The sun, the sea, the magnificent beach. . . You are well rested in the summer, and your skin is covered with a magnificent tan. But what are these nasty cracks on the leg between the toes and why did the nail turn yellow? Take a closer look. Maybe it's not just a cosmetic flaw?
The first signs of a fungus
A parasitic fungus that has settled on the skin is capable of poisoning the life of anyone. And above all, a lot of problems and sorrows are caused by the fungus that has settled on the skin of the foot and on the nails. Women who have fallen victim to such a fungus are mainly concerned with the external side of the problem - cracking, scaly skin, crumbling yellow nails - but, according to doctors, the cosmetic problem is far from the main one.
It is a serious illness that requires long-term treatment. The disease first occurs on the skin of the feet, more often in the interdigital folds. Peeling appears between the fingers, accompanied by burning and itching. Then bubbles appear, which burst, forming ulcers and cracks. If you don't start treatment immediately, the fungus will spread to your nails. Once in the nail plate, it continues to grow and multiply. Despite its slowness, the fungus gradually exfoliates the nail, gradually fills it and enters the nail bed. Over time, the affected area captures the nails not only on the feet, but also on the hands. There is even a defeat of internal organs, fortunately, quite rarely.
Eventsnail fungusdepend on the type of infection, as well as the degree and depth of the fungus. After moving to the nail plate, dermatophytes usually break out with yellow spots or longitudinal stripes on the sides of the nail. In some cases, the disease can be guessed by the appearance of bright yellow stripes or spots in the center of the nail plate. On the hands, the nails are also "decorated" with similar, but lighter stripes - whitish or grayish.
The yeast fungi thins the nail plate from the sides, while it drags behind the nail bed and turns yellowish in color. Often the disease begins with the folds of the nails, usually on the hands. The rollers thicken, swell and turn red, silvery scales appear along the edge, the skin of the nail gradually disappears. A bacterial infection can join the process, in which case even suppuration is possible. The nutrition of the fabric in the roll area is disturbed, which leads to the appearance of transverse grooves. . . . . . .
Mold fungi can cause onychomycosis only against the background of an already existing nutritional disorder of the nails, which has arisen due to other diseases. In this case, the color of the nail plate also changes, it can be yellow, green, blue, brown and even black, but the lesion of the nail remains superficial. However, you should not self-diagnose, especially since nail damage can be caused by multiple fungi at once. Additionally, fungus is a common, but not the only, cause of serious nail problems.
Seek immediate medical attention!
If you notice any signs of fungus, don't expect it all to go away on its own. The longer the fungus lives on your nails, the harder it is to treat and the worse for the whole body. Prolonged onychomycosis can cause an allergic reaction, weaken the immune system and lead to exacerbation of chronic diseases. Therefore, the most correct thing at the first suspicion is to consult a mycologist or dermatologist. The doctor will not only perform an examination, assess the thickness and structure of the nail, but also scrape the tissue for analysis. Only in this way will he be able to determine the presence of the fungus, its type and prescribe adequate treatment.
At the same time, the doctor will take into account the prevalence of the process, the shape of the lesion, the presence of concomitant diseases, the rate of nail growth, etc. action for treatment. In the initial forms of the disease, when the area of the nail lesion is insignificant, you can limit yourself to local treatment - apply to the nail bed 2 times a day a broad-spectrum antifungal (antimycotic) drugof action in the form of an ointment, cream or solution.
Before applying the drug, a special preparation of the nails is carried out. First of all, a bath of soap and soda: the basin is half filled with hot water (40-50 degrees C), in which 1 tablespoon is dissolved. l. soda and 50 g of laundry soap. Feet or fingers requiring treatment are immersed in the solution for 10 to 15 minutes. After that, the softened horny layers on the nails are processed with a nail clipper and filed with a file. Duration of treatment - until healthy, unchanged nails grow back.
Important! Do not use the same manicure accessories for diseased and healthy nails.
Topical medications include drugs containing clotrimazole. They are applied to the affected nails with a dispenser and left for a day under a waterproof plaster. A day after the soap-soda bath, the affected areas of the nail are removed with a file. The procedure is repeated until the affected areas of the plaque are completely removed, then the drug is rubbed into the nail bed Duration of treatment, as in the case of other drugs, untilhealthy nails grow back.
In the initial forms of lesions, special antifungal varnishes can be used for local treatment, which are applied to the nails 1-2 times a week. The treatment lasts about 6 to 8 months for the toenails and about a year for the toenails. Manicure can also be applied over the antifungal varnish.
If local treatment no longer helps, or the nail plates are completely affected by the fungus, general antimycotics are prescribed (they are also called systemic). These drugs are taken orally. They can be used in combination with antifungal varnishes. However, it is very important to make sure that you have no contraindications to general antimycotics. For example, kidney and liver disease. Systemic drugs are often contraindicated in children, in addition, they have serious limitations in their simultaneous use with other drugs. For example, some of them are not compatible with hormonal contraceptives. If you are breast-feeding your baby, you will need to wait a while before using these medicines.
