Fungal Toenail Infection

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

Infection with fungal microorganisms

Fungal infection can occur in situations quite familiar to humans.In most cases, everyone does not even realize the extent to which they are exposed to the risk of infection.The causes of toenail infections are mainly:

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

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

• Constantly wear stale socks, stockings, tights.
• Wear closed shoes during the hot season, which predisposes the feet to perspiration (and this is favorable to the proliferation of fungal microorganisms).
• Neglecting to constantly wash your feet with soap, especially in summer after wearing open shoes.
• Buy shoes made from artificial materials.
• Rips around the toenails, cracks and corns on the soles of the feet.

What do fungal nails look like

Nail changes develop slowly, progress continuously without antifungal treatment, and can lead to complete detachment of the nail plate, which is known to be irreversible.At different stages of progression of onychomycosis, all its clinical manifestations have varying degrees of severity.Nail changes are also individual, but in general, a number of common signs can be identified:

1. Change the color of 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. The appearance of nails, cracks and peeling on the skin near the nail, in the spaces between the fingers.
5. An 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 of the leg as soon as the first suspicious signs of the disease are identified.

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

In general, there are two options for taking antifungal medications: local (topical) and general (systemic).Local products are gels, ointments, creams, solutions and sprays to apply to the skin and nails.Systemic therapy involves injecting medications intravenously and taking them orally (i.e. “by mouth”) in the form of tablets or capsules.

These options can be used not only in isolation, but also in combination with each other.Additionally, infected tissues are removed mechanically, but only in cases of advanced fungal lesions.

Topical antifungal medications

• Solutions for external use.They should be applied twice a day to the affected areas with a brush.Before application, it is recommended to wash the areas with soapy water and dry them.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 think that when it comes to this type of treatment, they will definitely have the nail completely removed.Fortunately, it is only at an advanced stage of the disease (the fungus has affected most of the tissues) that they resort to it.In other cases, they may use pedicure instruments to remove some tissue, especially those affected by microorganisms.

Surgery to remove the nail plate under local anesthesia has been around for a long time.In it, the entire nail is removed at once, and first they separate it from its bed with scissors, then “pull it out” with pliers.But such an operation damages the nail matrix, that is, the basis of its regeneration, which leads to inappropriate growth of new tissues and their frequent penetration into soft tissues.

There is now an option to cure the fungus by laser removal of the infected nail plate.The laser does not affect healthy tissues and only destroys fungal cells located even in the deep layers of the nail, thus avoiding 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 knives of different sizes.The procedure is carried out once a week or every two weeks.Repeat this operation until the affected layers of the nail are completely removed.

Onychomycosis prevention

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

1. Don’t wear, let alone someone else’s shoes.
2. Use only 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 and “quality” places of service.
5. Remember to bring and wear flip flops or slippers in public swimming areas.

Everyone should remember that onychomycosis is far from a harmless disease, which can even deprive you of the nail plate or be complicated by a serious illness called "fungal septicemia" (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.