Onychomycosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic fungi.The problem is relevant for many, since the disease is extremely common and highly contagious.Therefore, learning how to get rid of toenail fungus will be useful for everyone.Let's figure out what medications 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 may well develop in a young and full-bodied person.Onychomycosis is less common in children.Any person is at risk of encountering an infection, so the question of how to get rid of nail fungus is relevant for everyone.
Symptoms
To start treatment in a timely manner, 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 fairly quickly, most people simply do not pay attention to the appearance of the first signs.
Indeed, few people will be alarmed if a speck appears in the corner of the nail.And only then, when the disease affects most of the nail and the plate begins to collapse, do people begin treatment.
Meanwhile, there is only one answer to the question of how to quickly get rid of 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 treatment will require a long time.
So, the primary 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 on the big toe.Much less commonly, the spot appears at the inner edge of the nail or on the other toe.
The appearance of nail fungus on the hands is even less common; most often, women experience this type of onychomycosis.The fact is that ladies often get manicures, and poor disinfection of instruments and nail injuries are predisposing factors to the development of the disease.
Advice!Of course, manicure itself is not harmful, and there is no need to refuse this hygiene procedure.You just need to make sure that the technician carefully sterilizes the instruments or uses individual files and nippers.
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 plate becomes thicker, cracks may appear on it, and the plate begins to collapse.
Often onychomycosis occurs 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 on it.The disease is accompanied by the appearance of an unpleasant odor from the feet.
At this stage, it is impossible not to notice the manifestations of the disease, therefore it is at this advanced stage that most patients consult a doctor or begin to try 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 he takes may be ineffective.
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, causing the development of a purulent process.If the disease is severely advanced, it would be advisable to completely remove the diseased nail.Therefore, it is better not to bring the matter to surgery, but to start treatment in a timely manner.
Basic principles
You need to remember that getting rid of onychomycosis forever is not easy.This disease relapses very often.Especially if the patient did not complete the treatment, interrupting the course as soon as the visible symptoms of the disease passed.
To exclude the development of a relapse, you need to continue treatment until laboratory tests confirm the absence of infection.
Advice!It is recommended to take control tests twice at an interval of two weeks.If both tests give a negative result, then the disease is considered to be completely cured.
The basic principles of treating fungal disease are:
- regularity;
- integrated approach.
Not a single medicine, even the most effective one, will help immediately.The duration of treatment is determined individually; its duration is influenced 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, at the initial stage the course of treatment may take 3-5 weeks, but if onychomycosis actively progresses, then treatment will take several months or even more than a year;
- state of the patient’s health, many effective antifungal drugs have an impressive list of contraindications, so it is necessary to use less effective, but safer agents.
In addition, you need to remember that not a single, even the most modern and effective medicine will help if the patient does not follow the following rules:
- It is important to maintain hygiene.You will have to disinfect all your shoes, and it is better to replace socks and slippers with new ones.You will need to regularly disinfect the bathtub, as well as manicure tools that are used to treat diseased nails.
- Follow your diet.You need to 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 support 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 ensure 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 medications available to combat fungal diseases.They differ in release form and active substance.It is impossible to recommend any one remedy that will help everyone without exception.A doctor should prescribe treatment for nail fungus.Most often, the following scheme is recommended:
- Use of local agents.Most often, antifungal drugs are prescribed in the form of a solution or varnish, less often the use of creams is recommended;
- Taking systemic medications, that is, capsules or tablets.The need to use tablets is determined by the doctor.As a rule, they are prescribed at an advanced stage or in the event that a local remedy does not produce results;
- taking multivitamin complexes and means for general strengthening of the body.
Topical products
To cure nail fungus, it is necessary to use medications that are applied directly to the diseased nail.The doctor must prescribe medications; the patient’s task is 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 treating onychomycosis is more difficult than skin 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 the same time);
- The duration of the bath is about 20 minutes, during which time the nails will have time to soften sufficiently;
- After this, you need to treat your nails: cut them as short as possible, file them, removing loose, peeling layers in the affected areas.
After such treatment, the use of topical agents will be more useful.Their active substances will be able to penetrate deeper, directly to the source of the fungal infection.
Local agents are applied 1-2 times a day.The solution is applied using a dropper (usually equipped with a bottle) or a pipette.You need to drip not on the horizontal surface of the nail, but on its outer edge.
Creams are applied to the entire surface of the plate and lightly rubbed.Medicinal varnishes are one of the most convenient means for treating onychomycosis.They need to be applied not daily, but twice a week.However, this remedy only helps in the early stages of the disease.
Advice!Women especially like to use medicinal varnishes, since they can apply decorative varnish on top of the medicinal coating layer.
Additional measures
To speed up the healing process, in the process of getting rid of 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, removal is carried out mechanically, that is, the nail is cut down with special cutters.After completion of the treatment, an antifungal drug is applied to the surface.The laser procedure not only removes the affected part of the nail, but also provides treatment, since the laser beam can kill the fungus.
Home methods
Some people are quite successful in getting rid of a fungal infection using simple and cheap remedies to treat the disease.Here is a description of the most effective means.
Vinegar
This is one of the most effective remedies and can be used in combination with drug treatment.The essence of the method is that an acidic environment has a detrimental effect on fungi.
The simplest treatment option is adding vinegar to the baths.For two liters of warm water, take a glass of table vinegar (9%).It is recommended to do this bath every evening 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 perform the procedure, you need to prepare a paste of garlic, put it between two layers of gauze and apply the resulting lotion to the affected area for one hour.
Celandine
Celandine juice effectively destroys fungal infections.The affected areas are lubricated with fresh juice.In winter, you can use celandine tincture 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 remedies; you can combine the use of medications and home remedies.