Onychomycosis is an insidious disease, as many do not recognize the first symptoms and turn to specialists as the disease progresses. At this stage, it is impossible not to notice the signs, the nails begin to collapse, bounce off, the inflammation spreads to the skin, the nearby areas become inflamed. To take timely action, you need to know what your nail fungus looks like.
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population faces a fungal infection. Onichomycosis or nail damage is not only an aesthetic problem, in later stages the disease causes physical discomfort.
It is difficult to treat onychomycosis, a disease that responds better to treatment if it begins to take action at an early stage. To do this, you need to know what the nails affected by the fungus look like.
Description of the disease
A fungal disease affecting the nails is called onychomycosis. The fungus penetrates deep into the plate and destroys the keratin - the base of the nail plate. Fungal spores enter the space between cells and begin to multiply rapidly.
If the infection is not treated, the disease affects the nails and, in the absence of proper therapy, spreads to nearby skin areas.
Infection
There are fungal spores in the environment. They are very resistant to external influences, the spores do not die even at temperatures below zero. But despite this, the active reproduction of fungi is only possible in hot and humid environments, so people are most at risk when visiting public baths, swimming pools, gyms.
If there is a person infected with onychomycosis among the visitors, fungal spores will remain on the things they have been in contact with, which will remain active for a long time. And these spores affect the skin and nails of healthy people. To "catch" the infection, it is enough to walk barefoot on the floor with fungal spores.
Advice! Particularly dangerous are wooden surfaces - floors, shower grilles, benches. The fact that the wood has a porous structure and even thorough disinfection cannot destroy the spores of pathogenic microorganisms.
But, of course, not every "encounter" with fungi ends in disease. In most cases, the body's immune system successfully fights the infection. But if the body is weakened or the person does not follow basic hygiene measures, the likelihood of developing onychomycosis increases.
Factors contributing to the development of the disease
In order for a mushroom to start its authorization activity, certain conditions must be met. The elderly are most susceptible to the disease and have a weakened immune system, so onichomycosis is more common in older people than in younger ones. Risk factors:
- non-compliance with hygiene rules, wearing too tight shoes, clothes and shoes made of synthetic materials;
- the presence of any damage to the skin, even a small scratch, is the "gateway" to infection;
- pathology of the endocrine system;
- chronic diseases that weaken the immune system;
- long-term use of drugs, especially hormones, cytostatics and antibiotics.
Advice! By doing a manicure or pedicure, you can get onychomycosis at a beauty salon. If the master does not pay enough attention to sterilizing the instruments, the files from the cutter can become a source of infection.
Pathogens of the disease
To date, about fifty species of fungi have been identified that can cause onichomycosis. For this reason, you should not self-heal. Drugs that are effective for one type of nail fungus may be useless if the disease is caused by other types of pathogens.
The complexity of the treatment lies in the fact that the infection is not localized on the surface of the nail but under the nail plate. Therefore, the use of external drugs does not always give the expected effect. If left untreated, the disease will progress. Moreover, the more they start the disease, the harder it will be to cure.
Onchomycosis often appears on the legs. The infection can affect the nails of the first toe, but over time it can spread to other nails. The fungus on hand is much less common, but this disease should not be considered rare.
Clinic
The symptoms depend on the form and stage of the lesion, so it is impossible to clearly answer the question of what the fingernails look like.
The most common case
The initial stage is called normotrophic. At this stage, the manifestations are blurred, so many patients do not pay attention to it. You will most often see the following signs:
- loss of transparency;
- the appearance of yellowish spots, most often on the outer edge;
- sometimes there is a feeling that a "cavity" has formed between the nail and the nail bed.
This lesion is called distal-lateral and is the most common. If no treatment has been given, the process will begin to progress. Subungual keratosis appears. This phenomenon is characterized by an increased growth of horny cells, as a result of which the nail becomes thicker.
Advice! Hyperkeratosis is a normal reaction of the nail to an infection. Moreover, the deeper the infection penetrates the nail plate, the thicker the nail becomes.
