Foot and toenail fungus is an infectious disease caused by various types of fungi.Infection occurs quickly, and treatment of the disease takes months, sometimes years.Therapy for this disease is prescribed by the doctor after determining the type of fungal pathogen.Onychomycosis and mycosis often accompany each other, because the infection spreads from the nails to the skin of the feet or vice versa.
The causes, symptoms and treatment of fungus are hot topics that many are interested in.The prevalence of this disease is high, this disease affects the young, old, and children.This disease can be treated if the drug regimen is determined correctly.Therefore, you need to know how the pathology develops and how you can heal from it.
What is onychomycosis and mycosis, causes and symptoms
Mycosis is the general name for infection;Onychomycosis is an infection of the nail plate.To treat foot and nail fungus, drugs from the same group are used.This applies to tablets, topical agents, and injectable solutions.For successful therapy, the rules for using each drug must be followed exactly.There should be interruptions in the treatment, because the fungal colonies multiply at an accelerated rate without the influence of drugs, and there are as many of them as there were before the start of the procedure.
The reasons for the appearance of fungus are the same:
- Infection from sick people in public places, swimming pools, showers, and reservoirs.
- Using other people's shoes or uncomfortable or contaminated hygiene items.
- Failure to follow rules to keep feet dry.
- An immediate sweat treatment.
- Traumatic damage to the skin of the feet and corneal nails.
- Improper use of medications, especially antibiotics.
Doctors include disorders in the function of the gastrointestinal tract, metabolic processes, hormonal disorders, pathologies of blood flow in the vessels of the legs, diabetes mellitus and obesity as systemic causes of fungal infections.
The symptoms of foot and nail fungus are difficult to ignore because they cause a lot of discomfort.Among them, the most common are:
- itchy skin on the legs, between the toes;
- peel the dermis;
- the appearance of wounds and other damage;
- Nails lose their healthy color, become colored, then turn gray;
- The plate thickens, takes on a loose appearance, and collapses;
- The deformation continues until the cornea is destroyed and the infection enters the nail bed.
Symptoms increase gradually, but itching starts from the first day of introduction of the pathogen.
This is important!Medicines for foot and nail fungus should be used immediately when signs of the disease appear.Delay in therapy makes it difficult to treat and causes dangerous consequences, including damage to internal organs.
Mycosis of the skin and nails has age-related characteristics - onychomycosis in children occurs in rare cases;Adults suffer.Athlete's foot occurs in all age groups.
What you need to know about the principle of treating this disease
For a complete recovery from a fungal infection, the patient must adapt to long-term treatment, which must be carried out after the diagnosis and as prescribed by the doctor.Pharmacies sell many antifungal drugs, but choosing one yourself without consulting a dermatologist or an infectious disease specialist means wasting your money and ruining your health.
For some people, treating foot fungus with ointment is effective, for others it is necessary to combine the use of external and oral drugs, and in case of a serious level and developed complications, injections are prescribed in combination with other methods.
Expert advice.The main requirement of complex therapy is the use of effective multifunctional drugs for the treatment of foot and nail fungus and the prevention of this disease.Because the viability of the spores contributes to the recurrence of the disease.
Prevention can be done by disinfecting shoes with chloramine or formaldehyde.Mushrooms die after half an hour of exposure to these substances.
About types of antifungal drugs
Pharmacies have developed a category of drugs for topical use, which are sold in pharmacies and available to customers without a prescription.These include:
- cream, ointment, gel;
- solution, serum;
- spray, varnish;
- plaster.
They have a general effect, have minimal side effects, and can be used by adults and children.The key to a successful fight against mycosis is regular use and adherence to procedures.After a visit to the doctor, you will know the procedure for manipulation, how many times to apply the medicine, in what quantity, and you will achieve recovery from the disease.Usually, healing with local medications occurs within 4-6 months.
If the infection is advanced, then the local treatment of the fungus on the nail plate is irrelevant.A combination is required - external medicine plus tablets.It is carried out under the supervision of a doctor, as it has significant side effects.
About creams, ointments and solutions
How to treat foot and nail fungus, what topical preparations, according to reviews from users and experts, effectively deal with colonies of microorganisms?The following list will help answer this question.
- Cream based on salicylic acid at a budget price, which is applied 3-4 times a day to the affected areas of the skin and cornea.If you do the procedure at night, wait until the product is absorbed, then put on socks.
- Ointments containing acids that cannot be reached.The mode of application is the same as in the first case.
- Formaldehyde for sweaty feet, which kills microorganisms that cause the spread of infection.Available as a solution.
- Boric acid + resorcinol - used as a means to remove nails affected by fungus, which contains boric acid, which has antiseptic and drying properties.Apply to the skin in places where there is a fungal infection.This drug is used as a component of complex therapy for this disease.
Special product to remove affected nails
In order for the cornea to come out painlessly, specially designed preparations are used.
According to the characteristics of doctors, drugs based on urea, isopropyl alcohol, and polyvinyl alcohol are not drugs for the treatment of fungal infections.With its help, you can remove the affected plate without using surgical methods.This alternative allows you to eliminate diseased nails at home.
This effective drug promotes corneal convergence and bed recovery.It is saturated with stearic acid, propylene glycol, urea, triethanol, tea tree oil.This procedure is done as follows:
- Nails are steamed in a bath with the addition of a softening agent made from water, soda and soap;
- Solution concentration - 1 teaspoon per liter of water.components;
- The feet are dried with a towel, then the nail folds are covered with a bandage;
- The product is applied in a generous layer without getting into the surrounding tissue, and covered with a bandage on top.
