Most girls know what a fungal infection of natural pedicure or manicure is and what it can lead to.However, not everyone knows what the nail fungus looks like on the legs or hands, since the symptoms of lesions depend on the variety of infection.
Signs of nail fungus in the early stages are difficult to distinguish from the usual lack of vitamins in matrix or weakened immunity, but timely detection of the disease will help prescribe treatment regimen and restore manicure.
The first signs and symptoms of nail fungus
Almost no one knows how to recognize the nail fungus, so you need to pay attention to the timely diagnosis of the disease.
The disease itself has quite a few signs, but they progress as pathogenic bacteria reproduce on the surface and the deterioration of the normal microflora of the nails.
The nail fungus shows the symptoms quickly enough, and they can be visible visually.Standardly 2-3 days after the infection falls on the coating, microorganisms rapidly begin to multiply and spoil the structure of the nails.
The first signs of the fungus:
- Changing the color of the nail.Standards instead of pink, it becomes yellowish, dark or yellow spots, stripes on the surface appear.
- Deformation of the nail bed.Uneven, hollows, hillocks, the thickness of the nail also change on its area on its area.Most often, a significant thickening of the main zone occurs, which leads to the mass formation of drawbacks on the surface and the gradual destruction of the nails.Often, deformation of the manicure leads to a growing plate into the side rollers on the legs.
- Discomfort when pressed on the fingertips.If you press the pillows and feel unpleasant sensations, pain, increased tissue density, it is recommended to consult a dermatologist.
- The appearance of diaper rash between the fingers.In this zone, the skin may peel off, there is a risk of detachment of a sensitive epidermis.
- Unpleasant smell.When the infection occurs on the coating, the upper horn layers begin to rot, the microflora of the nail changes, which is why an acidic caustic smell appears.
Before determining the fungus on the nails of the legs, always consider the visual state of the pedicure.For this, it is recommended to inspect the suspected area 2-3 times a day.At this stage, it is recommended to use folk antifungal methods that prevent the further development of the disease.
The main signs of damage to the type of fungus that you infected are dependent.Also, the defeat often appears on sensitive skin of the legs or arms, then the symptoms are different:
- Abundant peeling of tissues;
- The skin becomes rough, dense, a hard crust forms;
- The shade of the epidermis changes - often it becomes yellowish;
- A rash, inflammation, irritation appear;
- Pain for direct contact with arms or legs.
Often problems appear at the same time, this indicates the active form of damage to sensitive skin, which is why you need to urgently consult a doctor in order not to start skin health.
Diagnostic methods
The girl can notice the main symptoms and manifestations of the disease herself if she pays attention to the visual condition of the arms, legs, and the quality of natural manicure.
It is standard to find out the problem by which your condition of nails or epidermis spoils, you need to consult a doctor.There are two specialists who can identify the presence of a fungus: a dermatologist and mycologist.The first is engaged in general dermatological issues.If you do not know what exactly with the nails, you should contact him.Mycologist is a specialist in infectious and viral diseases of the nails, which will analyze the state of manicure in more detail.
When visiting a doctor, analysis of nail fungus consists of three stages:
- Questioning.A visit to the clinic from the theoretical survey of the patient begins.To do this, the doctor asks what the girl has symptoms, the reasons why she turned.The doctor should find out if the girl’s discomfort when pressed on her fingers, what total changes have occurred to the nails.
- Microscopy.To make the main diagnosis and prescribe the treatment regimen, the doctor completely examines the affected area using medical gloves.After that, scraping from the skin, nails, the conclusion from which can be obtained after the work of the chemical analyzer is taken.The stage includes examination of analyzes through a microscope to identify the features of pathogenic bacteria.The stage allows you to find out the nature of the disease, the degree of its development.Standardly after microscopy, the doctor prescribes the main drugs.
- Microbiological examination.For a more detailed diagnosis of the affected area, the doctor uses the method of sowing microorganisms in the nutrient medium, which ensures their rapid propagation.A week after the start of the examination, the doctor can draw a conclusion by identifying the features of a particular disease.
Doctors do not resort to microbiological examination at the session, but this stage may be needed if the girl visited the clinic in the presence of an advanced form of the disease.
If you do not know which doctor to contact, it is recommended to make an appointment with a dermatologist.If complex fungus forms are detected, he will redirect you to a mikologist, or he will prescribe a treatment regimen for the disease.
How to determine the fungus of the nail at home
In order not to consult a doctor, you can conduct diagnostics yourself, but be careful - the result is not always accurate, especially in the presence of initial forms of progression of infection.
In addition, a visual change in the state of manicure does not always indicate the presence of mycosis, often the deformation occurs after a mechanical load on the fingertips or a decrease in the local immunity of the matrix.
There are two main ways to examine the nails on the fungus:
- Using potassium permanganate.The method is safe for a girl and has no contraindications, except for an allergic reaction to the drug.For the procedure, a solution of potassium permanganate is diluted in a small concentration in warm water.Hands or legs are placed in the bath for 10 minutes, during this time healthy skin and nails are painted dark, and infected ones remain in the same condition.
- Using iodine.Iod is not suitable for identifying part of the fungi, including onychomycosis, but it shows the presence of lichen, mycoses, dermatological problems.To perform the analysis, the skin and plate must be treated with a solution of iodine and waited for 10-15 minutes until it is manifested.The healthy surface will ultimately have a pale color, and infected with dark, rich.
Keep in mind that sometimes manipulations need to be repeated twice in order to make sure as a result (it may be required at the initial stages of the development of the disease).
How to distinguish mycosis of nails from other diseases?
In the home diagnosis of a state of natural pedicure, you need to take into account all the signs and symptoms of gradual damage to the plate or the deterioration of the quality of the epidermis.
Often mycosis in the early stages can be confused with dermatological diseases, fingers damage or the effects of external factors (the use of chemicals without gloves, frostbite, use of low -quality cosmetics, allergies to applied compounds).
Mycosis has several features:
- Gradual.The progression of the lesion always occurs in stages: at first the shade simply changes, and in the end, the infection can lead to the complete separation of the nail bed from tissues;
- Unpleasant smell.A characteristic sour smell is manifested from the infected area only in the presence of a fungus;
- The development of the fungus begins standardly with one finger.Most often, an infection appears on the thumb and smoothly switches to the rest, if not resorted to timely treatment;
- Changing the shade of the nail, the appearance of characteristic spots, strips on the coating.
When such factors appear, it is important to consult a doctor and take tests in order to prevent the rapid deterioration of nails, which is quite difficult to fix.
Conclusions
The fungus of the nails has characteristic features that always appear when infection of the plate or epidermis.However, take into account that sometimes they can be confused with other diseases and lesions, so it is recommended to conduct diagnostics by visiting the clinic, or using potassium/iodine permanganate to perform house procedures.