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, it will be useful for everyone to learn how to get rid of toenail fungus. Let's figure out what medicines can be used in the treatment process and how traditional medicine can help.
Most often, a fungal nail infection develops in old age. However, the disease may well develop in a young and full of strength person. Less commonly, onychomycosis occurs in children. Any person is at risk of getting 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 quickly get rid of nail fungus, most people simply do not pay attention to the first signs.
Indeed, few people will be alerted 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, people begin 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 take a long time.
So, the primary sign of the disease is a discoloration of the nail plate. Most often, such a change is noted in the corner of the toenail on the big toe. Much less often, the stain appears at the inner edge of the nail or on the other toe.
Even less often, the appearance of nail fungus on the hands is noted, most often women encounter this type of onychomycosis. The fact is that ladies often do manicure, and not too high-quality disinfection of the instrument and nail injuries are predisposing factors for the development of the disease.
Advice!Of course, a manicure itself is not harmful, and you do not need to refuse to carry out this hygienic procedure. You should only make sure that the master carefully sterilizes the instruments or use individual files and nippers.
If there is no treatment, the stain will begin to grow in size. In addition, the structure of the nail will begin to change. The plate becomes thicker, cracks may appear on it, the plate will begin to collapse.
Often, onychomycosis occurs simultaneously with mycosis of the skin of the feet. In this case, the skin in the affected area turns 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 go to the doctor or begin to try to heal themselves.
Advice!Self-medication for fungal nail diseases is very dangerous, since the patient cannot himself determine the type of pathogen. Therefore, the measures taken by him may turn out to be ineffective.
If there is no treatment or it is ineffective, the disease will progress. The nail plate will begin to flake off. At this stage, a bacterial infection often joins, causing the development of a purulent process. If the disease is severely started, then complete removal of the diseased nail will be advisable. Therefore, it is better not to bring the matter to the operation, but to start treatment in a timely manner.
Basic principles
It is necessary to remember that it is not easy to get rid of onychomycosis forever. This disease very often gives relapses. Especially if the patient did not complete the treatment, interrupting the course as soon as the visible symptoms of the disease have passed.
To exclude the development of a relapse, you need to continue treatment until laboratory tests confirm the absence of infection.
Advice!Control tests are recommended to be taken twice with an interval of two weeks. If both tests are negative, then the disease is considered completely cured.
The main principles of treating fungal diseases are:
- regularity;
- A complex approach.
Not a single, even the most effective medicine will help from 1 time. The duration of the course of treatment is determined individually, its duration is influenced by:
- the type of pathogen (molds form a lesion on the surface of the nail, therefore 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 is actively progressing, then it will take several months or even more than a year to be treated;
- the patient's health status, many effective antifungal drugs have an impressive list of contraindications, so you have to use less effective, but safer means.
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:
- Good hygiene is important. 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. It is necessary to minimize the amount of sugar in the diet, give up alcohol and very fatty foods. But fermented milk products, cereals and vegetables, on the contrary, will be useful.
- Try to live a healthy lifestyle. Observe the mode of work and rest, be outdoors, be sure to get enough sleep, try to avoid stress. All of these measures will help support the immune system.
- Choose the right footwear. Avoid tight models, 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!It is convenient to use special sprays to disinfect shoes, but you can also use home remedies. For example, vinegar.
Pharmacy products
There are many medicines available to fight fungal diseases. They differ in the form of release and the active ingredient. It is impossible to recommend any one remedy that will help everyone, without exception. A doctor should prescribe treatment for a nail fungus. Most often, the following scheme is recommended:
- Application of topical 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 drugs, that is, capsules or tablets. The need for the use of tablets is determined by the doctor. As a rule, they are prescribed at an advanced stage or if the local remedy does not work;
- taking multivitamin complexes and means for general strengthening of the body.
Topical agents
To cure nail fungus, it is necessary to use medicines that are applied directly to the diseased nail. The doctor should prescribe medications, the patient's task is to use them correctly.
First of all, you need to prepare your nail. The nail plate, in contrast to the skin, absorbs medicinal substances worse, therefore it is more difficult to treat onychomycosis than skin mycosis. The preparation of the nail is as follows:
- you should make the nail softer by using a warm bath. Soda, vinegar, sea salt, decoctions of herbs are added to the water (of course, you need to add one remedy, 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 enough;
- after that, you need to process the nails: cut them as short as possible, process them with a file, removing loose, exfoliating layers in the affected areas.
After such treatment, the use of topical agents will be more beneficial. Their active substances will be able to penetrate deeper, directly to the focus of the fungal infection.
Local agents are applied 1-2 times a day. The solution is applied using a dropper (as a rule, a bottle is equipped with it) 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, rubbed lightly. Healing varnishes are one of the most convenient remedies for the treatment of onychomycosis. They do not need to be applied daily, but twice a week. However, this remedy helps only in the early stages of the disease.
Advice!Women are especially fond of using medicinal varnishes, since it is allowed to apply decorative varnish over the layer of the medicinal coating.
Additional measures
To speed up the healing process, in the process of getting rid of nail fungus, it is recommended to perform hardware pedicure (manicure) or use laser treatment. During the procedure, the affected part of the nail is carefully removed.
When carrying out a hardware pedicure, the removal is performed mechanically, that is, the nail is cut off with special cutters. After the completion of the treatment, a medicinal antifungal agent is applied to the surface. The laser procedure not only allows you to remove the affected part of the nail, but also carries out treatment, since the laser beam is able to 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 medication. The essence of the method is that the acidic environment has a detrimental effect on fungi.
The easiest treatment option is to add vinegar to the trays. For two liters of warm water, take a glass of vinegar (9%). It is recommended to do such a bath every evening before applying topical medicines. You can also perform applications by applying pieces of cotton wool soaked in vinegar to sore nails for a quarter of an hour.
Garlic
The most common garlic effectively fights against fungal diseases. You can simply lubricate sore spots with fresh juice or make compresses. To perform the procedure, you need to prepare garlic gruel, 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 infection. The affected areas are smeared with fresh juice. In winter, for this purpose, you can use a tincture of celandine, and a decoction of this herb is suitable for baths.
So, only a specialist will be able to answer the question of how to get rid of the fungus on the nails after the tests. Treatment is prescribed taking into account the type of pathogen. It is best to use a set of remedies, you can combine the use of medicines and home remedies for treatment.