Fungal diseases of the toenails or fingernails are treated with pharmaceutical products - antiseptics, creams and tablets. In addition, there is also treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies; Let's take a closer look at the most effective of them.
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 at sites of infection.
Reasons for this discomfort:
- endocrine diseases that reduce immunity;
- Immune system disorders, including HIV infection;
- Obesity;
- heavy sweating;
- Shoes are out of season and stay in closed shoes for a long time;
- neglect of personal hygiene;
- endemic factor;
- specific working conditions.
The main causes of mycoses are, for one reason or another, reduced immunity, poor personal hygiene and the introduction of a fungal infection from outside.
When conditions are suitable for a fungal infection, the infection progresses rapidly, causing symptoms characteristic of infection of certain areas:
- Skin;
- nail plates;
- internal organs;
- Joints.
Fungi on toenails at the initial stage of development may have mild symptoms characteristic of hypovitaminosis or dermatitis – slight peeling of the skin on the feet, mild itching.
Characters that appear
After some time required for the infection to develop, the signs of athlete's foot become more characteristic:
- increased itching of the skin;
- slight swelling of the tissue around the affected area;
- qualitative change in the nail plate - change in color, deformation;
- nail crumbles;
- Thickening of the nail plate, subungual tissue;
- Roughening of the skin on fingers and toes;
- formation of cracks between the toes;
- Detachment of the nail from the bed on the sides of the board;
- keratinization of the stratum corneum of the nail plate;
- deformation of the nail, acquisition of a brown tint of the plate;
- gradual detachment from bed.
The appearance of these symptoms indicates the progression of the infection, which, if left untreated, leads to a fungal infection of the skin and adjacent nail plates.
Treating toenail fungus is not as easy as it seems at first glance; The problem is that the nail plates are almost constantly covered when closed - by shoes, socks. For men, treatment of mycosis of the nail plates is particularly difficult due to increased sweating and wearing closed shoes at any time of the year.
How do you get rid of toenail fungus? Some take medication – take pills and use topical nail treatments. Some resort to folk remedies to treat mycoses. Which is preferable – drug practice or alternative methods of therapy?
Mycosis therapy
Therapy of mycosis of the nail plates is a targeted, sequential 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 and then apply creams or agents that inhibit the growth and reproduction of fungi.
The choice of drugs depends on the type of fungus causing the infection, which is determined during diagnosis in the office of a doctor, dermatologist or mycologist.
If the pathogen is not diagnosed, the treatment of mycosis can drag on for a long period of time and turn into an acute chronic form, the therapy of which produces results only with the use of systemic antimycotics, but only on the basis of the diagnosis.
Consequences of incorrect treatment of nail fungus:
- the appearance of symptoms of severe mycosis;
- Development of dependence on the drugs used, which negates therapy;
- Damage to surrounding tissue – skin, adjacent nails;
- Self-infection leading to infection of the nail plates of the hands, intestinal dysbiosis;
- Decrease in the body's defenses;
- the occurrence of concomitant dermatological diseases;
- Treatment with systemic drugs that have a toxic effect on the liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.
Methods of alternative medicine are essentially similar to drug treatment, but the therapeutic agents and methods used are different - drugs, properties of chemicals, herbs, oils.
Home treatment
Folk remedies for toenail fungus have one essence: they change the alkaline environment of the affected area into an acidic one, which leads to the death of fungal spores and inhibits their reproduction.
For this purpose, traditional folk medicine uses:
- Soap or detergent for softening fabrics;
- Oils for antiseptic treatment, disinfection of affected skin areas, nail plates;
- Acid solutions, chemical compounds for therapeutic baths;
- medical preparations for use.
Among the various ways to get rid of nail plate fungus, we present the most effective ones.
Nail mycosis treatments:
- An aqueous laundry soap solution.
- A solution of water and 9% vinegar.
- Aqueous solution of manganese.
- ammonia solution.
- Tea tree oil.
- lactic acid.
- Glycolic acid.
- Boric acid against nail fungus.
- Ammonium persulfate.
- Potassium dichromate.
- Ammonia.
- bleaching powder.
- Formaldehyde.
- Alhydride.
These substances treat nail plate fungus, but you should follow the rules for use and dosage of the substance and use respiratory protection.
Successful treatment does not only depend on the right choice of medication for therapy and diagnosis. If all the necessary tests have been passed and medications have been purchased, there can always be an unsatisfactory treatment result.
Three components of competent treatment:
- Correct diagnosis of the disease.
- Correctly selected drugs taking into account age, individual characteristics and contraindications.
- Accurate implementation of the recommendations and intended use of the products.
During therapy, you need to monitor personal hygiene and limit the consumption of simple carbohydrates and sugars.
ethnoscience
It is possible to cure mycosis of toenails with folk remedies if the fungal infection has not progressed to a moderate or moderate form. That is, treatment is successful at the initial stage of progression of mycosis, when one or more nail plates are affected, without fully involving the skin of the foot in the inflammatory process.
