Onychomycosis: symptoms, how to recognize it, and remedies that can cure it

Why does fungus appear on nails? What are the symptoms of this disease? This disease destroys the nail plate and causes a lot of trouble. Our medical experts answer frequently asked questions and tell us how to heal quickly with effective medicines.According to statistics, 20% of the total population of the earth is susceptible to nail infections caused by parasitic fungi. This condition is called onychomycosis and is caused by fungus on the nails.

What is onychomycosis?

The disease is contagious and can be contracted from person to person, through contact and through common items in the home. Fungal infections attack the nail plate and eat away at it, destroying the nail.Toenail fungus most commonly occurs on toenails because the feet are more susceptible to negative effects. However, before the development of the pathology begins, the immune system weakens, resulting in a decrease in the body's defenses, which makes it unable to fight the pathogens sufficiently effectively.Certain types of fungal infections can cause onychomycosis:

• dermatophytes;
• yeast;
• moldy;
• Trichophyton;
• Microsporidia;
• Athlete's foot.

All fungal pathogens are divided into two main categories:

1. Pathogenicity.
2. Conditional disease.

Pathogenic microorganisms refer to microorganisms that invade from the outside and cause harm to human life. Opportunistic pathogens are pathogenic bacteria that commonly live in the human skin, mucous membranes, and horny areas, such as Candida fungi.Under normal circumstances, the human body coexists with opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. But with decreased immunity and favorable conditions, these organisms begin to develop uncontrollably, leading to the emergence of pathological processes.

Why does fungus appear on nails?

Common causes of fungal diseases may include the following:

• weakened immune system;
• Concomitant chronic diseases (e. g. , eczema, diabetes);
• Failure to observe personal hygiene rules;
• Traveling to places where fungal infections are concentrated (bathhouses, saunas, swimming pools, public showers, water parks);
• Wearing closed shoes makes your feet sweat easily;
• Old age (after 65 years old, natural immunity declines);
• Working environment conditions (working in humid environment, elevated room temperature, radiation, dusty, dirty environment).

In this case, onychomycosis appears on the hands and feet. It was noted that the disease was also distributed along gender lines - men were almost 3 times more affected than women.

How do pathogens penetrate the deck?

The keratin sheets themselves are not easily penetrated by fungal pathogens. In order for an infection to begin to develop, its integrity must be compromised. There are three main ways of invasion by fungal organisms:

1. Destruction of the keratin layer due to injury to the nail plate;
2. through the subungual notch;
3. Through the proximal nail fold.

Opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms often cause stratum corneum inflammation.

What are the types of onychomycosis?

There are three types or stages of the disease, each varying in severity:

1. Normal nutritional type. The nail plate appears with thin yellow-gray stripes, becomes brittle and brittle, but does not thicken, and the subungual is hyperkeratinized.
2. Hypertrophic type. This occurs when no treatment is available or the wrong choice is made and is ineffective. First, subungual hyperkeratosis will occur, leading to thickening, which will last long after successful treatment.
3. Atrophic type. The most difficult stage of the disease. The nail becomes thinner, becomes more brittle, changes color to a dark grey-brown, and over time its growth is disturbed and completely separates from the nail bed.

Finding out the type of disease will allow you to decide how to treat onychomycosis.

What are the symptoms of onychomycosis?

Signs that indicate a fungal infection:

• Pale yellow or gray streaks and spots appear on the nail plate, making it look painful;
• The color of the plate changes to yellow, brown, and brown, darkening to black over time;
• Inflammation of the stratum corneum and proximal ridge;
• The plate thickens and becomes crumbly, brittle, brittle;
• A unique, special odor appears;
• Over time, the nail plate will peel off completely.

How is the disease diagnosed?

Changes in color, roughness, and chipping may help suspect onychomycosis. However, similar symptoms are also characteristic of many other conditions (e. g. , eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus). Therefore, just one examination by a doctor is not enough.With this problem, you need to contact a dermatologist, podiatrist, or mycologist. If it is difficult to distinguish the cause, you should contact your general practitioner or family doctor who will refer you to a specialist. To adjust your treatment, you may need to consult with your surgeon.When making a diagnosis, the fungal source of the infection needs to be verified. To do this, microscopic examination of the keratin thickening is required. However, to determine the type of pathogen, bacterial culture is required for analysis.

How to Treat Onychomycosis?

Treatment is a lengthy process that takes several months to a year and requires tremendous effort on the part of the patient.Antifungal treatment depends on the route of exposure of the affected area and may be:

• Topical - Use only topical ointments and creams that affect pathogens at the lesion site;
• Systemic - Use of oral antifungal drugs that have systemic effects and are needed if the infection has penetrated the affected area through the bloodstream;
• Combination therapy – A combination of local and systemic treatments for best results.

As the most effective drug for the treatment of onychomycosis, systemic preparations containing the following substances are used:

• ketoconazole substance— Effective treatment is achieved in half of cases, with a course of approximately 8 to 12 months;
• itraconazole substanceis a popular antifungal drug that is effective in 85% of cases. Its obvious advantage is that the treatment course is short - only 10 days;
• Terbinafine hydrochloride substance- One of the best remedies that helps in 90% of cases. Treatment for onychomycosis on the hands can take up to 4 months, and onychomycosis on the feet can take up to 6 months. However, the appearance of fungal changes may persist for a long time - up to 50 weeks.

Systemic treatment is used in cases of moderate or greater severity. Often, oral antifungals are combined with the use of topical ointments. However, systemic medications have many side effects and can be toxic. Therefore, they should not be used by pregnant and lactating women, as well as people with chronic metabolic diseases and liver disease.Topical treatments in the form of creams and ointments have no toxic effects, but are treated only in mild cases - when only ⅓ of the nail plate has changed and the pathogen has not penetrated deeply into the keratin tissue. This is because local products cannot penetrate deeply into the keratin layer.If the condition is mild and treatment is started promptly, systemic medication may not be necessary. However, as the clinical situation progresses, surgical excision of the damaged area, followed by local treatment, is sometimes necessary. Removal is painless and subsequent antifungal treatment results in full recovery.