workers and military personnel, who are forced to spend all day in shoes. Lack of air, compressed space and uncomfortable shoe patterns cause increased sweating, blood stasis and, consequently, onychomycosis.
- Reduced immunity. If the immune defense is weakened by the disease, after taking antibiotics and other reasons, onychomycosis may appear.
- Age of the person. In children, the fungus does not appear due to physiological features - the infectious pathogen takes some time to take hold and multiply. And children's nails grow very quickly, so nail fungus does not have time to develop. It often affects adults and almost always the elderly and the elderly. Their nails grow very slowly and therefore it is particularly difficult to remove the fungus on senile nails.
How to understand that nails are affected by mycosis?
When the nail plate changes in some way, this indicates possible problems. The signs of onychomycosis will be the following conditions:
- cracks between the fingers;
- yellowing of the nail plate;
- thickening of the skin;
- separation of the nail without mechanical reasons;
- burning and itching;
- inflamed nail fold;
- Thinning or thickening of the nail.
A healthy nail should be pink, shiny and smooth.
Quick and effective methods of treating fungi at home
The fight against nail fungus usually takes at least a month. The earlier you start treatment, the faster you will get rid of the disease. You can turn to traditional medicine or use pharmaceutical preparations. But it is better to combine time-tested advice and effective drugs - this will allow you to quickly forget about the fungus.
Preparing the nail plate for treatment
Often, a simple application of antifungal drugs does not bring the desired result. This happens because medicinal substances cannot penetrate inside through the thickened nail due to the fungus.
Before starting treatment, the nail plate affected by onychomycosis must be removed. There are several ways to do this:
- Steam with your feet in hot water. It is important to keep the water temperature high enough (up to 50 degrees) for about half an hour. To do this, you can pour dry mustard into the water and constantly add new portions of hot liquid. Next, you need to cut the overgrown part of the steamed nail plate and reduce the thickness of the nail itself with a file with low abrasiveness (100-150 grit).
- Buy antifungal custard in pharmacy. This tool comes from the budget segment, but its action can replace surgical or laser nail removal. The paste contains urea, which softens the nail plate without pain and discomfort, after which it is cut or removed with a scraper. The drug is applied to clean, dry nails affected by onychomycosis, and a patch is glued on top of it crosswise. It is important not to remove it for about 2 days. With an advanced stage of the fungus, several such procedures may be required.
- Use an antifungal cream. The main component is urea or urea. On steamed nails, but dried with a towel, you need to apply the cream, seal with a plaster and do not remove for 3-4 days. Then take a warm bath again, remove the softened fragments.
Without removing the nail or its fragment affected by onychomycosis, it is useless to be treated.
Steam baths
High temperature and water soften the nail plate. It becomes easier to handle and, if necessary, remove diseased fragments. Before any medical procedure, you should steam your legs well. You can do this in the following ways:
- Mix 4 tablespoons of iodized salt, 200 g of baking soda and a few drops of lavender essential oil in hot water. Lower your legs and hold until it cools down. Then wash and dry with a clean cloth.
- Finely grate a piece of tar soap. Add 3 tablespoons of the resulting "powder", a glass of baking soda to a bowl of hot water, steam the legs for 10-20 minutes. It is good to use such a bath as a preparation before the next treatment procedure.
Cleaning products
When it is not possible to make a compress or apply ointment for a long time, cleaning a sore nail will help. Onychomycosis requires constant and complex treatment, so you can sometimes use folk recipes:
- Soak a cotton swab in apple cider vinegar, generously lubricate diseased nails. The fungus loves an alkaline environment, so its oxidation will inhibit infection.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of calendula and lilac flowers, pour a glass of vodka, let it brew for at least a week. Apply to sore nails three times a day.
Wraps and compresses
The tablets have a good effect on the health of the nail, eliminate the infectious agent.
- Pour the celandine oil onto a cotton pad. Wear the infected nail, bandage lightly, wear socks, and walk all day. After that, you can treat the plate with hydrogen peroxide or iodine.
- Grate a few cloves of garlic on a fine grater, add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Apply the resulting gruel on the diseased nails, make a bandage on top and put on socks. Leave it on for a few hours. If you feel a burning sensation, remove the compress, wash your feet with tar soap.
Creams, pharmaceutical solutions
Antifungal drugs are effective against fungal infections. Often in the product line of one manufacturer there are both liquid forms of products and various creams with the same active substance in the composition.
Tablets and capsules for oral administration
Treatment of a fungus is sometimes impossible without exposure to it "from the inside". Taking antifungals accelerates recovery.
How to treat advanced toenail fungus
If you start nail fungus, folk remedies become ineffective. In this case, you will definitely need a consultation with a mycologist or at least a dermatologist. It will most likely prescribe the following procedures:
- Pathogen identification. Usually a scrape is taken from the plate, less often - a fragment of the nail. These materials are sent for microscopic examination.
- Taking medication. After determining the parasitic fungus, internal antifungals and topical preparations are prescribed.
- Removal of the affected part of the nail or the entire plaque. If onychomycosis affects less than half of its area, a medical pedicure is prescribed. If the entire nail plate has been infected, it may need to be surgically removed.
Methods of iodine treatment
The causative agent of onychomycosis feeds on keratin in the epidermis. The damaging effect of iodine on the fungus is that it attacks this protein together and the infection dies. Repeated application of iodine to the affected area also practically cauterizes the parasitic pathogen. The drug has an antiseptic effect, which prevents the recurrence of the infection.
Iodine is a powerful medicine. It can only be applied to the affected nail fragments. Contact with healthy skin can cause inflammation and severe burns.
In the advanced stage of onychomycosis, iodine can help as an additive in steam baths. Pour the entire preparation from the bottle into hot water, lower the legs for 20-30 minutes. A pronounced antiseptic effect will be exerted not only on the nails, but also on the skin, where there may also be spores of the causative agent of the infection. After the procedure, you can treat your feet with hydrogen peroxide.
In the initial stage, you need to apply iodine to the nail plate using a cotton ball every few days. When after about a week the area under the affected area starts to burn, this will be a good result, indicating a successful treatment.
For a simultaneous antifungal and healing effect, you can add 3 drops of iodine to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat this mixture in a double boiler, apply to sore nails and put on clean socks. Let it sit overnight, wash your feet with soap and water in the morning.
Iodine is one of the cheapest and most efficient pharmaceutical products. Its continuous use is possible throughout the month. In the absence of results, it is necessary to change the type of therapy or consult a doctor.
Onychomycosis is successfully treated with complex local and systemic therapy. The combination of drugs and folk remedies will allow you to defeat a fungal infection in a period of 1 month.