Nail fungus can affect even people who lead a completely normal and healthy lifestyle. Most fungi spread in saunas, swimming pools and beaches. But since the disease is not new, it can always be overcome with the help of folk remedies. According to statistics, people who lead a healthy lifestyle often suffer from fungal diseases. Periodically, they visit places of active public recreation, where they are attacked by the virus. Gyms, swimming pools and saunas are the main distributors of this disease.
Causes of nail fungus
It should be noted right away that nail fungus (in medicine, onychomycosis) is quite a stable type of infection. This disease affects the entire nail as a whole, destroying it and gradually moving into the skin. The causative agent is a common fungal infection, which is easily transmitted between people. Onychomycosis can affect the legs in a wide variety of areas. For example, you can wipe your feet once with a stranger's towel and install this nasty virus in your body. That is why it is necessary to observe all rules of personal hygiene when visiting public places of active recreation and sports. The unpleasantness of the disease lies in the fact that it is not limited to the destruction of nails, it gradually passes to the skin. Treating a skin fungus is fundamentally different from treating a toenail fungus. In any case, if you find a fungus on yourself, immediately visit a mycologist. Only he can determine how to remove the fungus from your body. Nail fungus is often caused by fungal organisms called dermatophytes. The favorite place of these organisms is the toes. The fact is that people are used to wearing relatively tight shoes, which create ideal conditions for the existence and prosperity of the fungus (lack of light, heat and humidity). Also, circulation in the feet is much worse than in other parts of the body, so it is very difficult for our body's immune system to detect and destroy these bacteria. Also, the risk of getting a fungal infection increases:
- When working in the heat;
- In the presence of psoriasis;
- When wearing uncomfortable shoes with poor airflow;
- In case of nail damage;
- With diabetes;
- When walking barefoot in various public places (baths, swimming pools, gyms);
- With a weakened immune system, you can get nail fungus;
Symptoms of nail fungus
The main signs of nail fungus on the legs:
- Deformed shape of the nail;
- The affected nail gradually acquires a darker color;
- The nail exfoliates and becomes very brittle;
Also, affected nails often exfoliate from the nail bed. In medicine, this deviation is called onycholysis. Pain in the fingertips and a characteristic odor are the first symptoms of onycholysis. If a person with a fungal infection does not receive timely care, the disease will persist, and subsequently it will only progress and develop. After discovering the main signs of the condition, a person should visit a qualified doctor to determine how to treat nail fungus.
How to recognize and identify nail fungus?
Many are interested in the question of how to even identify the fungus at home. To do this, you need to take a solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) and dilute it in water until a purple color appears. You need to lower your legs in this solution and keep them there for a while. In the presence of a fungus, brown areas will necessarily appear on the nails, which will indicate the presence of a fungal infection in the human body. After the procedure, the legs should be treated with a fifteen percent solution of hydrogen peroxide. At the slightest suspicion, you should immediately consult a doctor.
We treat nail fungus with medication
Separate groups of researchers are confident that, at the moment, the most effective means of combating foot fungus are preparations containing terbinafine. The action of the funds is aimed not only at the destruction of the fungus, but also at the renewal of the nail and skin. In total, the treatment time is about two to three months, but the final result of the treatment will only be visible after the new nail grows. The same medicines can treat the fungus on the hands. The course of treatment is similar. You also need to remember that the fungus can return if your feet are often in a hot, humid environment. The danger of the disease lies in the fact that the virus itself is unusually tenacious and, in addition, quickly develops immunity to the components that make up the active substances. Therefore, if the infection is not treated the first time, further treatment with the same drug will be impossible. The same goes for disease recurrence. In this case, you will have to choose a new drug and fundamentally different active ingredients.
We get rid of the fungus with the help of proven folk remedies
- Sites affected by a fungal infection should be lubricated with a twenty percent propolis solution. For maximum effect, you can clean them with onion pulp. To do this, you must first crush some medium-sized onions and apply the resulting mixture to the damaged areas of the skin and nails.
- Mix alcohol and garlic pulp in equal proportions, diluting everything with a small amount of pure distilled water. The resulting mixture should be applied to damaged areas.
- Garlic compresses are no less effective. It is these compresses that deal with these types of fungal diseases that are badly treatable with medications. In addition to compresses, garlic should be taken orally.
- Patients should definitely drink garlic tinctures and garlic teas - they are great for fungal nail diseases. The result is visible in five to six days.
- Another proven remedy is wine vinegar. Affected feet should be thoroughly washed and soaked in a bowl of wine vinegar. After that, you need to put on socks soaked in vinegar and go to bed with them.
- Since ancient times, nail fungus has been treated with a rather simple but effective method - running in the morning through dew. A half-hour run in the morning dew relieves not only a fungal infection of the feet, but corns, rashes, corns, and other things as well. After the race is over, the legs must not be cleaned in any case, they must be dried. To improve the effect at night, you need to rub your legs with a piece of raw potato and massage the infected areas. You can use this method for no more than one month. But the first results will be visible in a few weeks.
- Crush mint leaves with table salt and place the resulting mixture between your toes for an hour. Treatment should be carried out until the complete disappearance of the nail fungus.
- Often popular methods include the use of celandine and milkweed. A small pile of milkweed is removed and poured with three liters of clean boiled water. The mixture is infused for several hours and must be wrapped in a blanket. After the decoction is infused, you need to lower your legs and hold it for thirty to forty minutes once every other day. Euphorbia has a smoothing effect, which will help with nail trimming. In the same way, you need to prepare celandine and it is also used.
- Lilac flowers have proven themselves well, which do an excellent job with nail fungus. About ten grams of lilac flowers should be added to a glass of alcohol and left to infuse for two weeks. The tincture is used to lubricate infected areas of the skin and nails.
- Another method involves using burr leaves. From them, you need to squeeze the juice and apply it to the skin and nails.
- Last but not least, a fungus-fighting remedy includes a large number of different herbs. It is necessary to mix horsetail grass, blackberry leaves, verbena, marigold flowers and willow bark in equal proportions. From this mixture, you need to take only ten grams and pour a glass of water. Put everything on the fire and bring to a boil, remove from the stove and let it ferment for three to four hours. With the finished broth, you need to make lotions and put compresses. To enhance the effect, one tablespoon can be taken orally three to four times a day.