Treatment of nail fungus takes at least six months and this is subject to correctly prescribed therapy. Many people, especially on the eve of summer, are worried about the question: how quickly will the nails return to their previous healthy appearance? How will they appear immediately after starting treatment? And in a month or two?
Furthermore, the effectiveness of the treatment can also be determined by the appearance of the nails. Let's look at what you need to pay attention to in the appearance of your nails after fungus treatment.
Why are nail fungus difficult to treat?
Onychomycosis (fungal infection of the nail plate) is very difficult to treat in all people. There are three reasons for this:
The microbe enters the nail bed and not all local drugs can reach it. In addition, most fungi provide themselves with "protection" in the form of thickening of the nail plate.
In most cases, onychomycosis is accompanied by a fungal infection of the foot. And as soon as a person heals his nails, the fungus again enters the nail bed from the skin of the foot.
Reinfection also occurs through one's socks, shoes and even while bathing in the bathtub/shower.
Classic types of treatment for onychomycosis
Currently, medicine uses three main approaches to treat nail fungus:
Systemic drugs in the form of tablets or capsules. They can help, but for this they must be followed for a long course, from 4 to 18 months. All of these drugs are toxic to the liver; their intake can be complicated by the development of diarrhea, skin rashes and taste changes. Therefore, during treatment it is necessary to strictly follow a therapeutic diet, stop drinking alcohol and periodically undergo blood tests - "liver tests".
Local remedies (creams, paints). They do not always penetrate the nail plate well. Therefore, it must be prepared in advance: cut off the overgrown masses of the nail with nail clippers or remove it with a cutter. You can't do it yourself: you can damage the cells that give rise to the nail plate.
Combination therapy: simultaneous administration of a systemic drug and application of a local antifungal agent to the affected nail. It is used in more severe cases to slightly reduce the severity of side effects of systemic drugs. The effectiveness of such treatment is also not very high.
In some cases, dermatologists remove the affected nail plate before prescribing a topical treatment. Now they are trying to do it less and less, limiting themselves only to filing the affected area, to avoid infection of the nail bed by bacteria.
It would seem that onychomycosis cannot be cured, but in reality it represents something more than a cosmetic defect. It can lead to a serious mixed (fungal and bacterial) infection of the foot or hand, which can even lead to gangrene.
What do nails look like after treating fungus?
In the first 2-3 months after the start of using local drugs, the nail plate will not change noticeably yet. The fungi remaining in the subungual space continue to multiply, and a thickening or, conversely, a new thinning forms on the nail. The growing plaque retains its pathological color for some time: yellow, milky white, black or brown. It may still be scaly, ribbed or curved. There may be some chips or an area where it pulls away from the bed.
When treated with tablets, pathological changes in the growing nail plate can be observed for less than two months. Next, after treating the fungus, the area of the nail closest to the hole should look healthy:
- become smooth;
- change color to pinkish or reddish, uniform in color;
- acquire normal thickness.
If the nail grows back after removing the entire nail plate, it has the right to be a little thinner. This is also an indicator of his health.
If despite the treatment, after 2-3 months the nails remain altered in color, thickness or smoothness, then it is necessary to review the therapy.
How quickly the entire nail will become healthy
It depends on the growth rate of the nails. It is influenced by:
- age: the younger the person, the faster the speed;
- nature of nutrition: insufficient intake of vitamins and microelements reduces the growth rate of nails;
- Room temperature: in hot climates nails grow faster;
- frequency of nail lesions: they slow down the growth of plaque;
- hormonal status: for example, during pregnancy, the growth rate of plaque increases;
- the presence of common chronic diseases: they slow down the growth of nails;
- take drugs that affect the rate of cell division.
On average, a healthy nail after treating fungus on the hands grows in 6 months, on the feet in 12-18 months. Thumb and toe nails grow more slowly than others. So, if the nails of the 2-5 fingers of the lower extremities grow at a speed of 1 mm/month, on the first finger this speed reaches up to 0. 7 mm/month.
How to speed up the treatment of onychomycosis?
To make your nails grow back faster after fungus treatment, you can use laser therapy. This is the treatment of the nail plate with a neodymium laser device with a wavelength of 1064 nm. Its radiation freely penetrates the nail bed and heats the fungal cells to high temperatures, as a result of which they die. Additionally, the heat from the laser activates blood circulation in the nail bed, accelerating the growth of a healthy nail plate.
The laser is used in conjunction with local therapy. After a laser treatment session, the patient should apply the recommended cream or varnish to the nails and carefully treat the shoes with an antiseptic to avoid reinfection.
The effectiveness of treating onychomycosis with a neodymium laser has been tested in several foreign multicenter studies. It is an excellent addition to local treatment, has a short duration of the procedure and is not accompanied by side effects.
Therefore, a healthy nail plate should start to grow in the first few months after starting treatment. It may be slightly thinner than usual, but have a uniform pink color and softness. The treatment process is significantly accelerated when the affected plaques are treated with a neodymium laser.