Fungus on the feet and nails is an infectious disease caused by various types of fungi.The infection occurs quickly, and the treatment of the disease takes months, sometimes years.Therapy for the disease is prescribed by the doctor after determining the type of fungal pathogen.Onychomycosis and mycosis often accompany each other, as the infection spreads from the nails to the skin of the feet or vice versa.
Fungal causes, symptoms, and treatment are a hot topic that many are interested in.The prevalence of the disease is high, the disease affects the young, the elderly and children.The disease can be treated if the treatment regimen is correctly determined.That is why you need to know how the pathology develops and how you can heal from it.
What is onychomycosis and mycosis, causes and symptoms
Mycosis is the general name for infection;Onychomycosis is an infection of the nail plate.Medicines from the same groups are used to treat foot and nail fungus.This applies to tablets, topical agents and injectable solutions.For successful therapy, the rules for the use of each drug must be strictly followed.There should be no breaks in the treatment, because the fungal colonies multiply at an accelerated rate without the influence of drugs and they are as many as they were before the start of the procedures.
The reasons for the appearance of fungus are the same:
- Infection from a sick person in public places, swimming pools, baths and reservoirs.
- Using foreign or uncomfortable shoes or contaminated sanitary items.
- Failure to follow the rules for keeping feet dry.
- Untimely treatment of sweating.
- Traumatic damage to the skin of the feet and the cornea of the nails.
- Improper use of medicines, especially antibiotics.
Doctors include disorders in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, metabolic processes, hormonal disturbances, pathologies of blood flow in the vessels of the limbs, diabetes mellitus and obesity as systemic causes of fungal infections.
Symptoms of foot and nail fungus are difficult to ignore because they cause a lot of discomfort.Among them, the most common are:
- itching of the skin of the feet, between the toes;
- peeling of the dermis;
- the appearance of wounds and other damage;
- nails lose their healthy color, discolor, then turn gray;
- the plate thickens, acquires a loose appearance and disintegrates;
- the deformity continues until the cornea is destroyed and the infection enters the nail bed.
The symptoms grow gradually, but the itching starts from the first days of introducing the pathogen.
This is important!Medicines for foot and nail fungus should be used immediately when signs of the disease appear.Delaying therapy complicates treatment and causes dangerous consequences, including damage to internal organs.
Mycosis of the skin and nails has age-related characteristics - onychomycosis in children occurs in rare cases;adults suffer from it.Fungus on the feet occurs in all age groups.
What you need to know about the principles of treatment of the disease
For a complete recovery from a fungal infection, the patient must adjust to long-term treatment, which must be done after diagnosis and as prescribed by a doctor.Many antifungal drugs are sold in pharmacies, but choosing them yourself without consulting a dermatologist or an infectious disease specialist means wasting your money and harming your health.
For some people, the treatment of foot fungus with ointment is effective, others need to combine the use of external and oral drugs, and in the case of a serious stage and developed complications, injections are prescribed in combination with other methods.
Expert advice.The main requirement of complex therapy is the use of effective multifunctional drugs for the treatment of foot and nail fungus and the prevention of the disease.Because the viability of the spores contributes to the recurrence of the disease.
Prevention can be done by disinfecting shoes with chloramine or formaldehyde.Mushrooms die after half an hour of exposure to these substances.
About the types of antifungal drugs
The pharmacy has developed categories of drugs for local application, which are sold in pharmacies and given to customers without a prescription.These include:
- creams, ointments, gels;
- solutions, serums;
- sprays, varnishes;
- plasters.
They have a general effect, have a minimum of side effects and can be used by adults and children.The key to successfully combating mycosis is regular use and adherence to the procedure.After visiting a doctor, you will know the procedure for manipulation, how many times to apply the medicine, in what quantity, and you will achieve recovery from the disease.Usually, healing with local remedies occurs within 4-6 months.
If the infection is advanced, then topical treatment of the fungus on the nail plates is irrelevant.A combination is needed - external drugs plus tablets.It is carried out under the supervision of a doctor, as it has significant side effects.
For creams, ointments and solutions
How to treat foot and nail fungus, what preparations for topical application, according to reviews of users and specialists, effectively deal with colonies of microorganisms?The following list will help you answer this question.
- A cream based on salicylic acid at a budget price, which is applied 3-4 times a day to the affected areas of the skin and cornea.If you do the procedure at night, wait until the product is absorbed, then put on socks.
- Ointment containing undecic acid.The mode of application is the same as in the first case.
- Formaldehyde for sweaty feet, which kills the microorganisms that cause the infection to spread.It is available as a solution.
- Boric acid + resorcinol - used as a means to remove nails affected by fungus, containing boric acid, which has antiseptic and drying properties.Apply to the skin where there is a fungal infection.The drug is used as a component of the complex therapy of the disease.
Specialized products to remove affected nails
In order for the cornea to peel off painlessly, specially created preparations are used.
According to the characteristics of doctors, a medicine based on urea, isopropyl alcohol and polyvinyl alcohol is not a medicine for the treatment of fungal infections.With its help, you can remove the affected plaque without resorting to surgical methods.This alternative allows you to remove the diseased nail at home.
This effective drug promotes corneal convergence and bed recovery.It is saturated with stearic acid, propylene glycol, urea, triethanols, tea tree oil.The procedure is carried out as follows:
- the nail is steamed in a bath with the addition of a softener made of water, soda and soap;
- concentration of the solution - 1 tsp.per liter of water.components;
- the foot is dried with a towel, after which the nail fold is protected with a bandage;
- The product is applied in a generous layer, without falling on the surrounding tissues, and covered with a bandage on top.
