In the minds of many, fungal patients are often associated with clutter, neglect, and dirt. This stereotype is not entirely true. In the modern world, even the most pedantic cleansing is not immune to fungal infection. In addition, a person who leads an active and healthy lifestyle has a higher risk of contracting it than a classic television addict. If the skin between your toes turns red, peels and cracks, your nails turn yellow and crumble, and the excruciating itch doesn't go away for a minute, you probably have a fungus.
Pathways of infection
Medical statistics say that one in four to five people on our planet is ill with mycosis on the toes. The risk of infection exists everywhere: in the swimming pool, sauna, gym, public shower, shoe store, on the beach and even your own shoes often become an excellent environment for life and active reproduction of the fungus.
Walking barefoot, wearing someone else's or wet shoes, sharing personal hygiene items (towels, manicure and pedicure tools), dirty socks, excessive sweating, degenerative foot diseases, excess weight, circulatory disorders - these and other factors lead directly or indirectly to infection with fungal infection.
Healthy nails are practically invulnerable to fungi, while nail plates, altered under the influence of some traumatic factor, are easy prey for him. The same is true of the skin: microscopic cracks become a gateway for infection.
Most often, the infection is caused by parasitic fungi called dermatophytes, less often by yeasts and molds. Fungi on the toes of men and women are equally sick. The risk of infection increases with age. Therefore, children become victims of this parasite relatively infrequently, while one in two adults after the age of 70 is its active carrier.
The first manifestations of the toe fungus
In most cases, injury to the feet with a fungal infection occurs gradually according to the following pattern:
- the first signs are observed in the form of peeling of the skin, burning and itching between the toes;
- the skin reacts to infection with the formation of bubbles, after a while they crack;
- cracks and grooves appear at the place of bubbles; the itching intensifies;
- when putting on nails, the fungus actively multiplies, gradually penetrates the nail plate, slowly destroying it and for a long time;
- plaque thickens, exfoliates, crumbles, acquires an unnatural yellowish color.
Dermatophyte fungi appear as bright yellow spots or stripes closer to the edges of the nail. Over time, the infection moves to its central part, the skin of the interdigital region cracks and you feel intense itching. Yeast fungi feed on the nail plate, thinning it from the sides. As a result, waves, grooves, cracks appear, the nail turns yellow and separates from its bed. First, the yeast attacks the nail folds. They turn red, thicken and swell, silver scales appear along the edges. It is possible to attach a secondary bacterial infection with subsequent suppuration. Molds affect the nails superficially, changing their hue from yellow and green to brown and even black. These fungi are especially active in conditions of alteration of the nutrition of the nail plates.
Why can't you hesitate to visit a doctor?
Treatment should start as soon as possible. It is good if this happens before the infection, which is usually located between the toes first, spreads to the nail plate. Seeking early medical attention ensures faster healing and healthier nails.
A mycologist is engaged in the treatment of various fungal skin lesions (mycosis). Doctors of this profile are difficult to find in state clinics. In the absence of it, you can consult a dermatologist. The task of a specialist is to assess the degree and depth of the lesion, perform a tissue scraping to determine the presence and type of fungus, and develop a competent therapeutic scheme.
Before starting the treatment, it is necessary to carry out disinfection actions, which include treating all shoes with a solution of vinegar or formalin. The bad smell of these products makes them uncomfortable to use. To solve the problem, you can buy a special device at the pharmacy that disinfects shoes with ultraviolet rays.
Traditional treatment for foot fungus
Toe fungus can be treated with local, systemic, or combination therapy.
Any treatment involves the use of antifungals (antifungal agents):
- Local treatment (ointments, creams, sprays). Antifungals for external use and other drugs with the active ingredient clotrimazole, naftifine hydrochloride, ketoconazole, terbinafine hydrochloride or bifonazole. In case of minor damage to the nail plate, it is recommended to use antifungal varnishes. Varnishes are applied throughout the year, gradually reducing the frequency of use (from 4 to 1 times a week). Local remedies effectively relieve itching and burning, reduce peeling and cracking of the skin between the toes, but cannot completely cure the disease.
- Systemic therapy: general antifungals. Such treatment is appropriate in case of complete damage to the nail plate. But there are certain contraindications to systemic antifungal drugs: they cannot be taken by pregnant and lactating women, people suffering from kidney and liver diseases, and young children.
- Comprehensive treatment. Includes local and systemic therapy.
Patients often complain about the ineffectiveness of traditional therapy and resort to treatment with folk remedies. Against the background of such complaints, the opinion was formed that the foot fungus is an incurable disease, it is only possible to temporarily eliminate its symptomatic manifestations (itching, peeling, cracks). Why is patient dissatisfaction observed? Everything is very simple. In fact, completely curing a fungus is difficult, but possible. The main thing is to adhere to the principles of regularity and duration. It is very important to do all the therapeutic activities every day and not to interrupt what you started in the middle. You should be ready for long-term treatment (usually 3-12 months), which makes sense to carry out until such time as the new, healthy nails grow back. In advanced cases, it is necessary to remove the affected nail plates and only then wait for the appearance of new ones.
Treatment of toe fungus with folk remedies.
The recipes of traditional medicine are very effective in eliminating or reducing the severity of manifestations of the fungus such as itching, burning, cracking, peeling and redness of the skin between the fingers. Some patients claim that they were able to completely cure the disease using exclusively home remedies.
So, to deal with the fungus:
- Soak your feet in apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, or table vinegar.
- Apply 1 drop of iodine to each nail twice a day;
- clean your skin and nails with salicylic ointment;
- wash your feet with soap for washing;
- make garlic and butter compresses;
- lubricate the affected skin with a mixture of garlic juice, alcohol (1 tablespoon each) and water (2 tablespoons);
- Treat affected areas with alcoholic propolis tincture.
According to reviews, garlic and propolis are especially effective in fighting fungus. It is important to understand that the duration of treatment with home remedies has its limits. If in 3 months the skin cracks and does not acquire the same appearance, it makes sense to seek help in traditional medicine.
Despite the good effectiveness of treatment with folk remedies and the success of modern pharmaceuticals in the invention of new effective drugs, mycosis of the feet remains the most common fungal disease today. However, it is gratifying that over the past 20 to 30 years the number of patients who have been successfully cured has been declining each year.