Onychomycosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic fungi.The problem is relevant for many, as the disease is extremely widespread and highly contagious.Therefore, learning how to get rid of toenail fungus will be beneficial for everyone.Let's find out what drugs can be used in the treatment process and how traditional medicine can help.
Most often, fungal nail infections develop in old age.However, the disease can develop in a young and full person.Onychomycosis is less common in children.Everyone is at risk of infection, so the question of how to get rid of nail fungus is relevant for everyone.
Symptoms
In order to start timely treatment, you need to know how it manifests itself.The insidiousness of this disease is that it develops gradually.In the early stages, when you can get rid of nail fungus quite quickly, most people simply do not pay attention to the appearance of the first signs.
In fact, few people will be alarmed if a spot appears in the corner of the nail.And only when the disease affects most of the nail and the plate begins to disintegrate, people start treatment.
Meanwhile, there is only one answer to the question of how to quickly get rid of the fungus - you need to start treatment at the earliest stage.If the affected area already exceeds a third of the area of the nail plate, then the treatment will require a long time.
So, the main sign of the disease is a change in the color of the nail plate.Most often, such a change is noted in the corner of the nail of the big toe.Much less often, the spot appears on the inner edge of the nail or on the other toe.
The appearance of fungus on the nails of the hands is even rarer;most often women suffer from this type of onychomycosis.The fact is that ladies often do manicures, and poor disinfection of tools and injury to the nails are predisposing factors for the development of the disease.
advice!Of course, manicure in itself is not harmful, and you do not need to refuse this hygienic procedure.You just need to make sure the technician carefully sterilizes the instruments or uses separate files and tweezers.
If there is no treatment, the spot will begin to increase in size.In addition, the structure of the nail will begin to change.The slab becomes thicker, cracks may appear on it, and the slab begins to collapse.
Often, onychomycosis appears simultaneously with mycosis of the skin of the feet.In this case, the skin in the affected area becomes red, inflamed and painful cracks appear.The disease is accompanied by the appearance of an unpleasant smell from the feet.
At this stage, it is impossible not to notice the manifestations of the disease, which is why it is at this advanced stage that most patients consult a doctor or start trying to treat themselves.
advice!Self-medication for fungal nail diseases is very dangerous, since the patient cannot determine the type of pathogen.Therefore, the measures I take may not be effective.
If there is no treatment or it is ineffective, the disease will progress.The nail plate will begin to peel off.At this stage, a bacterial infection often occurs, which causes the development of a purulent process.If the disease is very advanced, it is recommended to remove the diseased nail completely.That is why it is better not to bring the matter to surgery, but to start treatment in a timely manner.
Basic principles
You must remember that it is not easy to get rid of onychomycosis forever.This disease recurs very often.Especially if the patient has not completed the treatment, interrupting the course as soon as the visible symptoms of the disease have passed.
To exclude the development of a relapse, you should continue treatment until laboratory tests confirm the absence of infection.
advice!It is recommended that control tests be done twice with an interval of two weeks.If both tests give a negative result, then the disease is considered completely cured.
The main principles of treatment of fungal diseases are:
- regularity;
- integrated approach.
No medicine, even the most effective, will help immediately.The duration of treatment is determined individually;its duration is affected by:
- type of pathogen (molds form a lesion on the surface of the nail, so it is easier to cure this type of onychomycosis than a disease caused by yeast or dermatophytes);
- the degree of damage, in the initial stage, the course of treatment may take 3-5 weeks, but if the onychomycosis is actively progressing, then the treatment will take several months or even more than a year;
- the patient's state of health, many effective antifungal drugs have an impressive list of contraindications, so it is necessary to use less effective, but safer means.
In addition, you should remember that not a single, even the most modern and effective drug will help if the patient does not follow the following rules:
- It is important to maintain hygiene.You will need to disinfect all your shoes, and socks and slippers are better to replace with new ones.You will need to regularly disinfect the bathtub, as well as the manicure tools that are used to treat diseased nails.
- Follow your diet.You should reduce the amount of sugar in your diet as much as possible, give up alcohol and very fatty foods.But fermented milk products, cereals and vegetables, on the contrary, will be useful.
