There are many reasons why toenail fungus develops. In most cases, infection is transmitted through household contact. The disease occurs particularly frequently in summer, when everyone usually wears open-toe shoes. Also, bacteria multiply much faster and become more active in a warm, humid environment.
Most often, the pathology develops in people who like to walk barefoot in public places such as swimming pools, baths and saunas, changing rooms on beaches and sports clubs. Toenail fungus also often affects children who like to try on other people's shoes. This usually happens in schools or kindergartens.
Nail fungus can be the result of a weakened immune system. And even if a person follows all the safety rules for behavior in public places, with excessive sweating of the feet or with insufficient personal foot hygiene, the infection can easily penetrate the skin.
It is recommended to wash your feet with warm water and soap as often as possible and be sure to wipe dry, use powder in summer to keep the skin from sweating so much. This is especially true for people prone to colds and infectious diseases.
In some cases, poor-quality shoes become the cause of the fungus. This often happens when a person wears closed shoes for a long time that do not let air through. This creates a favorable environment for bacteria to grow.
If possible, it is recommended to buy shoes from natural materials, constantly wash and air them.
Symptoms of a fungus on the nail
The symptoms of toe fungus are fairly easy to spot. After all, they appear almost immediately when the infection is introduced into the body. The problem, however, is that people do not always give importance to the first changes, thereby delaying the treatment of the disease. Let's take a closer look at these symptoms.
- At the beginning of the development of the disease, sweating between the toes may increase. In this case, an unpleasant smell is observed, which is almost impossible to get rid of. As the disease progresses, it becomes even more intense and causes great discomfort.
- Nails change their color and structure. Most often they take on a yellow, gray and even green hue. The nail plate can be painted little by little. The nail on the thumb is also starting to peel off. Sometimes it even crumbles. At the same time, nail files and nail scissors do not help to fix this.
- As the disease progresses, the skin around the nail plate begins to become inflamed. A characteristic feature of the fungus is severe itching and burning. This is particularly amplified when the foot is constantly in the shoe. In the summer the itching is not so severe.
- Often against the background of toenail fungus, diseases begin to progress, which until then were only stimulating factors for the reproduction of bacteria. The course of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and thyroid gland is complicated.
- If the fingernail begins to thicken, this indicates that the disease is progressing. When large growths appear on the nail plate, it usually takes a long time to treat the fungus. And only an integrated approach guarantees a good result.
specificity of treatment
If nail fungus appears on the big toe or the foot is affected, treatment should be timely and comprehensive.
Thumb fungus in a child is best treated with safe folk remedies at the very beginning of the development of the disease. Or consult your doctor first.
As in adults, the treatment of big toe fungus can be done with both pharmaceutical preparations and home remedies. Let's dwell on that.
Drugs from the pharmacy
In the event that the fungus on the thumb has gone too far, then the problem should be treated not only with local means. It is advisable to consult a specialist on taking pills. There are a large number of them today, so it is important to choose the most suitable one for you.
The most popular tablets based on terbinafine and ketoconazole. But the fact is that tablets have many contraindications. Therefore, in no case should they be drunk by people with kidney or liver failure, and also by people with heart problems. Care should be taken to take such tablets at the same time as other drugs. This is especially true for hormonal drugs.
For topical treatment of the fungus, sprays, gels and ointments are used. It is also recommended to choose them together with the attending physician. They perfectly help fight nail fungus at the initial stages of the development of the disease. An excellent help is medicinal varnishes, which should be applied directly to the affected nails.
Varnishes are able to destroy the structure of the cell membrane of a pathogenic fungus in the shortest possible time. It also makes sense to use such means to prevent the disease, since they have absolutely no side effects and are completely safe.
However, if the nail is so badly damaged that you have to remove it, then there are special solutions. These substances are applied to a pre-steamed affected toenail, after which the sore spot is closed with a plaster and bandage. After a few hours, everything is painlessly removed.
Removing an unhealthy nail is an excellent alternative to surgery. Finally, together with the stratum corneum, pathogenic microorganisms are killed and removed. And special auxiliary substances allow a new healthy nail to grow as actively as possible.
folk recipes
You can simultaneously deal with nail fungus and folk methods. There is a huge number of them. Consider some of the most common and effective. So daily warm baths with salt help a lot. They help soften the skin and disinfect the nail.
Kills mushrooms and fresh garlic juice. You should mix warm vegetable oil with garlic pulp and leave for a day.
Lubricate the sore finger and affected foot skin daily before bedtime for a month for complete healing. Please note that visible results should not stop after the first two procedures as all infection needs to be killed completely.
Controlling toenail fungus is extremely difficult once you start the disease.
Therefore, it is recommended to take action immediately after noticing the first symptoms. Simultaneous treatment with folk remedies and pharmacy remedies will certainly give a good result.