Sun, sea, beautiful beach. . . You rest well in the summer, and your skin is covered in beautiful colors. But what are the unpleasant cracks in the feet between the toes and why do the nails turn yellow? Pay close attention. Maybe this isn't just a cosmetic defect?
The first signs of fungus
Parasitic fungi that live on the skin can poison anyone's life. And especially the problems and grief caused by the fungus that settles on the skin of the feet and on the nails. Women who fall victim to fungi like this are mainly concerned with the external side of the problem - cracks, peeling skin, yellow crumbling nails - but, according to doctors, the aesthetic problem is far from the main one.
This is a serious disease that requires long -term treatment. The disease occurs first on the skin of the feet, more often on the interdigital folds. Exfoliation appears between the fingers, accompanied by burning and itching. Then bubbles appear, which burst, forming boils and cracks. If you do not start treatment right away, the fungus will spread to your nails. Once on the nail plate, it continues to grow and reproduce. Although slow, the fungus gradually peels off the nail, gradually filling it and penetrating into the nail. Over time, the affected area catches the nail not only on the feet, but also on the hands. In fact there is the defeat of internal organs, fortunately, very rare.
Manifestationtoenail fungusdepending on the type of infection, as well as the degree and depth of the fungus. After moving to the nail plate, dermatophytes usually present themselves with yellow spots or longitudinal lines on the sides of the toenails. In some cases, the disease can be predicted by the appearance of bright yellow lines or spots in the center of the nail plate. On the hands, the nails are also "decorated" with similar stripes, but lighter - whitish or gray.
The yeast fungus thins the nail plate from the sides, while remaining behind the nail bed and becoming yellowish in color. Often, the disease begins with the folds of the nails, usually on the hands. The rollers thicken, swell and turn red, silvery scales appear along the edges, the nail skin gradually disappears. Bacterial infections can accompany this process, in which case swelling may even occur. Tissue nutrition in the roller area is disrupted, as a result of which transverse grooves appear. . . . . . .
Fungal fungi can cause onychomycosis only against the background of pre -existing nail nutritional disorders, which arise due to other diseases. In this case, the color of the nail plate also changes, it can be yellow, green, blue, brown and even black, but the nail lesion remains superficial. However, you cannot diagnose it yourself, especially since damage to the nails can be caused by several fungi at once. Also, fungus is a common cause, but not the only cause of serious nail problems.
See a doctor right away!
If you see signs of fungus, don’t expect it all to go away on its own. The longer the fungus lives on your nails, the harder it is to treat and the worse it gets for the whole body. Prolonged onychomycosis can provoke allergic reactions, weaken the immune system and cause chronic disease to worsen. Therefore, the most correct thing at the first suspicion is to consult a mycologist or dermatologist. The doctor will not only perform an examination, assess the thickness, structure of the nail, but also make a tissue for analysis. Only in this way he can determine the presence of the fungus, its type and prescribe adequate treatment.
At the same time, the doctor will consider the prevalence of the process, the shape of the lesion, the presence of concomitant diseases, the rate of nail growth, and others. Currently, there are general and local remedies that are very effective action for treatment. In the early form of the disease, when the area of nail lesions is not significant, you can limit local treatment - apply on the nails 2 times a day antifungal drugs (antimycotics) with a spectrum of action in the form of ointments, creams or solutions.
Before using the drug, a special preparation of the nail is performed. First, a bath of soap and soda: the basin is half filled with hot water (40-50 degrees C), in which 1 tbsp dissolves. l. soda and 50 g of laundry soap. Feet or fingers that need treatment are soaked in the solution for 10-15 minutes. After that, the softened horn layer on the nail is treated with nail clippers and fastened with a file. Duration of treatment - until healthy unaltered nails grow back.
Important! Don’t use the same manicure accessories for sore and healthy nails.
Topical medications include clotrimazole -based medications. They are applied to the affected nails with a dispenser and left for a day under a waterproof plaster. The day after the soap-soda bath, the affected part of the nail is removed with a file. The procedure is repeated until the affected part of the plate is completely removed, and then the medicine is rubbed onto the nail bed. The duration of treatment, as with other medications, until healthy nails grow back.
In the early form of the wound, a special antifungal varnish can be applied for local treatment, which is applied on the nails 1-2 times a week. Treatment takes about 6-8 months for toenails and about a year for toenails. Manicure can also be applied on antifungal varnish.
If local treatment no longer helps or the nail plate is completely affected by the fungus, general antimycotics are prescribed (they are also called systemic). Such medications are taken orally. They can be used in combination with antifungal varnish. However, it is very important to make sure that you have no contraindications to general antimycotics. For example, kidney and liver disease. Systemic medications are often contraindicated in children, in addition, they have serious limitations in their simultaneous use with some other drugs. For example, some are not compatible with hormonal contraceptives. If you are breastfeeding your baby, you will need to wait a while to use this medicine.
