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 commonly detected in analyzes: yeast-like fungi, molds, dermatophytes.
Why does a fungus appear?
The fungus itself cannot appear. Diseases are always preceded by certain suppressive factors, such as:
- Use of household items with fungal spores. If one family member has onychomycosis and the others use his 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 locations can become a place of onychomycosis infection.
- Constant high temperature and humidity of shoes. The fungal infection often affects office workers and military personnel, who are forced to spend all day in their shoes. Lack of air, compressed space and uncomfortable shoe models cause increased sweating, blood stasis and, as a result, onychomycosis.
- Reduced immunity. If the immune defense is weakened from the disease, after taking antibiotics and other reasons, onychomycosis can appear.
- Age. In children, the fungus does not appear due to physiological characteristics - the infectious pathogen needs some time to harden and multiply. And nails in children grow very quickly, so onychomycosis does not have time to develop. It often affects adults and almost always the elderly and the elderly. Their nail plates grow very slowly, so it is especially difficult to remove fungus on senile nails.
How to understand that nails affect mycosis?
When the nail plate changes in any way, it indicates possible problems. Signs of onychomycosis will be the following conditions:
- cracks between the fingers;
- nail plate yellow;
- thickening of the skin;
- nail separation without mechanical reasons;
- stinging and itching;
- inflamed nail folds;
- Thinning or thickening of the nail.
A healthy nail should be pink, shiny and smooth.
Fast and effective methods of treating fungus at home
The fight against onychomycosis usually takes at least a month. The sooner 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 tips and effective remedies - 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 the medicinal substances cannot penetrate inside through the nail thickened 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 quite high (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 off the overgrown part of the steamed nail plate and reduce the thickness of the nail itself with a file with low abrasiveness (100-150 grains).
- Buy anti-fungal cream at the pharmacy. This tool is 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 medicine is applied to clean and dry nails affected by onychomycosis, and a patch is applied to it. 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 but towel-dried nails, you must apply the cream, seal with a band-aid and do not remove for 3-4 days. Then take a hot bath again, remove the softened fragments.
Without removing the nail or its fragment affected by onychomycosis, it is pointless to treat.
Steam baths
High temperature and water soften the nail plate. It is easier to deal with it and, if necessary, remove diseased fragments. Before any medical procedure, steam your feet 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 cool. Then wash and dry with a clean towel.
- Finely grate a piece of tar soap. Add 3 tablespoons of the resulting "powder", a glass of baking soda in a bowl of hot water, steam your feet for 10-20 minutes. It is good to use such a bath as a preparation before the next treatment procedure.
Cleansers
When it is not possible to make a compress or apply ointment for a long time, it will help to wipe the sore nail. Onychomycosis requires constant and complex treatment, so sometimes you can use folk recipes:
- Soak cotton wool in apple cider vinegar, abundantly lubricate diseased nails. The fungus loves an alkaline environment, so its oxidation will inhibit the infection.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of marigold and lilac flowers, pour a glass of vodka, let it cook for at least a week. Apply to sore nails three times a day.
Wraps and wraps
Wraps have a good effect on nail health, they remove infectious agents.
- Pour celandine oil on a cotton pad. Put on an infected nail, tie lightly, put on socks on top and walk all day. You can then treat the tile with hydrogen peroxide or iodine.
- Grate a few cloves of garlic on a fine grater, add 1 teaspoon of any vegetable oil. Apply the obtained porridge on the diseased nail plates, make a bandage on top and put on socks. Leave on for a few hours. If burning is felt, remove the dressing, 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 also liquid forms of products and various creams with the same active substance in the composition.
Tablets and capsules for oral administration
Treatment of the fungus is sometimes impossible without exposure to it "from within". Taking antifungals speeds up recovery.
How to treat advanced toenail fungus
If you start onychomycosis, folk remedies become ineffective. In this case, you will definitely need a consultation with a mycologist or at least a dermatologist. They will most likely prescribe the following procedures:
- Pathogen identification. Usually a scraping is taken from the plate, less often - a fragment of a nail. These materials are sent for microscopic examination.
- Taking medication. After determining the parasitic fungus, internal antifungals and local preparations are prescribed.
- Removal of the affected part of the nail or the whole plate. If onychomycosis affects less than half of the surface, a medical pedicure is prescribed. If the entire nail plate is infected, it may need to be removed surgically.
Iodine treatment methods
The causative agent of onychomycosis feeds on keratin in the epidermis. The harmful effect of iodine on the fungus is that this protein sticks 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. It can be applied only 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 a supplement in steam baths. Pour the whole preparation from the bottle into hot water, lower your legs for 20-30 minutes. A pronounced antiseptic effect will have not only on the nails, but also on the skin, where they can also be slow causes of 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 with a cotton cloth every few days. When after about a week the area under the affected area starts to burn, it will be a good result, indicating a successful treatment.
For simultaneous anti-fungal and caring 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 pull clean socks on top. Leave overnight, wash your feet with soap and water in the morning.
Iodine is one of the most budget pharmaceutical products with high efficiency. Its continuous use is possible during the month. In the absence of results, you should change the type of therapy or consult a doctor.
Onychomycosis is successfully treated with complex local and systemic therapy. The combination of pharmaceutical products and folk remedies will allow you to beat the fungal infection in a period of 1 month.