Fungal diseases of the skin and nails belong to the group of human infectious diseases caused by the fungi that cause the disease. Fungal infections (mycoses) are different. There are very severe forms of infection with a high mortality rate. But not many people suffer from them. Mycosis of the nails is not one of them and it is impossible to die directly from it. However, fungal infections of the skin and nails are one of the most common fungal diseases. It is a contagious disease that spreads from person to person.
What does nail fungus look like?
Many people do not pay attention to changes in nail plates, often attributing these changes to trauma or age characteristics. Fungal nail diseases have many different manifestations. However, as a rule, changes in nails with fungal diseases have three main manifestations: changes in the color of the nail plate, thickening, disintegration or destruction.
Mushrooms or mushrooms?
So you can see some changes in the skin or nail plates. It remains to decide whether it is a mushroom.
There are many non-fungal diseases of the skin and nails - a few hundred names. But according to statistics, every second nail disease is a fungus. That is, if your nails are changed, your chances of getting nail fungus, regardless of any manifestation and factor, are 50%. What are foot skin diseases? They obey the same probability laws. That is, most wounds on the skin of the feet are fungal. Remember, untreated fungus on the skin of the feet will sooner or later turn into nail fungus. And getting rid of nail fungus is not so easy. Don't be fooled. If you suspect you have a skin or nail disease, contact your mycologist!
Although most nail changes are fungal, another feature of these changes must be taken into account. First of all, it is necessary to emphasize chronic nail trauma. Changes in the nails can occur with some common skin diseases, internal infectious diseases, damage to the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular systems, various intoxications and dystrophy. Finally, nail changes can be congenital. These nail changes look like a fungal infection, but they are not. Treatment with antifungal medications for non-fungal nail diseases will certainly not be successful. This is another reason to consult a mycologist and do not try to improve yourself for any nail changes.
Do you know nail fungus yourself?
You can't do no! And no matter how experienced, no professional doctor will treat a fungal disease without confirming the diagnosis in the laboratory, even if the legs have the most typical fungal symptoms. Laboratory approval is a prerequisite for any fungal disease. Simply put, if a laboratory finds a fungus in a piece of skin or a piece of nail taken for analysis, it is a fungal disease.
The dilemma: to treat or not to treat a fungus?
Some people doubt whether a nail fungus treatment is generally worthwhile. Many argue that the treatment of fungal diseases requires money? Is required. How long does it take for treatment? Maybe for a long time. So what is really needed to treat mycosis? Is changing the nails the same, because it can eventually be hidden. . .
Is this game worth the candle? Why do you need treatment for mycosis? Try to understand this issue. . . Once started, the fungal infection will not go anywhere until the fungus is destroyed. The fungus is very hardy and can survive for months on fallen skin scales. But what to expect from the fungus hidden in the nails? First, the fungal cells enter the skin, stabilize, multiply and spread on it, and then enter the nail under favorable conditions. Over time, the fungus affects all parts of the nail and spreads to other nails or skin. Nail fungus is a source of infection for other parts of the body. Although all centers of the fungus on the skin of the feet or trunk are healed, re-infection will come from the remaining foci of infection in the nails.
Fungal nail diseases affect the quality of life. Research by the National Academy of Mycology has shown that the presence of nail fungus or mycosis of the feet significantly reduces the quality of life - a number of indicators that characterize a person's emotional, mental and social well-being. In the case of fungal nail disease, it turned out that the quality of life is reduced by an average of 50-55% of the full value, which is typical for a healthy person. At the same time, patients reported that they experienced various experiences, fears, and negative emotions, rather than physical concerns related to the thickening or destruction of nails. It has been found that nail fungus severely restricts a person's activities and interferes with his leisure, sports and communication with other people. In addition, anxiety and embarrassment about the condition of their nails sometimes prevented them from seeing a doctor on time. The longer the disease lasts, the more severe the nail fungus and the worse the quality of life.
Mushrooms not only reduce the quality of life, but also cause certain health problems. The first and foremost health problem caused by nail mycosis is the fungus itself - a chronic infectious disease that permanently destroys the nails and threatens to spread to surrounding people, especially the patient's family members. . The presence of a relative with a fungus, meanwhile, is noted by at least 1/3 of patients with nail damage. According to medical statistics and epidemiological studies, the occurrence of fungal nail disease in Russia is expected in almost every fifth adult. At the same time, the incidence has increased 2. 5 times in the last 10 years. The disease is expected to increase further. At the same time, the probability of having a fungus increases with age: about 2 times every 10 years of life.
Untreated mycosis of the nails and feet is a gateway for other infectious diseases - for example, bacterial - erysipelas. Fungal nail infections significantly complicate the course of diabetes and can lead to serious complications.
An allergy to the human body is possible with a fungal infection - the development of hypersensitivity to the fungus as an allergen, ie a fungal allergy. Diseases such as bronchial asthma, allergic dermatitis, various skin rashes and reactions can develop or worsen.
In very rare cases, as a rule, against the background of immune deficiency, untreated nail fungus has led to the development of deep mycosis - death in which the fungus germinates in blood or penetrates into internal organs. Fortunately, most modern nail fungus patients do not have such results. However, even if you completely rule out the possibility, you can not leave the nail fungal disease without treatment. Itching, head lice and other infectious diseases can not be left untreated. If you suspect nail fungus, we recommend that you consult a doctor as soon as possible.
If we think in this way, the fungus on someone's nail may have advanced in some fractions of a millimeter. This is almost a small thing. Mushrooms do it every day, every day. Days grow into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. If the fungus is not treated for years, the disease worsens. One recent study found that the severity of onychomycosis increased by several points on a specific scale every 5 years. This means that the new nails are affected by the fungus, and in each of them the affected area and the degree of thickening increases. This means that the negative impact of mycosis on health and quality of life will be stronger. This is a proven fact. But that's not all. The more severe the fungal infection of the nails, the more difficult it is to treat. If antifungal varnish or nail solution can help in the early stages of infection, antifungal pills should not be discarded after a few years. The longer the illness lasts, the longer it will have to be taken (and to buy more). And after ten to twenty years, as a rule, only the removal of the nail plate and these funds will help.
See your doctor as early as possible. Every year you give a delay to the fungus, prolong the necessary treatment and observation, add a large dose of medication, carry out the necessary treatment of nails. Make no big mistake - do not take systemic medications alone! If fungal diseases of the nails did not cause the above-mentioned changes, in fact, the treatment of the fungus would become a matter of attitude only to the appearance of man. Then we would add healthy teeth, clean skin and bad smell to the same list. The question of the cost of treating mycosis will be: Are you willing to pay to get your nails back uneaten, thickened and unwanted? However, the question is not alone. Are you willing to pay to protect your family from an athlete's foot? Do you want to restore your previous quality of life? Can you stop the spread of infection today?