The manifestation of a yeast infection on the legs is common. In most cases, toenail or toenail fungus does not have any fatal consequences, but it does cause a lot of inconvenience.
Onychomycosis affects 25% of people around the world.
Often the colonies of trichophyton cause fungus on the legs, the fungus on the legs may not be visible at first, but soon the symptoms are felt. The foot is often affected by several pathogens, including molds and yeasts.
Due to the activity of fungi in the body, toxins accumulate, impairing metabolism and reducing immunity.
Under favorable conditions, the fungus not only affects the toenails, the nails will not be enough for this, and it spreads to the feet, can enter the bloodstream in the presence of wounds and affect various organs.
The fungus can start with infection with abrasions and cuts, cracks in the skin of the legs. Sweaty feet, neglecting hygiene, wearing tight shoes - for example, how nail fungus begins in most cases. However, if you follow preventive measures and treat nail onychomycosis in time, you can not remember the unpleasant disease.
Where can you catch the fungus
The appearance of the fungus is associated not only with reduced immunity. Of course, a lot depends on the body's defenses, but there are other reasons for the appearance of the fungus that must be taken into account.
First of all, the yeast infection can affect the nails of a sick person. In about 30% of patients, toenail fungus is caused by infection from a relative. In everyday life, the skin scales of a sick person fall on carpets, towels, slippers and other household items.
If a person's bare skin comes in contact with surfaces, discomfort, itching, and other signs of a fungal infection will begin to appear.
To determine why toenail fungus occurs, the reasons can be determined in the bath, sauna and swimming pool. High humidity sometimes increases the risk of infection, and almost any visitor to the public institutions listed above can find out what nail fungus is.
The spores of the fungus are resistant to extreme temperatures and remain viable for a long time. For prevention purposes, everyone should know where the fungus comes from and take steps to avoid becoming infected.
Usually the fungus enters the body through sores and cracks in the skin. If there are no sores, the fungal infection can manifest itself as peeling of the feet and itching. If these symptoms and the signs listed below start to bother you, you need to see a doctor who will explain how to beat the fungus quickly and inexpensively.
Fungal symptoms
The first signs of fungus on the toenails are the dull color of the plaque, perhaps a feeling of dry feet, peeling of the skin. Later, symptoms of fungus on the toenails will appear, such as thickening of the plaque, brittleness and discoloration.
The attending physician will prescribe a diagnosis - take a scraping of the skin and nails, send it to the laboratory. There, experts know how to determine nail fungus and its sensitivity to drugs. Based on the results, the doctor will tell you how to get rid of the discomfort and how to start treatment for onychomycosis of the nails.
Those who have been ill once already know roughly how to determine the fungus on the toenails, and if there is a relapse, they immediately go to the doctor. If you do not start treatment on time, mold on the nails of the feet can change from an acute to a chronic form, hamper relapses in the hot season, with exacerbation of chronic diseases, etc.
Often the vignette fungus is accompanied by mycosis of the skin, then the appearance of weeping ulcers, blisters with pus is likely. If prompt nail treatment fails, the spores are driven deeper into the nail plate.
It is laden with yellow spots, the nail crumbles, the affected areas have an unpleasant smell. Often you have to remove the nail to reach the focus of the disease. In this case, the fungus can be eliminated after removing the plate (laser, chemical or mechanical). An adequate treatment regimen for the fungus includes a set of remedies, including hygiene and nutrition procedures.
The specialist will assess the symptoms and prescribe treatment on an individual basis, since not all drugs are universal, not everything can be taken by everyone. In the early stages, creams are usually prescribed to remove the symptoms and the fungus itself from the nail.
If more than one nail is affected, the disease has spread to the skin, the doctor will initiate serious drug treatment for the nail fungus and monitor all stages. Adding a bacterial infection can complicate the situation. In this case, it will be necessary to decide not only how to remove the fungus under the nails, but also to take effective treatment for eczema, psoriasis, etc.
Types of nail fungus
The vesicular type begins with the plantar part of the foot. With the course of the disease, swelling appears, a dispersion of bubbles with liquid. Later, a fungus can develop on the nail of a sore toenail, and if the nail fungus is not recognized in time, the disease will go higher and spread to other parts of the body. The vesicular type is characterized by the addition of bacterial infection.
The membrane type begins between the 4th and 5th toes, in the folds of the skin. Until the nail fungus manifests itself, it strongly affects the skin - dander, cracks, ulcerations appear.
The moccasin type type begins with the sole, the heel. Symptoms of this type of nail fungus start to appear after the disease damages the skin. Cracks, peeling of the skin, painful sensations will appear.
In all three variants of the disease, over time a fungus can appear under the nail, which causes it to thicken, brittle and often shed. The doctor knows how to recognize nail fungus early on, so do not self-diagnose. The main thing is to find a good specialist who will tell you how to get rid of nail fungus faster.
How are mushrooms treated
In order to get rid of the fungus on the toenails and not to "fly down the pipe", you need to use the drugs prescribed by the doctor in a specific dosage and for exactly as long as the doctor tells you to. Otherwise, the recently removed fungus will return with renewed vigor.
Nowadays, complex treatment is popular, including the method of pulse therapy. This involves an active fight against nail fungus on the feet with large doses of antimycotics.
