Fungal diseases of the toenails or fingernails are treated with pharmaceutical products: antiseptics, creams and tablets. In addition, there is also the treatment of nail fungus with home remedies, let's take a closer look at the most effective ones.
About the infection
Fungus on the legs, feet or nail plates brings many unpleasant moments - from the inability to wear open shoes to itching and burning in infected areas.
Reasons for this discomfort:
- endocrine diseases that reduce immunity;
- diseases of the immune system, including HIV infection;
- obesity;
- profuse sweating;
- shoes are out of season and remain in closed shoes for a long period of time;
- abandonment of personal hygiene;
- endemic factor;
- specific working conditions.
The main causes of mycosis are reduced immunity for one reason or another, lack of personal hygiene and the introduction of a fungal infection from outside.
When conditions are suitable for fungal infection, the infection progresses rapidly, causing symptoms characteristic of infection of certain areas:
- fur;
- nail plates;
- internal organs;
- joints.
Toenail fungus in the initial phase of development may have mild symptoms characteristic of hypovitaminosis or dermatitis: slight peeling of the skin on the feet, mild itching.
Signs that appear
After a time necessary for the infection to develop, the signs of foot fungus become more characteristic:
- increased itchy skin;
- slight swelling of the tissues around the affected area;
- qualitative change in the nail plate: color change, deformation;
- crumbling nails;
- thickening of the nail plate, subungual tissue;
- roughness of the skin of the fingers and toes;
- formation of cracks between the toes;
- detachment of the nail from the bed on the sides of the plate;
- keratinization of the stratum corneum of the nail plate;
- deformation of the nail, acquisition of a brown tint on the plate;
- gradual detachment from the bed.
The appearance of these symptoms indicates the progression of the infection which, if left untreated, affects the skin and adjacent nail plates in a fungal infection.
Treatment of toenail fungus is not as simple as it seems at first glance, the problem is that the nail plates are almost constantly covered in a closed state: shoes, stockings. For men, the treatment of mycosis of the nail plates is especially difficult due to increased sweating and wearing closed shoes at any time of the year.
How to get rid of toenail fungus? Some use medications: they take pills and use topical nail treatments. Some resort to home remedies to treat mycosis. What is preferable: the practice of medication or alternative therapeutic methods?
Mycosis therapy
Therapy for mycosis of nail plates is a sequential, targeted suppression of the fungal environment using local antiseptics and drugs with fungicidal or fungistatic effects.
The essence of drug treatment is to disinfect the affected surface with antiseptic agents, followed by the application of creams or agents that inhibit the growth and reproduction of fungi.
Medications are selected based on the type of fungus causing the infection, which is determined during diagnosis in a doctor's office, dermatologist, or mycologist.
If the pathogen is not diagnosed, the treatment of mycosis can drag on for a long period and turn into an acute chronic form, the therapy of which will give results only with the use of systemic antifungals, but only on the basis of the diagnosis.
Consequences of incorrect treatment of nail fungus:
- the appearance of symptoms of severe mycosis;
- development of addiction to the drugs used, which nullifies the therapy;
- damage to nearby tissues: skin, neighboring nails;
- autoinfection causing infection of the nail plates of the hands, intestinal dysbiosis;
- decreased body defenses;
- the appearance of concomitant dermatological diseases;
- Treatment with systemic drugs that have a toxic effect on the liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.
Alternative medicine methods are essentially similar to drug treatment, but the means and methods of therapy used are different: medications, properties of chemicals, herbs, oils.
Home treatment
Folk remedies for toenail fungus have one essence: changing the alkaline environment of the affected area to acidic, which leads to the death of fungal spores and inhibits their reproduction.
For this, traditional popular medicine uses:
- soap or detergent to soften fabrics;
- oils for antiseptic treatment, disinfection of affected areas of the skin, nail plates;
- solutions of acids, chemical compounds for therapeutic baths;
- medicinal preparations for applications.
Among the various ways to get rid of fungus on the nail plate, we will highlight the most effective ones.
Treatments for nail mycosis:
- An aqueous solution of laundry soap.
- A solution of water and 9% food vinegar.
- Aqueous solution of manganese.
- Ammonia solution.
- Tea tree oil.
- Lactic acid.
- Glycolic Acid.
- Boric acid for nail fungus.
- Ammonium persulfate.
- Potassium dichromate.
- Ammonia.
- Bleaching powder.
- Formaldehyde.
- Alhydride.
These substances treat fungus on the nail plate, however, the rules of application, the dosage of the substance and the use of respiratory protection must be followed.
The success of treatment depends not only on the correct choice of drug for therapy and diagnosis. After passing all the necessary tests and purchasing the medications, there is always room for an unsatisfactory treatment result.
Three components of competent treatment:
- Correct diagnosis of the disease.
- Correctly selected medications, taking into account age, individual characteristics and contraindications.
- Accurate implementation of recommendations and application of products according to instructions.
