Onychomycosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic fungi. This problem is closely related to many people, because this disease is extremely common and highly contagious. Therefore, learning how to get rid of toenail fungus helps everyone. Let us figure out which drugs can be used during treatment and how traditional medicine can help.
In most cases, fungal nail infections develop in old age. However, this disease is likely to develop in a young and powerful person. Less commonly, onychomycosis occurs in children. Everyone is at risk of infection, so the question of how to get rid of nail fungus is closely related to everyone.
symptom
To start treatment in time, you need to know how it manifests. The insidious thing about this disease is that it will gradually develop. In the early days, when you can get rid of nail fungus quickly, most people simply don't pay attention to the first signs.
In fact, if a spot appears on the corner of the nail, few people will be shocked. Only then, when the disease affects most of the nails and the steel plate begins to collapse, do people begin treatment.
At the same time, there is only one answer to the question of how to get rid of the fungus quickly-you need to start treatment at the earliest stage. If the affected area has exceeded one-third of the area of the nail plate, the treatment will take a long time.
Therefore, the main sign of the disease is discoloration of the nail plate. In most cases, this change will appear on the corner of the toenail of the big toe. Less commonly, the stain appears on the inner edge of the nail or on the other toe.
It is even less common to notice nail fungus on the hands, most commonly when women experience this type of onychomycosis. The fact is that ladies often do nail art, and the quality of equipment disinfection is not high. Nail damage is a predisposing factor for the development of the disease.
Suggest!Of course, the nail art itself is not harmful, and there is no need to refuse this sanitary procedure. You should only ensure that the owner carefully disinfects the instruments or uses separate files and pliers.
Without treatment, the stain will start to grow. In addition, the structure of the nails will begin to change. The sheet becomes thicker, cracks may appear, and the sheet begins to collapse.
Usually, onychomycosis occurs at the same time as dermatomycosis of the feet. In this case, the skin in the affected area becomes red, inflamed, and painful cracks appear. This disease is accompanied by an unpleasant smell on the feet.
At this stage, it is impossible not to notice the manifestations of the disease, so in this advanced stage, most patients go to the doctor or start trying to heal themselves.
Suggest!Self-medication of fungal nail disease is very dangerous because the patient cannot determine the type of pathogen himself. Therefore, the measures he took may be ineffective.
If there is no treatment or ineffective, the disease will develop. The pegboard will begin to peel off. At this stage, bacterial infections are often added, leading to the development of the purulent process. If the disease starts to become severe, it is recommended to completely remove the diseased nails. Therefore, it is best not to bring this matter to surgery, but to start treatment in time.
The basic principle
It is necessary to remember that getting rid of onychomycosis forever is not easy. This disease often recurs. Especially if the patient has not completed the treatment, the course of treatment will be interrupted once the obvious symptoms of the disease have passed.
In order to rule out the development of recurrence, you need to continue treatment until laboratory tests confirm that there is no infection.
Suggest!It is recommended to conduct two control tests, two weeks apart. If both tests are negative, the disease is considered completely cured.
The main principles for the treatment of fungal diseases are:
- Regularity
- A complicated method.
There is no one, even the most effective medicine will help from 1 time. The duration of the treatment process is determined individually, and its duration is affected by the following factors:
- The type of pathogen (mold forms lesions on the nail surface, so this type of onychomycosis is easier to cure than diseases caused by yeast or dermatophytes);
- The degree of damage, in the initial stage, the treatment may take 3-5 weeks, but if the onychomycosis is actively progressing, it will take months or even more than a year to treat;
- As far as the patient’s health is concerned, many effective antifungal drugs have an impressive list of contraindications, so you have to use less effective but safer methods.
In addition, you need to remember that even the most modern and effective drugs will not help if the patient does not follow the following rules:
- Good hygiene is very important. You must disinfect all shoes and it is best to replace them with new socks and slippers. You need to disinfect the bathtub and the manicure tools used to treat diseased nails on a regular basis.
- Follow your diet. It is necessary to minimize the sugar in the diet and quit alcohol and high-fat foods. But fermented dairy products, grains, and vegetables, on the contrary, will be useful.