At a later stage, complete damage to the nail plate is detected, and signs of dystrophy appear. Gradually, the matrix is also involved in the process - at the site of nail outgrowth. At this stage, even the removal of the nail does not work, as the patient’s nail plate is already starting to grow.
Surface shape
In the initial stage, whitish spots appear on the nails in this form. They grow over time, grabbing the entire surface of the nail. The disc will be loose and rough. If you scratch your nails with hard objects, the scale will start to separate.
Advice! This form of fungal disease occurs only on the toes, most often on the big toes, less often on the little toes.
Proximal subungual
In this form, the affected nails look like this:
- the tissues surrounding the nail are red and inflamed;
- the cylinder swells, becomes painful;
- the cuticle begins to separate from the nail;
- dystrophic changes appear in the nail, first grooves appear on the disc, then brittleness appears, and at an advanced stage the disc disappears.
Mushroom varieties
Manifestations of the disease also depend on the type of pathogen. Of course, the exact type of pathogen can only be determined after testing. External signs also vary, but symptoms are still not diagnosed:
- Dermatophyte. Fungi from the genus Dermatophytes feed on keratin, meaning they "attack" the hair, nails and the top layer of the heel. About 40 fungi of this type are known, but onychomycosis causes only about a dozen pathogens. The source of infection is a sick person, it can be infected through direct contact or the use of common objects. First, streaks and spots appear on the affected nails, then the edge of the nail gradually turns yellow and gradually lags behind the nail bed. The larger the patch area, the greater the extent of infection.
- Yeasts. These are pathologies caused by fungi from the genus Candida. This type of pathogen is opportunistic. That is, there are a certain amount of fungi on the surface of the skin and nails, but as immunity decreases, the fungi begin to multiply, causing inflammation. When the nails are damaged, the plate gradually thins, turns yellow, then browns and lags behind the nail bed. With this type of infection, the nail folds will be severely affected, red, swollen and painful.
Advice! Usually, the fungal infection develops gradually. Often, the disease lasts for years without getting into an advanced stage. But when the nail plate is affected by yeasts, the disease progresses very quickly.
- Forms. The infection caused by molds is located at the top of the plate without penetrating deep into the plate. Therefore, this type of onychomycosis is easier to treat than others. The first sign of damage is a change in the color of the nail plate. Moreover, the nail gets an unnatural color, it can turn green or black. In the initial stage, dark spots appear on the nails, which gradually develop into spots and change the color of the whole plate over time.
If onychomycosis is not treated, the pathogens are transferred to the skin of the foot, causing skin mycosis. In this case, symptoms such as itching, cracks on the skin appear. It will be painful for the patient to buy shoes and walk.
What should I do?
What should you do if you notice signs of a fungal infection? Self-healing is not worth it. A dermatologist should be consulted. The specialist prescribes tests and makes an accurate diagnosis. Parents of children need to be especially careful. Of course, in children, nail fungus is not monitored very often, but nonetheless, such a disease occurs at any age.
Keep in mind that the earlier treatment is started, the easier it is to cope with the disease. If the fungal infection is treated at an early stage, it is possible to use local remedies - ointments, solutions. But it must be treated persistently for several weeks.
In the advanced stage, not only ointments but also systemic drugs, i. e. tablets, should be used. Such drugs are taken orally from the digestive tract, the active ingredients are absorbed into the bloodstream and transported throughout the body along with the bloodstream. Thus, the infection is destroyed from within.
It will be very helpful to work on strengthening the immune system at any stage of the disease. Immunomodulators are prescribed by a specialist if necessary. And the patient has to create a resting order alone, sleep more and walk daily. You should also pay attention to your diet. The "favorite food" of mushrooms is sugar. Therefore, you should keep the amount of sweets in your diet to a minimum.
So it will be useful for any person to know what the nail fungus on their hands and toes looks like. Such knowledge helps to recognize the signs of the disease in time and to start treatment at the earliest stages. This allows you to cope quickly with the disease and take systemic medications that negatively affect the liver.