Why does the fungus appear on the nails? What are the signs of the disease? This disease destroys the nail plate and causes a lot of trouble. Our medical experts answered frequently asked questions and told us how to cure quickly with effective drugs.
According to statistics, 20% of the entire population of the Earth is susceptible to nail infections caused by parasitic fungi. This condition is called onychomycosis and is caused by a nail fungus.
What is onychomycosis?
The disease is contagious, the infection occurs from person to person, through contact and household, through shared objects. The fungal infection attacks the nail plate and eats it away, destroying the nail.
Nail fungus most often occurs on the nails, as the feet are more sensitive to negative effects. However, the onset of the pathology is preceded by a weakening of the immune system, which leads to a decrease in the body's defense capacity, which does not allow the immune system to be sufficiently effective in the fight against pathogens.
Certain types of fungal infections cause onychomycosis of the hands and feet:
- dermatophytes;
- yeast;
- moldy;
- trichophytosis;
- microsporia;
- athlete's foot
All fungal pathogens can be divided into two broad categories:
- Pathogenic.
- Conditionally pathogenic.
Pathogenic microorganisms are microorganisms that invade and harm human life from the outside. Conditional pathogens are those that normally live on the skin, mucous membranes, and keratinous areas of the human body, such as fungi of the genus Candida.
Normally, the body coexists symbiotically with opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. But with a decrease in immunity and favorable conditions, these organisms develop uncontrollably, which leads to the development of a pathological process.
Why does the fungus appear on the nails?
Common causes of mycosis include:
- weakened immune system;
- simultaneous chronic diseases (for example, eczema, diabetes);
- non-compliance with personal hygiene rules;
- visiting places where fungal infections are concentrated (spa, sauna, swimming pool, public shower, water park);
- wearing closed shoes in which the feet are exposed to heavy sweating;
- old age (natural immunity decreases after 65);
- working environment conditions (work in wet environments, at higher room temperatures, radiation, dusty and dirty environments).
Under these conditions, nail fungus develops on the hands and feet. They found that the disease is also divided by gender - men suffer almost three times more often than women.
How does the pathogen penetrate the nail plate?
The keratin plate itself is not susceptible to the penetration of mycotic pathogens. In order for the infection to begin to develop, its integrity must be violated. There are three main ways that fungal organisms enter:
- Due to injury through the nail plate and damage to the keratin layer;
- Through the subungual notch;
- Through the proximal nail fold.
Conditionally pathogenic organisms often cause inflammation of the cuticle.
What types of onychomycosis are there?
There are three types or stages of the disease, each of different severity:
- Normotrophic type. Yellowish-gray thin stripes appear on the nail plate, brittleness and fragility appear, but thickening and subungual hyperkeratosis do not occur.
- Hypertrophic type. It appears when there was no treatment or it was poorly selected and was ineffective. First of all, the phenomenon of subungual hyperkeratosis occurs, which leads to thickening, which persists for a long time after successful treatment.
- Atrophic type. The most difficult stage of the disease. The nail thins, becomes brittle and brittle, changes color to dark gray-brown, stops growing over time and completely separates from the nail bed.
Knowing the type of disease allows you to decide how to treat nail fungus.
What are the symptoms of onychomycosis?
Signs of a fungal infection:
- the appearance of light yellow or grayish stripes and spots on the nail plate, which makes its appearance painful;
- the color of the plate changes to yellow, brown and brown, which darkens to black over time;
- the cuticle and proximal ridge become inflamed;
- the plate thickens and becomes brittle, brittle, crumbly;
- a characteristic specific smell appears;
- Over time, the nail plate completely separates.
How to diagnose the disease?
Changes in color, roughness, and fragmentation can help suspect nail fungus. However, similar symptoms are also characteristic of many other diseases (e. g. eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus). Therefore, a medical examination is not enough.
With this problem, you should consult a dermatologist, podiatrist or mycologist. If it is difficult to distinguish the cause of the disease, consult a family doctor, a family doctor who will refer you to a specialist. A surgeon may be needed to set up the treatment.
When establishing the diagnosis, the mycotic origin of the infection must be checked. To do this, we perform a microscopic examination of the keratin thickening. However, to determine the type of pathogen, a bacterial culture must be performed for analysis.
How to cure nail fungus?
The treatment is a long process, lasting from several months to a year, and requires considerable effort from the patient.
Antifungal therapy depends on the route of exposure of the affected area and can be:
- local - use only local ointments and creams that affect the pathogen at the site of injury;
- systemic - the use of oral antifungal drugs with a systemic effect, which are necessary if the infection has penetrated the affected area through the bloodstream;
- combined - a combination of local and systemic therapy, which gives the best result.
Systemic preparations containing the following substances are used as the most effective medicines for nail fungus:
- substance is ketoconazole- the effectiveness of the treatment can be achieved with this medicine in half of the cases, the approximate course is 8-12 months;
- substance itraconazoleis a popular antifungal drug that is effective in 85% of cases. A clear advantage is the short treatment - only 10 days;
- substance terbinafine hydrochloride- one of the best remedies that helps in 90% of cases. The duration of treatment is up to 4 months for onychomycosis on the hands and feet up to 6 months. However, the appearance changed by mycosis can persist for a long time - up to 50 weeks.
Systemic therapy is used in moderate or more severe cases. Usually, oral antifungals are combined with the use of topical ointments. However, systemic agents have many side effects and can be toxic. Therefore, their use is not practiced in pregnant and lactating women, as well as in people suffering from chronic metabolic and liver diseases.
Local remedies in the form of creams and ointments are non-toxic, but they are treated only in mild cases - when only one third of the nail plate changes and if the pathogen has not penetrated deeply into the keratin tissue. This is due to the fact that topical products cannot penetrate deeply into the keratin layer.
In mild cases, if the treatment was started in time, systemic drugs can be avoided. However, in the case of an advanced clinical picture, it is sometimes necessary to get rid of the damaged area surgically, and only then is local therapy applied. The removal is painless and with the subsequent antifungal treatment leads to a complete recovery.