After 4 days, the bandage is removed, the remnants of the plate are scraped off.If it is not possible to remove the plate at once, the manipulations are repeated.
Another drug works in the same way as the previous drug, but its composition is different - it contains the components PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, urea, beeswax and emulsion wax, glycerin;acid components - salicylic, stearic, as well as methylisothiazolinone, propylene glycol, mint, lavender and other esters.
How to treat onychomycosis with varnishes
Antifungal nail polish is the most common product that can be used under cosmetic coatings.The advantage is concealment of the defect during simultaneous treatment, no negative impact on the body.In this way, it is recommended to get rid of the initial stages of the disease.Well-known brands of varnish medicinal products are:
- Amorolfine.The principle of treatment is to destroy the membrane of fungal cells.Apply twice a week.
- Rye enzyme filtrate - in the form of a serum, perfectly saturates the diseased tissue of the plaque to the very bed.You can use it more often than varnish and do the procedures daily, which speeds up the healing process.
The duration of varnish therapy is up to one year.You can then use the products as a preventative measure.
Good to know!External drugs and varnishes will not help with complicated forms of mycosis.The complex treatment algorithm is effective against advanced fungi.
Tablets
Treatment of foot and nail fungus with drugs in the form of tablets is indicated in the third stage of the disease, the appearance of complications and the infection penetrating the mucous membranes and other organs.The condition for using the complex ointment plus tablets is the development of inflammatory processes and bacterial infection against the background of fungal colonies.
A group of antimyotics are considered effective inexpensive drugs for the treatment of fungi.These are effective remedies, but you can't buy them without a prescription because they have side effects.That is why you should coordinate the treatment regimen with your doctor.
- fluconazole.Topical remedy for combating mycosis of the feet and nails at various stages.
- Ketoconazole is sold in any pharmacy without a prescription and is designed to eliminate skin infections.
- Preparations with itraconazole are expensive drugs that act against mycosis of the feet, nails and mucous membrane fungi.
- Terbinafine preparations are medicines for advanced fungus;they contain the active ingredient terbinafine (in the form of tablets or ointments), which kill many types of colonies, destroying the fungus at the cellular level.
Common topical medications
An effective remedy for foot and nail fungus is salicylic ointment, which relieves inflammation and itching, relieving the patient's condition.Sulfur ointment is in the same order - it counteracts the spread of the infection;both ointments cost a penny, but they perfectly eliminate the symptoms of foot disease.
Castellani's fluid penetrates the corneal tissue on the damaged nails and kills the colonies of the pathogen.Use with caution;if it comes into contact with the skin, it causes burns.
Antifungal drops and sprays help fight the disease.
Clotrimazole is used for infections that have affected the skin of the feet and penetration of the infection into the mucous membranes.Available in the form of cream, ointment, suppositories.
It is allowed to treat a fungal infection with the veterinary medicinal product Creolin.It is used to treat infected areas and after some time the product is washed off.It has an unpleasant smell, but it works against colonies of fungi, mites and other microorganisms.
The easiest way is to treat the sore spots with iodine.Its antiseptic property is known to all;the solution kills harmful microorganisms, including effective against fungal spores.
How to treat yourself with home remedies
You already know how to treat foot and nail fungus, what drugs are sold in pharmacies.Baths based on oils, propolis, decoctions, infusions and other components prepared independently are used as additional methods against the disease.
Oil therapy
A good effect to reduce the risk of developing a newly contracted infection is the use of natural oils.Make a mixture of equal parts tea tree oil and lavender.Add two parts of olive oil to the mixture, lubricate the nails and the affected areas of the feet with the resulting product overnight.
Foot baths
- Lemon juice plus Listerine, apple cider vinegar.Mix all the ingredients in equal parts and add to the bath water.The concentration of 1 liter is three spoons of the composition.A daily procedure lasting 15 minutes will help speed up the healing process and restore cells of the dermis and cornea.
- Soda baths are prepared according to a recipe: one tablespoon of soda plus 20 g of laundry soap.Keep your feet in the bath for 40 minutes, during which time the solution penetrates the cells of the skin of the foot and the nail plate.
- Pink potassium permanganate baths.The duration of the procedure is 20 minutes.
- Salt plus vinegar in a concentration of 100 g + 4 spoons per 4 liters of water.Salt can be table or sea.
- Hydrogen peroxide 3% - applied for 2 minutes, then a paste of water plus peroxide is applied to the nail, which is washed off after the hissing stops.
People's funds
They effectively relieve the symptoms of itching, irritation on the skin of the feet, as well as around the sick nail.Support treatment with pharmaceuticals.Independent folk treatment, without medication, is not effective against mycosis.
To eliminate the risk of spreading infection, the juice of celandines is used.Lubricate the problem areas, do not wash off the product.It is allowed to do several such manipulations per day.
Wrap chopped garlic on the affected area, keep it on the nail overnight and on the skin for 10 minutes.
Rub kombucha, melted propolis, or oak bark infusion into problem areas.
To restore the skin tissue and nail plates, make baths of decoctions of medicinal herbs.To do this, use chamomile, thyme, nettle, calendula.
Conclusion.A wide range of pharmaceutical drugs, the possibility of combining treatment with local, oral and folk remedies helps to ensure that mycosis of the feet and nails is completely cured.This is a long process, so be patient and learn how to properly use the tips presented in the article.If you listen to the recommendations, the unpleasant problem will be fixed.