Nail fungus can affect even those 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 home 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 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 into 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 stranger's towel and settle this nasty virus in 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 the nails, but gradually passes to the skin. Treating a skin fungus is fundamentally different than treating a nail 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 his 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 the 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 this type of bacteria. In addition, 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 damage to the nails;
- with diabetes;
- When walking barefoot in various public places (bathrooms, swimming pools, gyms);
- With a weakened immune system, you can get toenail 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 too brittle;
Also, the affected nails are often exfoliated 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 does not receive timely care, the disease will persist, and subsequently only progress and develop. After discovering the primary signs of the disease, 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 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 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 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 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 two to three months, but the final result of the treatment will be visible only after the new nail grows. The same medications can treat fungus on the hands. The course of treatment is similar. You should also remember that the fungus can return if the feet are often in a hot and humid environment. The danger of the disease lies in the fact that the virus itself is unusually tenacious, and, moreover, 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 medicine will be impossible. The same goes for the recurrence of the disease. In this case, you will have to choose a new drug and fundamentally different active substances.
We get rid of the fungus with the help of proven folk remedies.
- Places affected by fungal infection should be lubricated with a twenty percent solution of propolis. For maximum effect, you can clean them with onion pulp. To do this, you must first grind a few medium-sized onions and apply the resulting mixture to the damaged areas of the skin and nail.
- Mix the alcohol and garlic pulp in equal proportions, diluting it all with a small amount of pure distilled water. The resulting mixture must be applied to the 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 excellent 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 container 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 by a fairly simple, but effective method - running in the morning through the dew. A half-hour run in the morning dew soothes not only a fungal foot infection, but calluses, rashes, calluses, and whatnot. After the end of the race, the legs should not be cleaned in any case, they should be dried on their own. To enhance 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 a 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 nail fungus.
- Often popular 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 must be wrapped in a blanket. After infusing the decoction, you need to lower your legs and hold it for thirty to forty minutes once every two days. Euphorbia has a softening effect, which will help cut nails. Similarly, you need to prepare celandine, and it is also used.
- Lilac flowers have proven themselves and 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 the 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 fungal remedy includes a host 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 the fire and bring to a boil, then remove it from the stove and let it stand for three to four hours. With the finished broth, you need to make lotions and put compresses. To increase the effect, one tablespoon can be taken orally three to four times a day.