Nail fungus can affect even those people who lead a completely normal and healthy lifestyle. Most fungus spreads in saunas, swimming pools and beaches. But, given that 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 most often suffer from fungal diseases. Periodically, they visit places of active public recreation, where they are attacked by the virus. It is gyms, swimming pools and saunas that are the main distributors of this disease.
Causes of toenail fungus
It should be noted right away that nail fungus (in medicine, onychomycosis) is a fairly stable type of infection. This disease affects the entire nail as a whole, destroying it and gradually moving to the skin. The causative agent is a common fungal infection, which is quite 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 towel of a stranger and settle this unpleasant virus on your body. That is why it is necessary to observe all the 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 nail fungus. In any case, if you find a fungus in 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 thing 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). In addition, the 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 such bacteria. In addition, the risk of contracting a fungal infection increases:
- When working in the heat;
- In the presence of psoriasis;
- When wearing uncomfortable shoes with poor airflow;
- In case of damage to the nails;
- With diabetes;
- When walking barefoot in various public places (baths, swimming pools, gyms);
- With a weakened immune system, you can catch toenail fungus;
Nail fungus symptoms
The main signs of nail fungus on the legs:
- Deformed shape of the nail;
- The affected nail gradually acquires a darker color;
- The nail exfoliate and become too brittle;
Moreover, the affected nails often exfoliate from their 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 is not provided timely assistance, the disease will persist and subsequently will only progress and develop. After discovering the primary signs of the disease, a person must 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 still 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 into this solution and hold them there for a while. In the presence of a fungus, brown areas on the nails will necessarily appear, which will indicate the presence of a fungal infection on the human body. After the procedure, the legs must 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 drugs
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 be visible only after the new nail grows. The same drugs can treat the fungus on the hands. The course of treatment is similar. You also need to remember that the fungus can return if the feet are often in a warm and humid environment. The danger of the disease lies in the fact that the virus itself is unusually tenacious, and besides, it quickly develops immunity to the components that make up the active substances. Therefore, if the infection is not treated the first time, then later treatment with the same drug will be impossible. The same goes for the recurrence of the disease. In this case, you will have to choose a new medicine and fundamentally different active ingredients.
We get rid of the fungus with the help of proven folk remedies
- Places affected by a fungal infection should be lubricated with a twenty percent solution of propolis. For maximum effect, you can wipe them with onion pulp. To do this, you must first crush a few medium-sized onions and apply the resulting mixture to the damaged areas of the skin and nail.
- Mix alcohol and garlic pulp in equal proportions, diluting it all 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 cope with those types of fungal diseases that are poorly treatable with drugs. 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. The affected feet must be thoroughly washed and dipped in a bowl of wine vinegar. After that, you need to put on socks soaked in vinegar and go to bed in them.
- Since ancient times, nail fungus has been treated with a fairly simple but effective method - running in the morning through the dew. A half-hour run in the morning dew relieves not only a fungal infection of the feet, but also corns, skin rashes, corns and other things. After the end of the run, the legs should never be wiped, they must dry themselves. 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 the mint leaves with table salt and place the resulting mixture between your toes for one hour. Treatment should be carried out until the complete disappearance of nail fungus.
- Often folk methods include the use of celandine and milkweed. A small bunch of milkweed is taken and poured with three liters of clean boiled water. The mixture is infused for several hours, and it must be wrapped in a blanket. After the decoction is infused, you need to lower your legs into it and keep it for thirty to forty minutes once every two days. Euphorbia has a softening effect, which will help in cutting nails. Similarly, 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 the use of cocklebur 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 huge number of different herbs. It is necessary to mix horsetail grass, blackberry leaves, verbena, calendula flowers and willow bark in equal proportions. From this mixture you need to take only ten grams and pour a glass of water. Put it all on fire and bring to a boil, then remove from the stove and let it brew for three to four hours. With the finished broth, you need to make lotions and put compresses. To increase the effect, it can be taken orally one tablespoon three to four times a day.