Fungal diseases of the skin and nails belong to the group of human infectious diseases caused by fungi that cause diseases. Fungal infections (mycoses) are different. There are very severe forms of infections with a high mortality rate. However, few people suffer from them. Nail fungus is not one of them and it is impossible to die directly from it. But fungal infections of the skin and nails are one of the most common fungal diseases. It is a contagious disease that spreads from person to person.
What does a nail fungus look like?
Many people do not pay attention to the changes on the nail plates, very often considering these changes as a result of trauma or age characteristics. Fungal nail diseases have many different manifestations. But, as a rule, changes in the nails with fungal disease have three main manifestations: changes in the color of the nail plate, its thickening, crumbling or destruction.
Mushroom or not mushroom?
So, you may notice some changes on the skin or nail plates. It remains to be decided whether it is a mushroom or not.
There are many fungal diseases of the skin and nails - several hundred names. However, according to statistics, every other nail disease is fungal. That is, if your nails change, the chance of having a fungus on your nails is 50%, regardless of any manifestations and factors. But what about foot skin diseases? They obey the same laws of probability. That is, most damage to the skin of the feet is fungal. Remember, untreated fungus on the skin of the feet will sooner or later turn into fungus on the nails. And it is not so easy to get rid of nail fungus. Don't be fooled. If you suspect you have skin or nail disease, consult your mycologist!
Despite the fact that most of the changes on the nails turn out to be fungi, another nature of these changes should be taken into account. Here, it is necessary to point out, first of all, chronic nail trauma. Changes on the nails can occur in some common skin diseases, internal infectious diseases, lesions of the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular system, various types of intoxications, as well as dystrophy. Finally, nail changes can be congenital. These external nail changes are similar to fungal infections, but they are not. Treatment with antifungal drugs against fungal nail diseases, of course, will not be successful. This is another reason to consult a mycologist and not try to cure yourself of any nail changes.
Can you recognize the nail fungus yourself?
You can not! And no professional doctor, no matter how much experience he has, will deal with the treatment of fungal disease without confirming the diagnosis in the laboratory, even with the most typical signs of fungus on the feet. Laboratory confirmation is a prerequisite for any fungal disease. Simply put, if the lab finds a fungus in a skin flake or a piece of nail taken for analysis, then this is a fungal disease.
The dilemma: to treat or not to treat the fungus?
Some people doubt whether it is worth treating nail fungus at all. Many argue as follows: does treating a fungal disease require money? It requires. How long will treatment be needed? Maybe a long time. Then, really, why bother to treat mycosis? It doesn’t matter that the nails change because they can finally hide. . .
Is this game worth the candle? Why do you need mycosis treatment? Let’s try to understand this problem. . . Once started, the fungal infection will not go anywhere until the fungus is destroyed. Fungi are very persistent and can survive for months in a fallen skin shell. So what can you expect from nail fungus? First, the cells of the fungus enter the skin, solidify, multiply and spread on it, and then under favorable conditions are introduced into the nail. Over time, the fungus affects all parts of the nail and spreads to other nails or skin. The fungus on the nails is a litter and a source of infection for other parts of the body. Even if all the foci of fungus on the skin of the feet or trunk are cured, re-infection comes from the remaining foci of infection on the nails.
Fungal nail diseases impair the quality of life. Research conducted by the National Academy of Mycology has shown that the presence of fungus on the nails or mycosis of the feet significantly reduces the quality of life - a set of indicators that characterize a person's emotional, mental and social well-being. It turned out that the quality of life in the case of fungal nail disease is reduced on average to 50-55% of the full value typical of a healthy person. At the same time, patients noticed not only physical discomfort associated with thickening or destruction of nails, but also experienced various experiences, fears and negative emotions. It has been found that the nail fungus severely limits a person's activity, interfering with his rest, sports, communication with other people. Moreover, feelings of discomfort and shame over the condition of the nails sometimes prevented them from visiting the doctor in a timely manner. The longer the disease lasted, the more severe the fungus on the nails became, and the worse the quality of life.
In addition to reducing the quality of life, fungi also lead to certain health problems. The first and main health problem that arises due to the presence of nail fungus is the fungus itself - a chronic infectious disease that constantly destroys the nails and threatens to spread to people around them, especially to family members of the patient. Otherwise, the presence of relatives with the fungus is noticed by at least 1/3 of patients with nail damage. According to medical statistics and epidemiological studies, in Russia, the presence of fungal nail disease can be expected in almost every fifth adult. At the same time, the incidence has increased by 2. 5 times in the last 10 years. A further increase in incidence is expected. At the same time, the probability of the presence of the fungus increases with age: approximately 2 times every 10 years of life.
Untreated nail fungus and foot mycosis are considered the gateway to other infectious diseases - for example, bacterial - erysipelas. Fungal nail infection significantly complicates the course of diabetes mellitus and can lead to serious complications.
An allergy to the human body with a fungal infection is possible - the creation of hypersensitivity to the fungus as an allergen, or fungal allergy. The development or worsening of the course of diseases such as bronchial asthma, allergic dermatitis, various skin rashes and reactions is possible.
In very rare cases, as a rule, on the background of immunodeficiency, untreated nail fungus led to the development of deep mycosis - germination or penetration of the fungus with blood into the internal organs, which caused death. Fortunately, most modern patients with nail fungus do not have such outcomes. But even if you completely rule out their possibility, you can't leave fungal nail disease without treatment. It is impossible not to treat scabies, lice and other infectious diseases. If you suspect nail fungus, we advise you to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Although we thought this way, the fungus in someone’s nail may have moved by a fraction of a millimeter. This is his job, a small job, so to speak. The mushroom does this constantly, day in and day out. Days add up into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. With age, the disease worsens if the fungus is not treated. One of the latest studies showed that every 5 years the severity of onychomycosis increases by a few points on a special scale. This means that the fungus infects new nails, and on each of them the affected area and the degree of thickening grows. This means that the negative impact of mycosis on health and quality of life will be stronger. That is a proven fact. But that's not all. The stronger the fungal nail infection, the harder it is to treat. If in the early stages of the infection antifungal varnish or nail solution can help, after a few years the antifungal tablets cannot be given up. The longer the illness lasts, the longer they will need to be taken (and bought more). And after ten to twenty years, as a rule, only the removal of the nail plate will help, plus these means.
Visit your doctor as early as possible. Every year, delay the fungus, extend the required period of treatment and observation, add large doses of medication, do the necessary nail treatment. Don't make the big mistake - don't take systemic medications yourself! If fungal nail diseases did not cause the above-mentioned changes, then actually treating the fungus would become just a matter of attitude towards one’s appearance. Then we would put healthy nails on the same list, along with white teeth, clear skin and no bad smell. And the question of the cost of treating mycosis would sound like this: Are you willing to give money to get back your uneaten, not thickened and unwanted nails? However, the question is not the only one. Are you willing to pay to protect your family from athletic foot? Do you want to restore your previous quality of life? Can you stop the spread of the infection today?