Sun, sea, wonderful beach. . . You have a good rest in summer and your skin is covered with a magnificent tan. What are these unpleasant cracks on the foot between the toes and why did the nail turn yellow? Take a closer look. Maybe it's just a cosmetic flaw?
The first signs of a fungus
A parasitic fungus sitting on the skin can poison everyone's life. In particular, a lot of anxiety and sadness is caused by fungus on the skin of the feet and nails. Women who fall victim to such a fungus are primarily interested in the external side of the problem - cracks, skin blemishes, yellow nails - but according to doctors, the aesthetic problem is far from the main problem.
This is a serious disease that needs long-term treatment. The disease first occurs in the skin of the feet, more often in the interdigital wrinkles. Peeling appears between the fingers, accompanied by burning and itching. Then bubbles appear, erupting, forming ulcers and cracks. If you do not start treatment immediately, the fungus will spread to your nails. Once on the nail plate, it continues to grow and multiply. Despite its slowness, the fungus gradually erodes the nail, gradually filling in and penetrating the nail bed. Over time, the affected area nails not only on the feet, but also on the hands. Even fortunately, there are very rare failures of internal organs.
Manifestationsnail fungusdepends on the type of infection, as well as the degree and depth of the fungus. After moving to the nail plate, dermatophytes declare themselves with yellow spots or longitudinal stripes on the sides of the toenail. In some cases, the disease can be predicted by the appearance of bright yellow streaks or spots in the center of the nail plate. The nails on the hands are also "decorated" with similar stripes, but lighter - whitish or gray.
Yeast fungi thin the nail plate on the sides, lag behind the nail bed and take on a yellowish color. Often the disease usually begins with the nail folds on the hands. The cylinders thicken, swell and turn red, silver scales appear along the edges, and the nail skin gradually disappears. Bacterial infection can join the process, in which case it is even possible to have milk. The tissue nutrition in the roll area is disrupted, resulting in transverse grooves. . . . . . .
Mold fungus can cause onychomycosis only against the background of malnutrition caused by other diseases of the nails, which already exist. In this case, the color of the nail plate also changes, it can be yellow, green, blue, brown and even black, but the nail lesion remains superficial. However, you should not diagnose yourself, especially as nail damage can be caused by several fungi at the same time. In addition, fungus is a common but not the only cause of nail problems.
See a doctor immediately!
If you see a sign of a fungus, do not expect that everything will disappear by itself. The longer the fungus lives on your nails, the harder it is to treat and the worse it is for the whole body. Long-term onychomycosis can cause an allergic reaction, weaken the immune system, and exacerbate chronic diseases. Therefore, the first thing to do in 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 make tissue crumbs for analysis. Only in this way will he be able to determine the presence and type of fungus and prescribe adequate treatment.
At the same time, the doctor determines the spread of the process, the form of the lesion, the presence of co-morbidities, the rate of nail growth, etc. Will take into account. In our time, there are general and local highly effective drugs. move for treatment. In the early forms of the disease, when the area of nail damage is insignificant, you can limit yourself to local treatment - apply a broad-spectrum antifungal drug (antifungal) to the nail bed 2 times a day. in the form of an ointment, cream or solution.
Before applying the drug, a special preparation of the nails is carried out. First, a soap and soda bath: half of the basin is filled with hot water (40-50 degrees C), inside dissolve 1 tbsp. l. soda and 50 g of laundry soap. The feet or toes that need treatment are immersed in the solution for 10-15 minutes. After that, the softened horn layers on the nails are treated with nail scissors and filled with a document. Duration of treatment - until healthy unaltered nails grow.
It is important! Do not use the same manicure accessories for sick and healthy nails.
Topical medications include clotrimazole-based medications. It is applied to the affected nails with a dispenser and left for a day under a waterproof plaster. One 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 and the drug is rubbed into the nail bed. As with other medications, the duration of treatment until healthy nails grow.
In the initial forms of lesions, special antifungal varnishes applied to the nails 1-2 times a week can be used for local treatment. The treatment of nails lasts about 6-8 months, for toenails about a year. Manicure can also be applied over antifungal varnish.
If local treatment no longer helps, or if the nail plates are completely affected by the fungus, general antifungals (also called systemic) are prescribed. Such drugs are taken orally. Can be used with antifungal varnishesHowever, it is very important to make sure that there are no contraindications to common antifungals. For example, kidney and liver diseases. Systemic drugs are often contraindicated in children, in addition, there are serious restrictions on their simultaneous use with some other drugs. For example, some are incompatible with hormonal contraceptives. If you are breastfeeding your baby, you will have to wait a while while using this medication.