- Try to lead a healthy lifestyle.Follow a work and rest schedule, spend time outdoors, be sure to get enough sleep, and try to avoid stress.All these measures will help to maintain the immune system.
- Choose the right shoes.Avoid tight models and choose shoes and boots made of breathable materials.Now there are even artificial materials that can provide normal air exchange;for example, eco leather has such properties.
advice!To disinfect shoes, it is convenient to use special sprays, but you can also use home remedies.For example, vinegar.
Pharmacy products
There are many drugs to fight fungal diseases.They differ in form of release and active substance.It is impossible to recommend one drug that will help everyone without exception.A doctor should prescribe treatment for nail fungus.The following scheme is most often recommended:
- Use of local funds.Most often, antifungal drugs are prescribed in the form of a solution or varnish, the use of creams is less often recommended;
- Taking systemic drugs, that is, capsules or tablets.The need to use tablets is determined by the doctor.As a rule, they are prescribed in an advanced stage or in the event that local medicine does not give results;
- taking multivitamin complexes and means for general strengthening of the body.
Current products
To cure nail fungus, it is necessary to use drugs that are applied directly to the diseased nail.The doctor must prescribe medicines;it is the patient's job to use them correctly.
First of all, you need to prepare your nail.The nail plate, unlike the skin, absorbs medicinal substances less well, which is why the treatment of onychomycosis is more difficult than cutaneous mycosis.Nail preparation is as follows:
- You should make the nail softer by using a warm bath.Soda, vinegar, sea salt, herbal decoctions are added to the water (of course, you need to add one product, and not all at once);
- The duration of the bath is about 20 minutes, during which time the nails will have time to soften sufficiently;
- Then you need to treat your nails: cut them as short as possible, file them, removing the loose, scaly layers in the affected areas.
After such treatment, the use of local means will be more beneficial.Their active substances will be able to penetrate deeper, directly to the focus of the fungal infection.
Local means are applied 1-2 times a day.The solution is administered with a dropper (usually fitted with a bottle) or a pipette.You should drip not on the horizontal surface of the nail, but on its outer edge.
The creams are applied to the entire surface of the plate and gently rubbed.Medicated varnishes are one of the most convenient means of treating onychomycosis.They should be applied not every day, but twice a week.However, this medicine helps only in the early stages of the disease.
advice!Women especially like to use medicated varnishes, as they can apply a decorative varnish over the medicated coating layer.
Additional measures
To speed up the healing process, in the process of removing nail fungus, it is recommended to perform a hardware pedicure (manicure) or use laser treatment.During the procedure, the affected part of the nail is carefully removed.
When performing a hardware pedicure, the removal is done mechanically, i.e.the nail is cut with special cutters.After the treatment is completed, an antifungal drug is applied to the surface.The laser procedure not only removes the affected part of the nail but also provides a cure as the laser beam can kill the fungus.
Home methods
Some people manage to get rid of a yeast infection quite successfully by using simple and inexpensive remedies for the disease.Here is a description of the most effective means.
Vinegar
It is one of the most effective remedies and can be used in combination with medical treatment.The essence of the method is that the acidic environment has a detrimental effect on the fungus.
The simplest treatment option is to add vinegar to baths.For two liters of warm water, take a cup of table vinegar (9%).It is recommended to take this bath every night before applying topical medications.You can also make applications by applying pieces of cotton wool soaked in table vinegar to the sore nails for a quarter of an hour.
garlic
The most common garlic effectively fights fungal diseases.You can simply lubricate the sore spots with fresh juice or make compresses.To carry out the procedure, you need to prepare a mash of garlic, put it between two layers of gauze and apply the resulting lotion to the affected area for an hour.
yellow flowers
The juice of celandine effectively destroys fungal infections.The affected areas are smeared with fresh juice.In winter, you can use a tincture of celandine for this purpose, and a decoction of this herb is suitable for baths.
So only a specialist can answer the question of how to get rid of nail fungus after conducting tests.Treatment is prescribed taking into account the type of pathogen.It is best to use a combination of drugs;you can combine the use of drugs and home remedies.