General signs of foot fungus: medical classification, treatment methods, prevention

The prevalence of mycoid diseases has made them recognizable and easily treatable diseases at an early stage. But the very signs of foot fungus, which indicate the beginning of an infection, are not known to every person. After all, there are about fifty species of fungi alone. But there is also a broad category of skin diseases - epidermicosis. Therefore, in order to prevent the disease from developing into a condition dangerous to the health of the body, it is necessary to study its characteristics.

General signs

Fungal infections of the skin are in the first place among the diseases of the epidermis. Its signs are quite recognizable. The main difficulty in the diagnostic process is determining the exact type of fungal infection. This is necessary because each of them is resistant to a certain group of antifungal drugs. Therefore, a mandatory visit to the doctor is necessary to carry out the treatment. Precise identification of the mycoid group is impossible without special biological research.

The following signs may be a reason to contact a specialist:

• Cracks in the epidermis between the toes. This area is considered to be most at risk for yeast infection. Additional evidence of infection may include excessively dry skin, flaky feet, and pain.
• Noticeable thickening and roughness of the skin layer. Similar symptoms are observed when a corn or dry callus is formed. But in some cases, the cause of this change is a fungus.
• Destruction of the skin, blisters. Such injuries are often first diagnosed in one leg and then appear in the other.
• Redness of the epidermis, itching or burning. This set of symptoms is considered one of the main signals that confirm a fungal infection. The difficulty of diagnosis in this case lies in the fact that each type of mycoid causes such a set of symptoms.
• Change in the color of the nail plate.
• The appearance of an unpleasant odor in the infected area.

It is important to detect the first signs of fungus in time, because the disease is very difficult to treat and is easily infected.

Mycoid infection penetrates the body quite easily, infecting internal organs and systems. This explains the frequent relapses of the disease in the complete absence of external provoking factors.

Medical classification

Mycosis fungoides is classified according to its characteristic features into four main forms.

For each form of athlete's foot, the symptoms vary depending on what is involved:

1. Squamous.
2. Dyshidrotic.
3. Intertriginous.
4. "Classic" onychomycosis.

Squamous or scaly form of fungal infection is considered one of the initial stages of infection. Skin lesions in this case are first observed on one leg. Over time, another infection occurs. The main symptom of the scaly form is redness of the skin, which later develops into keratinization of inflamed tissue areas. Without treatment, the squamous form develops into a dyshidrotic form.

The dyshidrotic form of mycoid infection has a pronounced characteristic feature - the appearance of small bubbles in the affected area. After opening, the blisters become inflamed, forming a stable focus of erosion of the upper layers of the skin. The patient usually feels severe itching, and in fairly advanced cases there is pain. The skin begins to peel and erosions form regularly. This form of the disease can develop into the first squamous form without any system. That is why some experts believe that the mentioned forms of fungal mycosis are two forms of the same type of infection.

The intertriginous form of infectious fungal infection is the most common. Manifestations of the disease include the appearance of cracks in the skin of the feet, visible to the naked eye, and the formation of peeling areas of white skin at their edges. For the interdigital area, a characteristic sign of the intertriginous form is the formation of weeping spots and erosion of the epidermis. The patient constantly feels itching in the infected area. The treatment of this form of infection is complex and long-term, because the disease most often takes a chronic form.

Onychomycosis is an infectious infection whose symptoms require special attention. Depending on the characteristics of the pathology, the type of damage to the nail plate and the type of disease changes. There are three main types of onychomycosis:

1. Hypertrophic - the nail plate gradually collapses, its color changes to yellowish and characteristic spots appear. After deformation of the nail, pain occurs in the affected area.
2. Normotrophic - there is no destruction or change in the shape of the nail plate, spots or lines of yellowish and white color appear on it.
3. Atrophic is the most dangerous form for the nail plate, in which it is badly destroyed, deformed and often peels off from the nail bed.

Each form of onychomycosis has its own general treatment regimen. But in order to completely get rid of the infection without consequences for the body and exclude recurrence, treatment is recommended as recommended and under the supervision of a doctor.

Treatment methods

In most cases, it is possible to completely resolve the disease detected in time in a maximum of one month. This is a very important point in the treatment, because itching, tissue damage and other manifestations disappear, the patient sometimes stops the treatment, believing that the disease has been defeated. But the remnants of the infection can easily cause a relapse.

Treatment procedures should be stopped only after the doctor's permission and after passing the necessary tests. This is especially true for advanced forms of the disease. The fungus is firmly "fixed" in the body and sometimes it takes at least six months to get rid of it. But the external manifestation of foot fungus in the form of various damage to the skin or nails disappears much earlier, creating the illusion of health. Stopping therapy in this case is almost guaranteed to cause the patient to relapse.

Foot treatment for mycoid infection is comprehensive. To get rid of the disease, local antifungal drugs and tablets are used to remove the infectious agent that has entered the body. To get rid of itching, pain, brittle nails and accelerate tissue regeneration, certain drugs can be prescribed. It is not recommended to combine them independently with the main therapeutic group, so as not to cause an allergic reaction or poisoning the body due to the simultaneous use of incompatible drugs.

Treating athlete's foot in its early stages is quite simple. Usually, two weeks of therapy are enough to eliminate the symptoms of mycoid infection.

Duration of treatment

A combined infection of the skin and nail plate requires rehabilitation therapy of one to three months. These terms are considered standard for the most effective pharmaceutical products from a medical point of view.

Pregnancy requires a mandatory visit to the doctor in order to choose a method of solving the mycoid infection. Strong drugs and therapies that require the use of similar drugs are prescribed only under the supervision of a doctor and in compliance with strict dosages. Many antibacterial tablets that effectively destroy fungi can cause noticeable harm to the fetus. Therefore, whenever possible, during pregnancy, patients are recommended to be treated with prescriptions of traditional medicine. Many of them allow you to cope with the disease, but provided that the disease has not reached a complex stage. Only classical medicine can help in dealing with the advanced form.

Modern medicines allow you to completely restore your legs to health within two weeks, provided that the signs of infection are detected in time.

Preventive measures

Disease prevention is always easier and safer for health than treatment, even with the most gentle method. In the case of a fungal infection, prevention is one of the mandatory norms of life, because it is very easy to get infected. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of infection, it is recommended to follow a few simple rules:

• try to eat right, eat healthy food whenever possible;
• do not use other people's things and personal hygiene products;
• use basic protective equipment in public places, such as replacement shoes and hygienic antibacterial agents;
• wash your feet and change your socks regularly;
• lead a healthy lifestyle;
• Bathe regularly to improve foot health;
• disinfect your shoes periodically.

Prevention of yeast infection is important not only to prevent it, but also if the disease does occur. In this situation, compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards helps to speed up healing and prevent infection of others with the fungus.