Pregnancy also means the prohibition of systemic antifungals. Therefore, women of childbearing age who use them should use contraception throughout treatment. In some cases, you may need to have the nail plate removed and then treated. After that, a new nail grows, although at first the surface may be uneven. Whatever treatment your doctor prescribes, you become a disinfectant for a while. The doctor will write a prescription at the pharmacy, which will prepare the necessary solution for you.
All shoes, all socks, gloves, etc. available before starting the course. They will have to work, and then once a month they will have to process the clothes and shoes they have to wear until healthy nails grow. treatment. It is not difficult: the inner surface of the shoe is wiped with a cotton swab dipped in the solution, the same stick is put on gloves, socks, stockings and so on. It is put. All this is hidden overnight in a tight plastic bag, then dried well and ventilated for 2-3 days.
Thus, as a result of continuous treatment, the external manifestations of the disease have disappeared, and eventually healthy nails will grow. But that's not all, now control tests come at the end of treatment, 2 weeks and 2 months later. Mushrooms are over? So, everything is fine, the only question is how not to get sick again.
Risk group
In medical practice, fungal infection of the nails is referred to as onychomycosis, where "onycho" is a nail infection and "mycosis" is a fungal infection. The disease is not as rare as it may seem. Onychomycosis is widespread in all countries of the world and accounts for 40% of all nail diseases. 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 are equally successful in becoming victims of onychomycosis.
The risk of getting sick increases with age. For example, after 70 years, every second person suffers from onychomycosis. Fortunately, children suffer less from onychomycosis, because tissue regeneration and replacement of old ones with new ones occurs very quickly. A baby's nails grow faster than an adult's, and the fungus, on the other hand, grows very slowly. However, it is not possible to completely exclude a child from the risk group. Children are generally infected by their parents and, strangely enough, by shoes: having fun with their mother's shoes around the apartment, the baby is at risk of catching the mother's fungus. A healthy, healthy nail is virtually immune to fungal infection, but modified nails, for example, become an easy prey for fungus as a result of injury.
The condition of the body as a whole plays an important role. If the vascular tone of the legs is disturbed, for example, in heart failure or varicose veins, the risk of disease increases. The same can be said about disorders of the endocrine system. Diabetes mellitus is a good reason to monitor the condition of your nails carefully, because in such cases, the defeat of the fungus can be especially severe.
Straight feet and extremely narrow shoes help with skin and nail injuries. Socks and stockings made of synthetic fibers, poor ventilation in shoes create an extremely humid microclimate on the skin of the feet. Frequent hand contact with detergents and cleaning products at home will damage your nails. All this increases the risk of disease, but sometimes the danger is very concerned with your appearance: fake nails can create favorable conditions for the development of onychomycosis on the hands.
Prophylaxis
You need to be careful to avoid discomfort. Visiting the pool, bath, gym and even the sun-baked beach can be a challenge. The causative agents of onychomycosis are highly resistant to external factors. Fungal spores can continue to dry, heat up to 100 degrees Celsius, and freeze to minus 60 degrees Celsius, avoiding the "attack" of disinfectants commonly used in public places, resulting in a permanent threat. to our health. Mushrooms remain on the beach sand for months. And you seem to be able to walk barefoot elsewhere, if not on the beach?! That's what you don't need to do - there are slippers to visit the beaches and pools. However, most infections (up to 65% of cases) occur in the family. As a result, direct contact with a sick person, the shoes and clothes he wears, as well as household items, whether a carpet in the bathroom, ordinary towels, nail clippers, etc. flakes infected with the fungus. Easily adheres to damp feetTherefore, if one of your family members has this harmful "treasure", you should be especially vigilant.
The tub should be thoroughly disinfected with any cleaning agent and washed with a stream of warm water, as loose nail pieces or skin flakes may remain on the surface.
A cloth or sponge should be treated regularly with a 5% chloramine solution (soak for at least one hour). Used linen should be boiled in washing powder for 20-30 minutes or kept for one hour in a 5% solution of chloramine, as it is sold in pharmacies without a prescription.
Abrasions and abrasions associated with sweating or, conversely, dry skin greatly facilitate the work of infection. Dust will help to cope with excessive sweating and diaper rashboric acid and talc. . .
It is useful to treat the feet with drying solutions.
You can use a special ointment, vitamin creams and other similar products to prevent excessive drying of the skin. Use creams to prevent corns.
Following simple rules will save you from the disease:
- walk in slippers only on the beach;
- use indoor rubber slippers to protect against splashes when visiting a bath, sauna or swimming pool;
- After washing, wipe your feet, especially diagonal folds, dry and treat with prophylactic antifungal cream or special powder;
- not wearing someone else's shoes;
- Change socks and stockings daily.