After 4 days, the bandage is removed, the remains of the plate are scraped off.If it is not possible to remove the plate at one time, the manipulation is repeated.
Another drug acts in the same way as the previous drug, but the composition is different - it contains the components of hydrogenated castor oil PEG -40, urea, beeswax and emulsion wax, glycerin;Acid Components - Salicylic, Stearic, as well as Methylisothiazolinone, Propylene Glycol, Mint, Lavender, and other Esters.
How to treat onychomycosis with varnish
Anti-fungal nail polish is the most common product that can be used under a cosmetic layer.The advantage is the concealment of defects with simultaneous treatment, no negative effects on the body.In this way, it is recommended to eliminate the initial stages of the disease.Well-known brands of medicinal varnish products are:
- Amorolfine.The principle of healing is to destroy the fungal cell membrane.Apply twice a week.
- Rye Enzyme Filtrate - In the form of a serum, perfectly penetrates the diseased tissue of the plate to the bed.You can use it more often than varnish and do the procedure every day, which speeds up the healing process.
The duration of varnish therapy is up to a year.Then you can use the product as a preventive measure.
Good to know!External drugs and varnishes will not help with complicated forms of mycosis.A comprehensive treatment algorithm is effective against advanced fungi.
Tablets
Treatment of foot and nail fungus with drugs in the form of tablets is indicated for the third stage of the disease, the appearance of complications, and infections that penetrate mucous membranes and other organs.The condition for using the tablet plus ointment complex is the development of the inflammatory process and bacterial infection against the background of fungal colonies.
A group of antimyotics is considered an inexpensive drug for the treatment of fungi.These are effective drugs, but you can't buy them without a prescription because they have side effects.Therefore, you should agree on a treatment regimen with your doctor.
- Fluconazole.Topical medicine to combat foot and nail mycosis at different stages.
- Ketoconazole is sold in every pharmacy without a prescription and is intended to eliminate skin infections.
- Preparations with itraconazole are high-priced drugs that act against mycosis on the feet, nails, and fungus on the mucous membrane.
- Preparations with terbinafine are medicines for advanced fungi;They contain the active ingredient terbinafine (in tablet or ointment form), which kills many types of colonies, destroying fungi at the cellular level.
Common topical medications
An effective remedy for foot and nail fungus is salicylic ointment, which relieves inflammation and itching, reducing the patient's condition.In the same line is sulfur ointment - it overcomes the spread of infection;Both ointments cost a penny, but perfectly eliminate the symptoms of foot disease.
Castellani's liquid permeates the corneal tissue of the damaged nail and kills pathogenic colonies.Use with caution;If it comes into contact with the skin, it causes burns.
Antifungal drops and sprays help fight this disease.
Clotrimazole is used for infections that have affected the skin of the feet and the penetration of the infection into the mucous membrane.Available in the form of creams, ointments, suppositories.
It is allowed to treat fungal infections with the veterinary drug creolin.It is used to treat the infected area, and after a while the product is washed off.It has an unpleasant smell, but acts against colonies of fungi, mites and other microorganisms.
The easiest way is to treat the diseased area with iodine.Its antiseptic properties are known to everyone;This solution kills harmful microorganisms, including effective against fungal spores.
How to treat with medicines at home
You already know how to treat foot and nail fungus, medicines sold in pharmacies.Against this disease, baths based on oil, propolis, decoctions, infusions, and other freely prepared components are used as an additional method.
Oil therapy
A good effect to reduce the risk of developing an infection that you have just contracted is the use of natural oils.Make a mixture of equal parts tea tree oil and lavender.Add two parts of olive oil to the mixture, lubricate the nails and affected areas of the feet with the product produced overnight.
Foot bath
- Lemon Juice Plus Listerine, Apple Cider Vinegar.Mix all the ingredients in equal parts and add to the bath water.The concentration per 1 liter is three tablespoons of the composition.Daily procedures that last for 15 minutes will help speed up the treatment process and restore the cells of the dermis and cornea.
- A soda bath is prepared according to the recipe: One tablespoon of soda plus 20 g of shaved laundry soap.Keep your feet in the bath for 40 minutes, during which time the solution penetrates the cells of the skin of the feet and the nail plate.
- Pink Pink Potassium Permanganate Baths.The duration of the procedure is 20 minutes.
- Salt plus vinegar in a concentration of 100 g + 4 spoons per 4 liters of water.Salt can be table salt or sea salt.
- Hydrogen peroxide 3% - Apply for 2 minutes, then a paste of water plus peroxide is applied to the nails, which is washed off after stopping.
People's recovery
They are effective in relieving symptoms of itching, irritation on the skin of the feet, as well as around painful nails.Provide treatment support with pharmaceutical products.Independent folk treatment, without drugs, is ineffective against mycosis.
To eliminate the risk of spreading the infection, celandine juice is used.Lubricate Areas Coal, do not wash the product.It is allowed to perform several such manipulations per day.
Wrap the garlic on the affected area, keep it on the nail overnight, and on the skin for 10 minutes.
Rub kombucha, liquid propolis, or oak bark infusion into problem areas.
To restore skin tissue and nail plate, make a bath from decoctions of medicinal herbs.To do this, use chamomile, thyme, nettle, calendula.
Conclusion.A variety of pharmaceutical drugs, the ability to combine treatment with local, oral, and folk remedies help to ensure that foot and nail mycosis is completely cured.This is a long process, so be patient and learn how to use the tips presented in the article.If you listen to the recommendations, unpleasant problems will be eliminated.