Pregnancy also means prohibition of systemic antimycotics. Therefore, women of childbearing age who receive it should use contraceptives throughout the course of treatment. In some cases, you must go to a nail remover, followed by treatment. After that, new nails grow, although the surface may not be flat at first. Whatever treatment the doctor prescribes, in an instant you turn into a disinfectant. The doctor will write a prescription for which the necessary solution will be prepared for you at the pharmacy.
Before the start of the course, they must process all available shoes, all socks, gloves, etc. , And then, once a month, until healthy nails grow back, they need to process the clothes and shoes that should be worn during the treatment. This is not difficult: the inner surface of the shoe is wiped with a cotton cloth dipped in the solution, the same broom is placed on gloves, socks, stockings, etc. All this is hidden in a dense plastic bag overnight, then well dried and aired for 2-3 days.
Therefore, as a result of continuous treatment, the external manifestations of the disease disappear and eventually healthy nails will grow. But that’s not all, now control tests will come at the end of treatment, after 2 weeks and after 2 months. The fungus is gone? So, everything is in order, the only question is how not to get sick again.
Risk groups
In medical practice, a fungal infection on the nail is symbolized by the term onychomycosis, where "onycho" means nail, and "mycosis" is a fungal infection. This disease is not uncommon. Onychomycosis is widespread in all countries of the world and its share among all nail diseases reaches 40%. The main causative agent of this disease is a dermatophyte fungus (a fungal parasite on the skin, hair and nails). But there are other causes of misfortune - various yeasts and molds. Men and women fall victim to onychomycosis with equal success.
The risk of illness increases with age. For example, after 70 years, every second person suffers from onychomycosis. Fortunately, children suffer from onychomycosis less frequently, because tissue regrowth, the replacement of old ones with new ones, occurs very quickly. Even baby nails grow much faster than in adults, while fungi on the other hand grow quite slowly. Yet it is impossible to completely exclude children from risk groups. Children are usually infected by their parents and, oddly enough, through shoes: showcasing the mother’s shoes around the apartment, the baby is at risk of contracting the mother’s fungus. Intact and healthy nails are practically not susceptible to fungal infections, but nails that change, for example, as a result of injury, become easy prey to the fungus.
The state of the organism as a whole plays an important role. The risk of pain increases if the vascular tone of the foot is disturbed, for example, by heart failure or varicose veins. The same can be said about disorders of the endocrine system. Diabetes mellitus is a good reason to monitor the condition of your nails carefully, because in such cases, the defeat of the fungus can be very severe.
Flat feet and shoes that are too tight contribute to injuries to the skin and nails. Socks and stockings made of synthetic fibers, poor ventilation on the shoes results in a microclimate that is too moist on the skin of the feet. Frequent hand contact with household cleaners and cleaning products will injure your nails. All this increases the risk of falling ill, but sometimes the danger lies in the care of your appearance: false nails can create favorable conditions for the development of onychomycosis on the hands.
Prophylaxis
To avoid problems, you have to be careful. Visits to swimming pools, bathhouses, gyms and even sun -dried beaches can be a problem. The causative agent of onychomycosis is highly resistant to external factors. Fungal spores can withstand drying, heating to 100 and freezing to minus 60 degrees C. They can withstand the "attack" of disinfectants, which are commonly used in public places, as a result, pose a constant threat to our health. In beach sand, the fungus remains resilient for months. Apparently, where else can you walk barefoot, if not on the beach?! Here's what you don't need to do - there are slippers to visit the beach and pool. But often (up to 65% of cases), the infection occurs in families. After all, you can be infected through direct contact with a sick person, through the shoes and clothes he or she wears, as well as through household items, be it carpets in the bathroom, regular towels, nail clippers, etc. Fungal -infected flaky skin. They easily stick to wet feet. Therefore, if one of the family members has this dangerous "treasure", you should be careful.
The bathtub must be disinfected with any cleaning agent and rinsed with a stream of hot water, as loose nail pieces or flakes of skin can remain on the surface.
Wipes or sponges should be processed periodically in a 5% chloramine solution (soak for at least an hour). Used linen should be boiled with washing powder for 20-30 minutes or stored for an hour in a 5%chloramine solution, as it is sold in pharmacies without a prescription.
Abrasions and abrasions associated with sweating or, conversely, with dry skin, greatly facilitate the task of infection. To overcome excessive sweating and foot diaper rash will help powder fromboric acid and talc. . .
It is useful to treat the feet with a drying solution.
To prevent excessive dryness of the skin, you can use special ointments, creams containing vitamins and other similar products. Use cream to avoid corns.
Following simple rules will save you from illness:
- walking on the beach only with slippers;
- when visiting a bathhouse, sauna or swimming pool, use covered rubber slippers that protect from splashes;
- after washing, wipe your feet dry, especially the interdigital folds and treat with a prophylactic antifungal cream or special powder;
- do not wear other people's shoes;
- change socks and stockings every day.