Nail fungus infection is a serious medical and social problem.
Pathogens are stable in the external environment and are easily transmitted from person to person.
If you detect the disease in time, you can protect yourself, your family members and others from infection.
And to understand when consulting a qualified doctor is necessary, it does not hurt to know the nail fungus.
There are many types of fungi.
And many of them can cause nail diseases.
The common name of this unpleasant disease is onychomycosis.
Depending on the specific fungus that leads to the development of onychomycosis, the disease is called.
What does nail fungus look like: types of diseases
The most common are:
- Athlete's foot.
- Rubrophytia.
- Trichophytosis.
- Favus.
- Candidiasis.
The causative agent of each of these diseases affects not only the nails, but also the skin and hair.
Therefore, if there are changes that appear in the body, even small ones at first glance, it is better to see a doctor.
Perhaps this will help identify the beginning of the disease and stop the spread of the infection.
Athlete's foot
Interestingly, when the disease occurs in the nails, the first and fifth toes are most often affected.
Why fungi choose them is unknown.
First of all, the appearance of the nails changes:
- The pink color gives way to yellowish.
- The surface becomes dull and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickening and tubercles appear on the plate.
- Dense growths (hyperkeratosis) develop underneath.
- Canary-colored spots or bands appear in the thickness of the nail.
The shape of the nail itself lasts a long time - several weeks or even months.
The independent advantage is gradually destroyed.
It becomes as if rusty, uneven.
Another feature of athlete's foot is that this disease only develops in the feet.
The same picture as nail fungus looks like on the hands will not be the same.
If so, it's not athlete's foot.
Rubrophytia
In this case, onychomycosis is caused by a fungus called Trichophyton Red.
There are three forms of the disease:
- Normotropic form.
- Hypertrophic.
- Atrophic variety.
In the normotrophic form of onychomycosis, the nail plate does not collapse for a long time.
White or yellow streaks (leukonychia) appear in the thickness.
At first they were separated from each other, but gradually merged into one place.
In the normal course of this disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic nail rubrophytosis proceeds in a different way.
The first record became boring and lost its shine.
It thickens due to growth (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail takes a beak-like shape and collapses easily.
And this applies not only to independent advantages.
The long course of this disease gives the nail a resemblance to a bird's claw - onychoryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
Nails become dull and become a dirty gray color.
In a relatively short time, the nail plate becomes thinner and destroyed.
Along the edges, in the nail folds, the nail tissue remains, but it may also disappear.
Trichophytosis
This fungus causes disease of the entire surface of the skin.
Onychomycosis only develops in half of the patients, and fingernails are affected.
What the initial stage of nail fungus looks like trichophytosis does not allow to make an accurate diagnosis, because there are similarities with other micro.
The surface of the nail plate becomes dull and the color becomes gray.
Over time, nails experience brittleness and collapse.
In some cases, it may peel from its bed.
This process is long and can take several years.
Favus
A synonym for this pathology is scabies.
Children rarely get sick.
This disease has a long and chronic course.
The causative agent is some fungi of the genus Trichophyton.
First, due to subungual keratosis, the plate thickens and moves away from the nail bed.
At the same time, it began to collapse.
In its thickness, one can see one yellow spot - scutula.
Gradually it acquires a dirty color.
Nail death occurs after several months from the onset of the disease.
This process is usually accompanied by other manifestations of hair and skin.
Candidiasis
Yeast, the causative agent of this infection, usually lives in the human body and mucous membranes.
Activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic lesions, which can also spread to the nails.
These reasons are possible
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II. Immunodeficiency States.
- Iii.Taking hormonal drugs.
- IV.Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are affected with equal frequency.
Visually, what nail fungus looks like in the early stages with a yeast infection is difficult to confuse with other diseases.
The nail plate acquires a brown color and becomes wavy due to stripes and indentations.
White spots appear on its surface and in its thickness.
They are loose and easily removed from the nail (if they lie superficially).
The nail itself flows, peeling from the nail bed.
Along its side, in the cuticle area, a cheesy layer also appears.
It becomes red and inflamed.
The interdigital space is also affected.