Onichomycosis is a disease in which a fungal infection affects the surface of the nail plate. During the analyzes, 3 types of pathogens can be detected most often: yeast-like fungi, molds, dermatophytes.
Why does the mushroom appear?
The mushroom itself cannot appear. The disease is always prevented by certain compelling factors such as:
- Use of household items with fungal spores. If one family member has onychomycosis and the others use towels, slippers, or socks, the risk of infection is quite high.
- Visiting public places with a large flow of people. Saunas, spas, swimming pools, solariums, showers, fitness clubs, beaches - these places can become a place of infection with onychomycosis.
- Constant high temperature and humidity of the shoe. Fungal infections often catch up with office workers and soldiers who are forced to spend all day in shoes. Lack of air, compressed space and uncomfortable shoe models cause increased sweating, blood clotting and consequent onychomycosis.
- Decreased immunity. If the immune system is weakened by the disease, onychomycosis may occur due to taking antibiotics and other causes.
- The age of the person. In children, the fungus does not appear due to physiological characteristics - the infectious pathogen takes some time to establish and multiply. And children’s nails grow very fast, so onychomycosis doesn’t have time to develop. It often affects adults and almost always the elderly and the elderly. Their nail plates grow very slowly, making it especially difficult to remove the fungus on senile nails.
How can I understand that my nails are affected by mycosis?
If the nail plate changes in any way, it indicates possible problems. Signs of onychomycosis will include the following conditions:
- cracks between the fingers;
- yellowing of the nail plate;
- thickening of the skin;
- nail separation without mechanical causes;
- burning and itching;
- inflamed nail fold;
- Thinning or thickening of the nail.
Healthy nails should be pink, shiny and smooth.
Fast and effective ways to treat a fungus at home
It usually takes at least a month to fight onychomycosis. The sooner you start treatment, the faster you will get rid of the disease. You can turn to traditional medicine or use pharmaceuticals. But it is better to combine time-tested advice and effective medicines - this will allow you to quickly forget about the fungus.
Preparing your nail plate for treatment
Often, the simple use of antifungal medications does not produce the desired results. This is because the medicinal substances cannot penetrate through the thickened nail due to the fungus.
The nail plate affected by onychomycosis should be removed before starting treatment. There are several ways to do this:
- Steam your feet in hot water. It is important that the water temperature is fairly high (up to 50 degrees) for about half an hour. To do this, you can pour dry mustard into the water and constantly add a new dose of hot liquid. The ingrown part of the steamed nail plate should then be cut off and the thickness of the nail itself reduced with an abrasive file (100-150 grit).
- Buy antifungal cream paste from the pharmacy. This tool comes from the budget segment, but its activities can replace surgical or laser nail removal. The paste contains urea, which softens the nail plate without pain and discomfort and is then cut or removed with a scraper. The drug is applied to clean and dry nails affected by onychomycosis and a cross-patch is applied to the top. It is important that approx. Do not remove for 2 days. With such 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 but towel-dried nails, apply cream, seal with plaster and do not remove for 3-4 days. Then take a hot bath again, removing the softened fragments.
It is pointless to treat without removing the nail or fragment affected by onychomycosis.
Steam baths
High temperature and water soften the nail plate. It is easier to handle and, if necessary, remove patient fragments. Strain your feet well before any medical procedure. 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 cool. Then wash and dry with a clean towel.
- Gently file a piece of tar soap. Add 3 tablespoons of obtained "powder", a glass of baking soda to a bowl of hot water, simmer your feet for 10-20 minutes. It is good to use such a bath as a preparation before the next treatment procedure.
Cleansers
If you can't make a compress or ointment for a long time, wiping off sore nails will help. Onychomycosis requires constant and complex treatment, so sometimes you can use folk recipes:
- Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar, generously lubricate the sick nails. The fungus loves the alkaline environment, so its oxidation inhibits infection.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of marigold and purple flowers, pour a glass of vodka, let it cook for at least a week. Lubricate sore nails three times a day.
Wraps and Compressions
Compressions have a good effect on nail health, eliminating the infectious agent.
- Pour celandine oil onto a cotton pad. Put on the infected nail, tie it up a bit, put socks on top and walk all day. You can then treat the plate with hydrogen peroxide or iodine.
- On a fine grater, grate a few cloves of garlic, add 1 teaspoon of any vegetable oil. Apply the resulting crumb to the diseased nail plates, tie a bandage on it and put on socks. Leave on for a few hours. If there is a burning sensation, remove the compress, wash your feet with tar soap.
Creams, pharmaceutical solutions
Antifungal drugs are effective against fungal infections. Often, the product family of one manufacturer also contains liquid products and different creams that have the same active ingredient in the formulation.
Tablets and capsules for oral use
It is sometimes impossible to treat a fungus without being touched "from the inside". Taking antifungals speeds up healing.
How to treat advanced nail fungus
When you start onichomycosis, folk remedies become ineffective. In this case, you will definitely need a consultation with a mycologist or at least one dermatologist. It probably prescribes the following procedures:
- Identification of the pathogen. Usually they scrape the plate, less often - a fragment of the nail. These materials are sent for microscopic examination.
- Medication. Once the parasitic fungus has been determined, internal antifungals and topical preparations are prescribed.
- Remove the affected part of the nail or the entire plate. If onychomycosis affects less than half of its area, a medical pedicure is prescribed. If the entire nail plate is infected, it may need to be surgically removed.
Methods of iodine treatment
The pathogen of onychomycosis feeds on keratin in the epidermis. The detrimental effect of iodine on the fungus is that it sticks to this protein 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 drug. Only applicable to affected nail fragments. Contact with healthy skin may cause inflammation and severe burns.
In advanced stages of onychomycosis, iodine can help in steam baths as an additive. Pour the whole preparation from the bottle into hot water, lower your feet for 20-30 minutes. It has a pronounced antiseptic effect not only on the nails but also on the skin, where spores of the pathogen of the infection may be present. After the procedure, you can treat your feet with hydrogen peroxide.
In the initial stage, iodine should be applied to the nail plate with a cotton swab every few days. When the area under the affected area starts to burn after about a week, it will be a good result, indicating a successful treatment.
For a simultaneous antifungal and nourishing effect, you can add 3 drops of iodine to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat this mixture in a water bath, apply to sore nails and put clean socks on top. Leave overnight, wash your feet in the morning with soap and water.
Iodine is one of the most cost-effective, highly effective drugs. Continuous use is possible during the month. In the absence of results, you should change the type of therapy or consult a doctor.
Onichomycosis can be successfully treated with complex topical and systemic therapy. The combination of drugs and folk remedies allows you to defeat the fungal infection in 1 month.