Pregnancy also means the prohibition of systemic antimycotics. Therefore, women of childbearing potential who receive it should use contraception throughout treatment. In some cases, you have to go to the removal of the nail plate, followed by treatment. After that, a new nail grows, although its surface may be uneven at first. Regardless of the treatment prescribed by the doctor, for a while you turn yourself into a disinfectant. The doctor will write a prescription that the necessary solution will be prepared for you at the pharmacy.
Before the start of the course, they will have to process all available shoes, all socks, gloves, etc. , then, once a month, until healthy nails grow back, they will need to treat the clothes and shoes that must have been worn during treatment. It is not difficult: the inner surface of the shoe is wiped with a cotton swab dipped in a solution, the same cotton swab is placed in gloves, socks, stockings, etc. All this is hidden in a dense plastic bag overnight, then well dried and ventilated for 2-3 days.
So, as a result of persistent treatment, the external manifestations of the disease have disappeared, and finally healthy nails will grow. But that's not all, now the control tests come at the end of the treatment, after 2 weeks and after 2 months. Is the mushroom gone? So everything is in order, the only question is how to stop getting sick.
Risk group
In medical practice, fungal infection of the nails is referred to by the term onychomycosis, where "onycho" means a nail and "yeast infection" is a fungal infection. The disease is not as rare as it may seem. Onychomycosis is widespread in all countries of the world, and its share among all nail diseases reaches 40%. The main causative agents of the disease are dermatophyte fungi (fungal parasites of the skin, hair and nails). But there are other culprits of misfortune - various yeasts and molds. Both men and women fall victim to onychomycosis with equal success.
The risk of getting sick increases with age. For example, after 70 years, one in two people suffers from onychomycosis. Fortunately, children suffer from onychomycosis much less often, since the regeneration of tissues, the replacement of old with new ones, occurs very quickly. Even a baby's nails grow much faster than an adult's, while the fungus, on the contrary, grows rather slowly. And yet, it is impossible to completely exclude a child from the risk group. Children are usually infected by their parents and, oddly enough, by shoes: moving around the apartment in the mother's shoes, the baby runs the risk of catching the fungus from the mother. An intact and healthy nail is practically invulnerable to fungal infections, but damaged nails, for example, as a result of an injury, become easy prey for the fungus.
The condition of the organism as a whole plays an important role. The risk of getting sick increases if the vascular tone of the legs is disturbed, for example with heart failure or varicose veins. The same can be said of disorders of the endocrine system. Diabetes mellitus is a good reason to carefully monitor the condition of your nails, since in such cases the defeat of the fungus can be especially serious.
Flat feet and tight-fitting shoes contribute to skin and nail injuries. Stockings and socks made of synthetic fibers, poor ventilation of the shoes creates an overly humid microclimate on the skin of the feet. Frequent hand contact with household detergents and cleaning products will damage your nails. All this increases the risk of getting sick, but sometimes the danger lies in the very care of your appearance: false nails can create favorable conditions for the development of onychomycosis on the hands.
Prophylaxis
To avoid trouble, you have to be careful. A visit to the pool, public baths, gym, and even a sunny beach can turn into trouble. The causative agents of onychomycosis are remarkably resistant to external factors. The spores of the fungus can withstand drying, heat up to 100 and freeze to minus 60 degrees C. They are able to survive the "attack" of disinfectants, which are generally used in public places, therefore constitute aconstant threat to our health. In beach sand, the fungi remain viable for months. And, it seems, where else can you walk barefoot if not on the beach?! This is exactly what you don't need to do - there are slippers for visiting the beaches and swimming pools. But most often (up to 65% of cases) infection occurs in the family circle. After all, you can get infected through direct contact with a sick person, through the shoes and clothes he wears, as well as household items, whether it is a rug in the bathroom, a regular towel, scissors. nails, etc. flakes infected with fungi. They stick easily to wet feet. Therefore, if any member of the family possesses this harmful "treasure", you should be especially vigilant.
The tub should be thoroughly disinfected with a cleaning agent and rinsed with a stream of hot water, as loose nail pieces or flakes of skin may remain on the surface.
A washcloth or sponge should be regularly treated in a 5% chloramine solution (soak for at least an hour). Used linen should be boiled with lye for 20-30 minutes or kept for an hour in 5% chloramine solution, as it is sold in pharmacies without a prescription.
Abrasions and abrasions associated with sweating or, on the contrary, dry skin, greatly facilitate the task of infection. To deal with excessive sweating and diaper rash on the feet, powderboric acid and talc. . .
It is useful to treat the legs with drying solutions.
To prevent excessive dryness of the skin, you can use a special ointment, creams with vitamins and other similar products. Use creams to prevent corns.
Compliance with simple rules will prevent you from illness:
- walk on the beach only in slippers;
- when visiting a public bath, sauna or swimming pool, use closed rubber slippers that protect against splashing;
- after washing, wipe your feet, especially the interdigital folds, and treat them with a prophylactic antifungal cream or a special powder;
- don't wear someone else's shoes;
- change socks and stockings daily.