Long breaks are taken between treatments. To remove the fungus under the nail, treatment should include the use of varnishes, films, ointments. They are based on fungicidal preparations which, unfortunately, do not always work.
To successfully treat toenail fungus, you need to determine the type of pathogen, skin type and severity of the disease. This is the only way to exterminate nail fungus, nail fungus spores should not have a single chance.
The doctor will tell you how to treat onychomycosis on dry skin, how to properly prepare for procedures. For example, oily cream is perfect for dry skin, ointments are chosen to treat the soles, suspensions are applied between the fingers, and varnish is applied to the nails. You don't need to think about how to get rid of the fungus on your own. The doctor will take care of it.
When diagnosed with nail fungus, treatment often involves removing the nail. This is necessary because the nail prevents the drug from affecting the fungus below. The doctor at the reception will tell you how to properly treat a nail with local medicines and pills.
External drugs alone can be used only at the onset of the disease and when the use of systemic drugs is prohibited. How do you know if systemic drugs are not suitable? The doctor will let you know. In particular, the pills are not prescribed for pregnant women, children, people with kidney and liver pathologies. For them, special instructions are written on how to get rid of nail fungus. The therapy is likely to be long term.
External preparations are used twice a day, after 2 weeks the ointment is replaced with another preparation so that the fungus does not develop resistance. In order for a new nail to grow back in good health, the treatment period for nail fungus will last about a year. If the disease affected only the foot or interdigital spaces, then there is enough ointment for a month.
Systemic drugs are prescribed for severe nail damage. Such treatment of toenail fungus will be very effective, but medical supervision is necessary due to the toxicity of the drugs.
Systemic drugs work on the stomach, kidneys and liver. Before starting treatment, removal of the nail with a fungus can be prescribed in an appropriate manner. The doctor will show you how to get rid of the fungus on the toenails with the least amount of injury and get back to your activities faster.
Get rid of the fungus with folk remedies
Until the moment when to treat nail fungus with the help of folk remedies, you should consult your doctor about their safety and suitability for use in a particular case.
The fact is that the recipes in general describe how to get rid of the fungus on the nails, but do not take into account the individual characteristics of the organism, the age of the patient, concomitant ailments and contraindications.
Only a doctor can tell the patient how to treat nail fungus with pharmacy drugs and improvised means, medicinal herbs. The following are popular guidelines for those researching how to treat toenail fungus.
Washing powder, judging by reviews, helps due to the content of alkalis, which are harmful to the fungus. To treat nail fungus in this way, you need to take 100 g of powder, dissolve in a bowl of hot water and steam your nails for 15 minutes. Critics say that the mild stage of the disease can be cured in 10 days.
Another recipe recommends hydrogen peroxide treatment when diagnosing toenail fungus on the big toe. First of all, you need to steam your feet in a soda bath (1 liter of heated water = 1 spoonful of baking soda). As soon as the nails are steamed, you can soak a cotton swab in peroxide and apply it to the affected areas.
To prevent the peroxide from evaporating, you can wrap the compress in plastic wrap over it. The duration of the procedure is about an hour, you need to repeat it 2 times a day. The course of treatment lasts taking into account the depth of the lesion of the nail plate.
Garlic is a plant rich in phytoncides. It can be soaked in salt and rubbed on the affected area. Oatmeal, which is applied in the form of a compress, is also useful. It is important that there are no sores or cracks on the skin, otherwise the garlic will cause pain and the wound will not heal.
Ammonia is used in the form of compresses, but not pure, but diluted with water. As soon as the symptoms of the fungus begin to appear, 1 tbsp. the ammonia is stirred in a glass of water. Then a clean bandage is soaked in a solution and applied to the affected areas overnight in the form of a compress.
Several times in reviews it is mentioned the fungus on the nails, defeated using ordinary soda. Soda creates an unfavorable environment for the fungus. The powder is diluted with water to a slurry state, applied to the affected nails for 20 minutes, rinsed and dried. It is not only effective therapy, but effective prevention of nail fungus when visiting swimming pools and saunas.
Boric acid is used after the feet have been steamed in a soda bath. After the water procedures, you need to dry your feet and nails well, sprinkle with powdered boric acid, put on socks and let stand overnight. The procedure is repeated throughout the week.
Prevention of onychomycosis
The attending physician will tell you how to quickly cure nail fungus and what to do in order not to get infected with this unpleasant disease. First of all, be careful not to walk barefoot in public places (saunas, gym, swimming pool) - anywhere you have to wear rubber slippers.
If, nevertheless, an incident has occurred and you do not want to learn from your own experience what the danger of nail fungus is, you should use prophylactic varnish when you get home or take a shower with shampoo. antifungal.
Second, if the skin is damaged on the legs, the risk of infection increases dramatically. Before skin restoration, you need to cancel the trip to the pool, workouts, etc. If there was contact with a surface that could be infected, and after that the skin itches, you should immediately treat these places with ointment from the fungus.
Third, in order not to worry about whether the nail fungus can be cured, it is important to choose shoes for the season, dry them and keep them clean. Your shoes should not be worn by other people.
You should not take shoes from someone, and when trying on shoes in a store, you should put on your socks or stockings so that you do not come into contact with bare skin with the shoes. After buying a shoe, you need to disinfect it - put a cotton swab soaked in tea tree oil inside, put it in an airtight bag for a day.