- Have tried a healthy lifestyle. Pay attention to the combination of work and rest, spend more time outdoors, ensure adequate sleep, and try to avoid stress. All these measures will help support the immune system.
- Choose the right shoes. Avoid tight-fitting models and choose shoes and boots made of breathable materials. There are even man-made materials that can provide normal air exchange, such as ecological leather.
Suggest!It is convenient to use a special spray to disinfect your shoes, but you can also use home remedies. For example, vinegar.
Pharmacy products
There are many medicines available to fight fungal diseases. Their difference lies in the release form and active ingredient. It is impossible to recommend any remedy that will help everyone without exception. The doctor should prescribe the treatment of nail fungus. In most cases, the following solutions are recommended:
- Application of topical medicament. In most cases, antifungal drugs are prescribed in the form of solutions or varnishes, and creams are rarely recommended;
- Take systemic drugs, namely capsules or tablets. It is up to the doctor to decide whether or not to use pills. Usually, they are prescribed at a late stage or when local remedies do not work;
- Take multivitamin complexes and general methods of strengthening the body.
Topical agent
In order to cure nail fungus, it is necessary to use drugs that are applied directly to the diseased nails. The doctor should prescribe drugs, and the patient's task is to use them correctly.
First, you need to prepare your nails. The nail plate is different from the skin and has poor absorption of drugs, so onychomycosis is more difficult to treat than dermatophytes. The nail preparation is as follows:
- You should use a warm bath to make your nails softer. Add soda, vinegar, sea salt, herbal decoction to the water (of course, you need to add a medicine, not at the same time);
- The bath time is about 20 minutes, during which the nails will have enough time to soften;
- After that, you need to treat the nails: cut them as short as possible and file them to remove the loose peeling layer in the affected area.
After such treatment, the use of topical medication will be more beneficial. Their active substances will be able to penetrate deeply and directly reach the focal point of fungal infections.
The local medicine is used 1-2 times a day. Use a dropper (usually equipped with a bottle) or pipette to apply the solution. You don't need to drip on the level of the nail, but on the outer edge of it.
Spread the cream on the entire surface of the plate and wipe gently. Healing varnish is one of the most convenient ways to treat onychomycosis. They do not need to be used daily, but twice a week. However, this remedy is only helpful in the early stages of the disease.
Suggest!Women especially like to use medicinal varnishes, because decorative varnishes can be applied to the medicinal coatings.
Additional measures
In order to speed up the healing process, in the process of removing nail fungus, it is recommended to perform hardware pedicure (nail art) or use laser treatment. During the operation, the affected part of the nail was carefully removed.
When performing a hardware pedicure, it is removed mechanically, that is, the nail is cut off with a special knife. After the treatment is completed, apply a medicinal antifungal agent on the surface. Laser surgery can not only remove the affected part of the nail, it can also be treated because the laser beam can kill the fungus.
Family approach
Some people use simple and cheap drugs to treat fungal infections and get rid of fungal infections very successfully. The following is a description of the most effective means.
Bitter
This is one of the most effective remedies and can be used in combination with medications. The essence of this method is that the acidic environment has an adverse effect on fungi.
The easiest way to deal with it is to add vinegar to the tray. For two warm water, take a cup of vinegar (9%). It is recommended to take such a bath every night before applying topical medicine. You can also apply it by applying a piece of cotton wool soaked in vinegar to the painful nail for a quarter of an hour.
garlic
The most common garlic is effective against fungal diseases. You can simply lubricate the sore area with fresh juice or apply a compress. To perform this procedure, you need to prepare garlic porridge, place it between two layers of gauze, and then apply the resulting lotion to the affected area for an hour.
Celandine
Celandine juice effectively destroys fungal infections. Apply fresh juice to the affected area. In winter, for this, you can use celandine tincture, a decoction of this herb suitable for bathing.
Therefore, only experts can answer the question of how to remove the fungus from the nails after the test. Taking into account the type of pathogen, a treatment method is prescribed. It is best to use a set of remedies, which can be used in combination with medicines and family remedies.