In the minds of many people, fungal patients are often associated with disorders, slowness and impurity. This stereotype is not entirely true. In the modern world, even the most meticulous cleanliness is not immune to fungal infection. Moreover, a person who leads an active and healthy lifestyle is more at risk of catching it than a classic bed potato. If the skin between the toes turns red, peels and cracks, the nails turn yellow and crumble, and the unbearable itching does not go away for a minute, it is likely that you have a fungus.
Routes of infection
Medical statistics say that every 4-5 people on our planet are sick with mycosis of the fingers. The risk of infection exists everywhere: in the pool, sauna, gym, public shower, shoe store, on the beach, even your shoes often become a great environment for life and active reproduction of fungi.
Walking barefoot, wearing someone else's or wet shoes, sharing personal hygiene items (towels, manicure and pedicure tools), dirty socks, excessive sweating, degenerative foot disease, overweight, circulatory disordersblood - these and other factors lead directly or indirectly to fungal infection.
Healthy nails are practically invulnerable to fungus, while nail plates, altered under the influence of any traumatic factor, are easy prey for it. The same thing happens with the skin - the microscopic cracks in it become a gateway for infection.
Most often, the infection is caused by fungal parasites called dermatophytes, less often by yeast and mold. Male and female toenail fungus are equally diseased. The risk of infection increases with age. Thus, children become victims of this parasite relatively rarely, while every second adult after 70 years is its active carrier.
The first manifestations of finger fungus
In most cases, the foot lesion with a fungal infection occurs gradually according to the following pattern:
- the first signs in the form of peeling skin, burning and itching are noticed between the fingers;
- the skin reacts to the infection with the formation of blisters, after a while they crack;
- cracks and grooves appear at the site of the bubbles; itching intensifies;
- entering the nails, the fungus actively multiplies, gradually penetrating the nail plate, destroying it slowly and for a long time;
- the plate thickens, exfoliates, crumbles, acquires an unnatural yellowing.
Dermatophytic fungi appear as bright yellow spots or streaks closer to the edges of the nail. Over time, the infection moves to its central part, the skin in the interdigital region cracks and severe itching is felt. Yeast fungus feeds on the nail plate, diluting it from the sides. As a result, waves appear, grooves, cracks, the nail turns yellow and separates from its bed. First, the yeast attacks the nail folds. They turn red, thicken and swell, silver scales appear along the edges. Infections It is possible to attach a secondary bacterial infection with subsequent ingestion. Molds superficially affect nails, changing their shade from yellow and green to brown and even black. These mushrooms are especially active in conditions of impaired nutrition of nail plates.
Why can not you hesitate to visit a doctor?
Treatment should begin as soon as possible. It is good if this happens before the infection, which is usually localized first between the fingers, spreads to the nail plate. Seeking early medical attention ensures faster healing and healthier nails.
A mycologist is engaged in the treatment of various fungal skin lesions (mycoses). Doctors of this profile are difficult to find in state clinics. In its absence, you can consult a dermatologist. The task of a specialist is to assess the extent and depth of the lesion, take a tissue scratch to determine the presence and type of fungus, draw up a competent therapeutic scheme.
Before starting treatment, it is necessary to carry out disinfection actions, which include treating all shoes with vinegar or formalin solution. The stench of these products makes them unsuitable for use. To solve the problem, you can buy a special device at the pharmacy that disinfects the shoes using ultraviolet rays.
Traditional treatment for finger fungus
Finger fungus can be treated with local, systemic or combination therapy.
Each treatment involves the use of antifungals (antifungal agents):
- Topical treatment (ointments, creams, sprays). Antifungals for external use and other medicines with the active ingredient clotrimazole, naphthine hydrochloride, ketoconazole, terbinafine hydrochloride or bifonazole. In case of minor damage to the nail plate, the use of antifungal paints is recommended. Sprays are applied throughout the year, gradually reducing the frequency of use (from 4 to 1 times a week). Local remedies effectively relieve itching and burning, reduce staining, cracking of the skin between the fingers, but are not able to completely cure the disease.
- Systemic therapy: general antifungals. Such a treatment is appropriate in case of complete damage to the nail plate. But there are certain contraindications to systemic antifungal drugs: they can not be taken by pregnant and lactating women, people suffering from kidney and liver disease, and young children.
- Comprehensive treatment. Includes local and systemic therapies.
Patients often complain about the ineffectiveness of traditional therapy and turn to treatment with folk remedies. Against the background of such complaints, the opinion was formed that foot fungus is an incurable disease, it is only possible to temporarily remove its symptomatic manifestations (itching, skin, cracks). Why is patient dissatisfaction noticed? Everything is very simple. In fact, complete cure of a fungus is difficult but possible. The main thing is to adhere to the principles of regularity and duration. It is very important to do all the therapeutic activities every day and not to interrupt what you have started halfway. You need to be ready for long-term treatment (usually 3-12 months), which makes sense to carry out by the time the new healthy nails grow back. In advanced cases, it is necessary to remove the affected nail plates and only then wait for the appearance of new ones.
Treatment of toenail fungus with folk remedies
Traditional medicine recipes are very effective in eliminating or reducing the severity of such manifestations of the fungus as itching, burning, cracking, redness and redness of the skin between the fingers. Some patients claim that they were able to completely cure the disease using exclusively folk remedies.
So to deal with the fungus:
- Soak your feet in apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar or table vinegar.
- apply 1 drop of iodine on each nail twice a day;
- wipe your skin and nails with salicylic oil;
- wash your feet with laundry soap;
- make compresses with garlic and butter;
- lubricate the affected skin with a mixture of garlic juice, alcohol (1 tablespoon each) and water (2 tablespoons);
- treat the affected areas with propolis alcohol solution.
According to reviews, garlic and propolis are particularly effective in fighting fungi. It is important to understand that the duration of treatment with folk remedies has its limits. If within 3 months the skin cracks and does not get the same appearance, it makes sense to seek help from traditional medicine.
Despite the good effectiveness of treatment with folk remedies and the success of modern medicine in the invention of new effective drugs, foot mycosis today remains the most common fungal disease. However, it is gratifying that over the last 20-30 years the number of patients who have successfully recovered has been decreasing every year.