Curing toenail fungus with folk remedies or with the help of drug therapy is possible only with constant and regular procedures to cure mycoses.
Toenail treatment options include:
- Using baths to soften nail plates.
- Local application of products with antiseptic properties.
- Applying active ingredients with fungistatic effects to the affected area.
- Applications with active ingredients.
You need to understand that in order to quickly get rid of toenail fungus, use therapeutic or traditional methods at the first signs of mycosis, without waiting for the middle form of the lesion.
Folk recipes
From the user's point of view, let's consider effective recipes against mycoses that work perfectly in the treatment of nail fungus.
Soap and water solution
- For baths that soften the nail plate and rough skin of the feet, use ordinary 72% laundry soap dissolved in boiling water.
- At a tolerable temperature, the feet with the solution are lowered into a basin and left there for 15-20 minutes.
- After the procedure, the stratum corneum of the nail plate is removed with a grinding file and the keratinized skin layer is removed from the foot. This enables better absorption of the active ingredients of the antimycotics that are subsequently used.
lactic acid
- Lactic acid can be used for this purpose. However, before immersing the feet in a solution of acid and water, they must be steamed in plain hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Lactic acid is then diluted with water in a ratio of 10 g of 40% acid and 0. 5 l. Water.
- Do not leave your feet in the solution for more than 5 minutes. Before use, it is recommended to apply the solution to your elbow to test sensitivity.
- If there are cracks between the fingers or other wounds, it is not advisable to use acid or limit the exposure to 2-3 minutes.
Vinegar essence solution
The property of vinegar essence is to change the tissue environment into acid and thereby kill fungal spores.
- The solution should be used depending on individual sensitivity.
- Acid baths are used for the treatment and antiseptic treatment of toenail fungus with folk remedies and drug therapy before the use of pharmaceutical antiseptics.
ammonia solution
Ammonia, which has antibacterial, fungicidal and healing effects.
- Its application is recommended in the initial stages of fungal development, otherwise the application can be classified as an antiseptic treatment.
- Ammonia is used in mycoses to treat the affected area, the nail must be steamed and cleaned of the stratum corneum.
- The entire affected area and adjacent nails are treated with ammonia.
oils
Eucalyptus oil has a whole range of properties:
- disinfected;
- heals;
- destroys bacteria, fungi.
In addition, it does not dry out the skin and relieves minor pain, itching and redness.
- Treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies using oils occurs mainly on the skin.
- Its use helps a lot with fungal cracks in the skin between the fingers and relieves the itching of the periungual fold.
- Can be used directly on the nail.
Glycolic and boric acid
I use these acids to treat fungus, to treat the skin and the surface of the nail plate. However, it is better to carry out such treatment without there being any cracks in the skin or other damage.
- As a rule, a 2-5% acid solution is used, which is applied to the steamed nail plate.
- Acids have an active fungicidal effect; they are used as a peeling, i. e. H. They destroy the top layer of the dermis or stratum corneum of the nail.
- Application should be carried out carefully so as not to burn surrounding tissues.
manganese
If you use the concentrate, moisten an ear swab with water and apply dry powder to it, the product cauterizes the affected surface and kills all pathogenic plants.
Usually foot baths are used with a solution in which they are kept for 15 minutes. Sulfur ointment or zinc oxide is then applied to the affected nails.
Sulfur-containing aldehyde
Highly toxic liquid gas that kills all flora:
- Mushroom;
- bacterial;
- Lice;
- Ticks.
Disinfects and sanitizes surfaces.
How do you treat fungus with sulfur dioxide?
- It is applied to steamed nails for 1 minute. It is advisable to wear a gauze bandage and protect the skin of the feet with petroleum jelly.
- The process is repeated three times after 3 days.
bleaching powder
- Dissolve 50 g of lime in 1 liter. water and mix it well, lower your legs for 2 minutes.
- Then we immerse our feet in a bath of water and soda for 15 minutes.
- We repeat the process 2 times a week.
- After using this product, treat the skin and nail tissue with essential oil.
formaldehyde
- Apply in pure form to the nail for 1 minute and then wash off under running water.
- After using formaldehyde for nail mycosis, you need to apply a soft product - cream, oil - to the nails.
- Apply formaldehyde 3-5 times, once a week.
Before treating toenail fungus with these products, conduct tolerance tests and follow precautions when handling toxic substances. Before applying or processing the nails, they must be steamed and the horny layer of the plate removed.
Diploma
Folk remedies for mycoses are very diverse and with the right approach you can achieve a positive response to treatment. The combination of medication and folk practices is acceptable and the most reasonable option. The use of local pharmaceutical ointments after traditional procedures may be the most effective therapeutic option.