Why does fungus appear on the nails? What are the signs of the disease? This disease destroys the nail plate and causes many problems. Our medical experts answered frequently asked questions and told us how to cure it quickly with effective medicines.
According to statistics, 20% of the total population of the Earth is susceptible to nail infections caused by parasitic fungi. This condition is called onychomycosis and is caused by nail fungus.
What is onychomycosis?
The disease is infectious in nature, infection occurs from person to person, as well as through contact and household through objects of common use. The fungal infection attacks the nail plate and eats away at it, destroying the nail.
Nail fungus most often occurs on the nails, because the feet are more susceptible to negative influences. However, the beginning of the development of pathology is preceded by a weakening of the immune system, which leads to a decrease in the body's defenses, which does not allow the immune system to be effective enough in the fight against pathogens.
Some types of mycotic infections cause onychomycosis of the hands and feet:
- dermatophytes;
- yeast;
- moldy;
- trichophytosis;
- microsporia;
- athlete's foot.
All fungal pathogens fall into two broad categories:
- Pathogenic.
- Conditionally pathogenic.
Pathogenic microorganisms are microorganisms that penetrate from the outside and cause damage to human life. Conditionally pathogenic agents are those that normally live on the skin, mucous membranes and keratinous areas of the human body, for example, fungi of the genus Candida.
Normally, the body coexists in symbiosis with opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. But with a decrease in immunity and favorable conditions, these organisms begin to develop uncontrollably, which leads to the appearance of a pathological process.
Why does fungus appear on the nails?
Common causes of mycosis may include the following:
- weakened immune system;
- accompanying chronic diseases (for example, eczema, diabetes);
- non-observance of personal hygiene rules;
- visiting places where fungal infections are concentrated (bathroom, sauna, swimming pool, public shower, water park);
- wearing closed shoes, in which the feet are subject to profuse sweating;
- age (after 65 years, natural immunity decreases);
- working environment conditions (working in a humid environment, at elevated room temperatures, when there is radiation, dusty and dirty environment).
In such conditions, nail fungus develops on the hands and feet. It was observed that the disease is also distributed by gender - men suffer almost 3 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. For an infection to develop, its integrity must be compromised. There are three main ways in which mycotic organisms enter:
- Through the nail plate due to injury 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?
The disease comes in three types or stages, each varying in severity:
- Normotrophic type. Yellowish-gray thin stripes appear on the nail plate, fragility and fragility appear, but there is no thickening and subungual hyperkeratosis.
- Hypertrophic type. It appears when there was no treatment or it was incorrectly selected and ineffective. First of all, the phenomenon of subungual hyperkeratosis occurs, which leads to thickening, which lasts long after successful treatment.
- Atrophic type. The most severe stage of the disease. The nail becomes thinner, becomes fragile and fragile, changes color to dark grayish-brown, over time its growth is disturbed and it completely separates from the nail bed.
Discovering the type of disease will allow you to decide how to treat nail fungus.
What are the symptoms of onychomycosis?
Signs that indicate a yeast infection:
- the appearance of light yellow or grayish stripes and spots on the nail plate, which makes its appearance look painful;
- a change in the color of the plate to yellow, brown and brown, which darkens to black over time;
- 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 peels off.
How to diagnose the disease?
Changes in color, roughness, and breakage may help to suspect onychomycosis. However, similar symptoms are characteristic of many other diseases (for example, eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus). Therefore, one visit to the doctor is not enough.
With this problem, you must consult a dermatologist, podiatrist or mycologist. If it is difficult to distinguish the cause of the disease, contact your general practitioner or family doctor who will refer you to a specialist. To adjust the treatment, you may need to consult a surgeon.
When establishing the diagnosis, it is necessary to check the mycotic origin of the infection. To do this, a microscopic examination of keratin thickening is carried out. However, to determine the type of pathogen, it is necessary to make a bacterial culture for analysis.
How to cure nail fungus?
Treatment is a long-term process, lasting from several months to a year, and requires considerable effort from the patient.
Antifungal therapy depends on the method of exposure to the affected area and can be:
- local - using only local ointments and creams that affect the pathogen at the site of the lesion;
- systemic - the use of systemic oral antifungal drugs, 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 remedy for nail fungus:
- substance ketoconazole— the effectiveness of treatment with this drug is achieved in half of the cases, the approximate course is from 8 to 12 months;
- substance itraconazoleis a popular antifungal drug that is effective in 85% of cases. Its clear advantage is the short course of treatment - only 10 days;
- substance terbinafine hydrochloride- one of the best drugs that helps in 90% of cases. The course of treatment lasts up to 4 months for onychomycosis on the hands and from 6 months on the feet. However, the appearance changed by mycosis can last a long time - up to 50 weeks.
Systemic therapy is used in cases of moderate severity or more. Oral antifungals are usually combined with the use of topical ointments. However, systemic agents have a number of side effects and can be toxic. Therefore, their use is not practiced in pregnant and lactating women, as well as in people with chronic metabolic and liver diseases.
Local drugs in the form of creams and ointments do not have a toxic effect, but are treated only in mild cases - when only ⅓ of the nail plate changes and when there is no deep penetration of the pathogen into the keratin tissue. This is due to the fact that local products cannot penetrate deep into the keratin layer.
In mild cases, when treatment is started on time, systemic drugs can be omitted. However, with an advanced clinical picture, it is sometimes necessary to surgically remove the damaged area, and only after that local therapy is carried out. Removal is painless and with subsequent antifungal treatment leads to complete recovery.