Why do fungus appear on nails? What are the signs of the disease? This disease destroys the nail plate and causes many problems. Our medical experts answered the most frequently asked questions and explained how to treat it quickly with effective medications.
According to statistics, 20% of the total population of the Earth is susceptible to nail infections caused by parasitic fungi. This condition is called onychomycosis and is caused by fungus on the nails.
What is onychomycosis?
The disease is infectious in nature, contagion occurs from person to person, as well as through contact and family through commonly used objects. A fungal infection attacks the nail plate and eats away at it, destroying the nail.
Toenail fungus occurs most often on the toenails, as the feet are more susceptible to negative influences. However, the onset of the development of the pathology is preceded by a weakening of the immune system, which leads to a decrease in the body's defenses, which does not allow the immune system to be sufficiently effective in the fight against pathogens.
Some types of fungal infections cause onychomycosis of the hands and feet:
- dermatophytes;
- yeast;
- moldy;
- trichophytosis;
- microsporia;
- athlete's foot.
All fungal pathogens fall into two broad categories:
- Pathogen.
- Conditionally pathogenic.
Pathogenic microorganisms are microorganisms that penetrate from the outside and cause harm to human life. Conditionally pathogenic agents are those that normally live on the skin, mucous membranes and keratinous areas of the human body, for example fungi of the genus Candida.
Normally, the body coexists in symbiosis with opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. But with a decrease in immunity and favorable conditions, these organisms begin to develop uncontrollably, which leads to the emergence of a pathological process.
Why do fungus appear on nails?
Common causes of mycosis may include the following:
- weakened immune system;
- concomitant chronic diseases (e. g. eczema, diabetes);
- failure to comply with personal hygiene rules;
- visit places where fungal infections are concentrated (bathhouse, sauna, swimming pool, public shower, water park);
- wearing closed shoes, in which the feet are subject to profuse sweating;
- old age (after 65 years natural immunity decreases);
- conditions of the working environment (work in a humid environment, at high ambient temperatures, in the presence of radiation, dusty and dirty environments).
Under such conditions, nail fungus develops on the hands and feet. It was noted that the disease is also distributed by gender: men suffer almost 3 times more often than women.
How does the pathogen penetrate the nail plate?
The keratin plaque itself is not vulnerable to penetration by fungal pathogens. In order for an infection to begin to develop, its integrity must be compromised. There are three main routes by which fungal organisms enter:
- Through the nail plate due to injury and damage to the keratin layer;
- Through the subungual notch;
- Through the proximal nail fold.
Conditionally pathogenic organisms often cause inflammation of the cuticle.
What types of onychomycosis exist?
The disease occurs in three types or stages, each of which differs in severity:
- Normotrophic type. Thin yellowish-gray stripes appear on the nail plate, brittleness and brittleness appear, but subungual thickening and hyperkeratosis do not occur.
- Hypertrophic type. It appears when there was no treatment or it was selected incorrectly and ineffectively. First of all, the phenomenon of subungual hyperkeratosis occurs, which leads to thickening, which persists long after successful treatment.
- Atrophic type. The most difficult phase of the disease. The nail becomes thinner, becomes brittle and brittle, changes color to a dark grayish brown, over time its growth is stopped and complete separation from the nail bed occurs.
Finding out the type of disease will allow you to decide how to treat nail fungus.
What are the symptoms of onychomycosis?
Signs that indicate a fungal infection:
- the appearance of light yellow or grayish stripes and spots on the nail plate, which make its appearance painful;
- color change of the plate to yellow, brown and brown, which over time darkens to black;
- the cuticle and proximal ridge become inflamed;
- the plate thickens and becomes brittle, crumbly, crumbly;
- a specific characteristic odor appears;
- Over time, the nail plate peels off completely.
How to diagnose the disease?
Color changes, roughness, and chipping may help suspect onychomycosis. However, similar symptoms are also characteristic of many other diseases (e. g. eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus). Therefore, a visit to the doctor is not enough.
With this problem you need to contact a dermatologist, podiatrist or mycologist. If it is difficult to distinguish the cause of the disease it is necessary to contact your general practitioner or family doctor, who will refer you to a specialist. To tailor your treatment, you may need to consult a surgeon.
When making the diagnosis it is necessary to verify the fungal origin of the infection. To do this, a microscopic examination of keratin thickening is performed. However, to determine the type of pathogen, it is necessary to perform a bacterial culture for analysis.
How to cure nail fungus?
Treatment is a long process, taking several months to a year and requiring significant effort from the patient.
Antifungal therapy depends on the route of exposure of the affected area and can be:
- local - the use of only local ointments and creams that affect the pathogen at the site of the lesion;
- systemic: the use of oral antifungal drugs with systemic action, necessary if the infection has penetrated the affected area through the bloodstream;
- combined: a combination of local and systemic therapy, which gives the best result.
As the most effective remedy for nail fungus, systemic preparations containing the following substances are used:
- ketoconazole substance— the effectiveness of treatment with this remedy is achieved in half of the cases, the approximate duration is from 8 to 12 months;
- substance itraconazoleIt is a popular antifungal drug effective in 85% of cases. Its clear advantage is the short treatment course: only 10 days;
- substance terbinafine hydrochloride- one of the best remedies that helps in 90% of cases. The treatment cycle lasts up to 4 months for onychomycosis of the hands and 6 months for the feet. However, the appearance altered by mycosis can persist for a long time – up to 50 weeks.
Systemic therapy is used in cases of moderate or greater severity. Oral antifungals are usually associated with the use of local ointments. However, systemic agents have a number of side effects and can be toxic. Therefore, their use is not practiced in pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as people with chronic metabolic and liver diseases.
Local remedies in the form of creams and ointments do not have a toxic effect, but are treated only in mild cases - when only ⅓ of the nail plate is changed and when there is no deep penetration of the pathogen into the keratin tissue. This is due to the fact that local products are not able to penetrate deeply into the keratin layer.
In mild cases, when treatment is started promptly, systemic agents can be dispensed with. However, with an advanced clinical picture, it is sometimes necessary to surgically eliminate the damaged area and only then local therapy is performed. Removal is painless and with subsequent antifungal treatment leads to complete recovery.