Fungal diseases of the skin and nails belong to the group of human infectious diseases caused by disease-causing fungi. Fungal infections (mycosis) are different. There are very serious forms of infection with a high mortality rate. However, not many people suffer from it. Nail mycosis is not one of them and it is impossible to die directly from it. But fungal infection of the skin and nails is one of the most common fungal diseases. It is a contagious disease that is spread from person to person.
What does nail fungus look like?
Many people do not pay attention to changes in the nail plates, most 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 a fungal disease have three main manifestations: changes in the color of the nail plate, its thickening, crumbling or destruction.
Mushroom or non-mushroom?
Hence, you may notice some changes in the skin or nails. It remains to decide whether it is a fungus or not.
There are many non-fungal diseases of the skin and nails - several hundred names. However, according to statistics, every second nail disease is fungal. That is, if your nails are changed, the chance of getting nail fungus is 50%, regardless of any manifestations and factors. But what about foot skin diseases? They obey the same laws of probability. That is, most skin lesions on the feet are fungal. Remember, untreated fungus on the skin of the feet will sooner or later turn into nail fungus. And it's not that easy to get rid of nail fungus. Don't be fooled. If you suspect you have a skin or nail disease, contact your mycologist!
Despite the fact that most nail changes turn out to be fungus, another nature of these changes should be considered. Here it is necessary to highlight, first of all, chronic nail trauma. Changes in the nails can occur with some common skin diseases, internal infectious diseases, lesions of the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular systems, various types of intoxication and dystrophy. Finally, nail changes can be congenital. These nail changes are outwardly similar to fungal infections, but they are not. Treatment with antifungal drugs for non-fungal nail diseases, of course, will not be successful. This is another reason to see a mycologist and not try to heal yourself for any nail changes.
Can you recognize a nail fungus yourself?
No you can not! And no medical professional, no matter how experienced, will undertake the treatment of a fungal disease without confirming the diagnosis in the laboratory, even with the most typical signs of fungus on the legs. 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 fingernail taken for analysis, then it is a fungal disease.
Dilemma: to cure or not to cure a fungus?
Some people have doubts as to whether nail fungus treatment is worth taking. Many argue: Does the treatment of a fungal disease require money? Requires. How long will it take to be treated? Maybe for a long time. So, really, why bother getting treated for mycosis? It is the same that the nails are changed, because they can finally be hidden. . .
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 tough and can survive for months in fallen skin scales. What can you expect, then, from the fungus that lurks in the nails? First, the cells of the fungus enter the skin, fix, multiply and spread on it, then, under favorable conditions, they are introduced into the nail. Over time, the fungus affects all parts of the nail and spreads to other nails or to the skin. Nail fungus is an outbreak and source of infection for other parts of the body. Even if all foci of the fungus on the skin of the feet or trunk are cured, reinfection will come from the remaining foci of infection in the nails.
Fungal nail diseases affect the quality of life. Research conducted by the National Academy of Mycology has shown that the presence of nail fungus or foot fungus significantly reduces the quality of life - a set of indicators that characterize a person's emotional, mental and social well-being. It was found that the quality of life in the case of fungal nail disease decreases on average by 50-55% of the full value typical for a healthy person. At the same time, the patients noted not only physical inconveniences associated with the thickening or destruction of the nails, but also experienced various negative experiences, fears and emotions. It was found that nail fungus severely limits a person's activity, interfering with his rest, sports, communication with other people. Additionally, feelings of discomfort and shame over the condition of the nails sometimes prevented them from seeing a doctor in a timely manner. The longer the disease lasted, the more severe the nail fungus became and the worse the quality of life became.
In addition to reducing the quality of life, the fungus leads to certain health problems. The first and main health problem, which is caused by the presence of mycosis of the nails, is the fungus itself - a chronic infectious disease that is constantly destroying the nails and threatens to spread to the people around them, especially the patient's family members. The presence of a relative with a fungus, by the way, is detected by at least 1/3 of patients with nail damage. According to medical statistics and epidemiological studies, in Russia, the presence of fungal nail diseases in almost one in five adults can be expected. At the same time, the incidence over the past 10 years has increased by 2. 5 times. A further increase in incidence is expected. At the same time, the likelihood of the presence of a fungus increases with age: approximately 2 times every 10 years of life.
Untreated mycosis of the nails and mycosis of the feet are considered a gateway for other infectious diseases - for example bacterial - erysipelas. Fungal nail infection significantly complicates the course of diabetes mellitus and can lead to serious complications.
Human body allergy with a fungal infection is possible - the formation of hypersensitivity to the fungus as an allergen, that is, 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, against the background of immunodeficiency, untreated nail fungus led to the development of deep mycosis - the germination or penetration of the fungus with blood into the internal organs, which caused death. Fortunately, most modern nail fungus patients do not have such results. But even if you completely rule out their possibility, you cannot leave the fungal nail disease without treatment. It is impossible not to cure scabies, lice and other infectious diseases. If you suspect nail fungus, we recommend that you see a doctor as soon as possible.
While we were thinking this way, the fungus in someone's nail may have moved forward a few fractions of a millimeter. This is his job, a small business, so to speak. The mushroom always does this, day after day. Days add up to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. Over the years, the disease worsens if the fungus is left untreated. In one of the latest studies, it was shown that every 5 years the severity of onychomycosis increases by several points on a special scale. This means that the new nails are affected by the fungus, and in each of them the affected area and the degree of thickening grow. This means that the negative impact of mycosis on health and quality of life will be stronger. It is a proven fact. But that is not all. The more severe 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, then after a few years one cannot do without antifungal pills. The longer the disease lasts, the more time it will have to take (and more to buy). And after ten or twenty years, as a rule, only the removal of the nail plate, in addition to these funds, will help.
See your doctor as soon as possible. Every year you delay the fungus, lengthen the required period of treatment and observation, add large doses of drugs, carry out the necessary nail processing. Don't make a big mistake: don't take systemic medications alone! If the fungal diseases of the nails did not cause the aforementioned changes, then, in fact, the treatment of the fungus would become only a matter of attitude towards one's appearance. So we'd put healthy nails on the same list along with white teeth, fair skin, and no bad smells. And the question about the cost of treating mycosis would sound like this: Are you willing to give money to get your unwanted, non-thickened, unwanted nails back? However, the question is not the only one. Are you willing to pay to protect your family from athlete's foot? Do you want to regain your previous quality of life? Are you able to stop the spread of the infection today?