During therapy, it is necessary to monitor personal hygiene and limit the consumption of carbohydrates and simple sugars.
ethnoscience
It is possible to cure toenail mycosis with the help of folk remedies if the fungal infection has not progressed to a mild or moderate form. That is, the treatment will be successful at the initial stage of mycosis progression, when one or more nail plates are affected, without the skin of the foot being completely involved in the inflammatory process.
It is possible to cure toenail fungus with folk remedies or with the help of drug therapy only with constant and regular procedures aimed at curing the mycosis.
Toenail treatment options include:
- Use baths to soften the nail plates.
- Local application of products with antiseptic properties.
- Application of active agents with a fungistatic effect in the affected area.
- Applications with active substances.
You should understand that to quickly get rid of toenail fungus, therapeutic or traditional methods are used at the first signs of mycosis, without waiting for the middle form of the lesion.
Popular recipes
Let's consider effective recipes, from the point of view of users, for mycosis that work perfectly in the treatment of nail fungus.
Soap and water solution
- For baths that soften the nail plate and rough skin on the feet, use 72% ordinary laundry soap dissolved in boiled water.
- At a tolerable temperature, the feet are immersed in a container with the solution and held for 15-20 minutes.
- After the procedure, the stratum corneum of the nail plate is removed with an abrasive file and the keratinized skin layer of the foot is removed. This will allow greater absorption of the active substances of the antifungal agents used subsequently.
Lactic acid
- Lactic acid can be used for this purpose, but before soaking the feet in a solution of acid and water, they should be steamed in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Subsequently, lactic acid is diluted with water in a proportion of 10 g of 40% acid and 0. 5 l. water.
- Keep your feet in the solution for no more than 5 minutes and before use it is recommended to apply the solution to the elbow to test the sensitivity.
- If there are cracks between the fingers or other wounds, it is not recommended to use acid or limit it to 2-3 minutes.
Vinegar essence solution
The property of vinegar essence is to change the environment of the tissue to acidic, thus killing fungal spores.
- The solution should be used according to your individual sensitivity.
- Acid baths are used for the treatment and antiseptic treatment of toenail fungus with folk remedies and drug therapy, before using pharmaceutical antiseptics.
ammonia solution
Ammonia, which has antibacterial, fungicidal and healing effects.
- Its use is recommended in the initial stages of the appearance of the fungus, otherwise it can be classified as an antiseptic treatment.
- Ammonia is used for mycosis in the form of treatment of the affected area, the nail must be steamed and cleaned from the stratum corneum.
- The entire affected area and adjacent nails are treated with ammonia.
Oils
Eucalyptus oil has a multitude of properties:
- disinfects;
- healing;
- Destroys bacteria, fungi.
In addition, it does not dry out the skin, it relieves minor pain, itching and redness.
- Treating nail fungus with home remedies that use oils is mainly done on the skin.
- Its use helps a lot with cracks in the skin between the fingers due to fungus, and relieves the itching of the periungual fold.
- It can be used directly on the nail.
Glycolic and boric acids.
I use these acids in the treatment of fungus, treating the skin and the surface of the nail plate. But it is better to carry out this treatment without cracks in the skin or other damage.
- As a rule, a 2-5% solution of acids is used, which is applied to the nail plate in steam.
- Acids have an active fungicidal effect; They are used as exfoliants, that is. They destroy the upper layer of the dermis or stratum corneum of the nail.
- The application must be done carefully so as not to burn nearby tissues.
Manganese
If you use the concentrate, moisten an ear swab in water and apply dry powder to it, the product will cauterize the affected surface and kill all pathogenic flora.
Usually, foot baths with a solution are used, in which they are kept for 15 minutes, after which sulfur or zinc oxide ointment is applied to the affected nails.
sulfurous aldehyde
Highly toxic liquid gas that kills all flora:
- fungus;
- bacterial;
- lice;
- ticks.
Disinfects and disinfects surfaces.
How to treat fungus with sulfur dioxide?
- It is applied to the steamed nails for 1 minute. It is advisable to wear a gauze bandage and protect the skin of the feet with Vaseline.
- The procedure is repeated 3 times after 3 days.
Bleaching powder
- Dissolve 50 g of lime in 1 liter. water and mix well, lower your legs for 2 minutes.
- Then we lower our feet into a bath of water and soda for 15 minutes.
- We repeat the procedure 2 times a week.
- After using this product, treat the skin and nail tissue with essential oil.
Formaldehyde
- In its pure form, apply to the nail for 1 minute, then wash off with running water.
- After using formaldehyde for nail mycosis, you should apply a mild product (cream, oil) to your nails.
- Apply formaldehyde 3 to 5 times, 1 time per week.
Before treating toenail fungus with these products, perform tolerance tests and follow precautions with toxic substances. Before applying or processing nails, they must be steamed and the stratum corneum of the plate removed.
Conclusion
Folk remedies for mycosis are quite diverse, and with the right approach, a positive response to treatment can be achieved. Combining medication and folk practices is acceptable and is the most reasonable option. The use of local pharmaceutical ointments after traditional procedures may be the most effective therapeutic option.