Fungal diseases of the skin and nails belong to the group of human infectious diseases that are caused by disease-causing fungi. Fungal infections (mycoses) are different. There are very severe forms of infections with a high mortality rate. However, not many people suffer from them. Mycosis of the nails 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 spreads from person to person.
What does nail fungus look like?
Many people do not pay attention to changes in the nail plates, very often considering these changes as a consequence of trauma or age characteristics. Fungal nail diseases have many different manifestations. But as a rule, changes in nails with a fungal disease have three main manifestations: changes in the color of the nail plate, its thickening, crumbling or destruction.
Fungus or not fungus?
So, you can notice some changes in the skin or nail plates. It remains to decide whether it is a fungus or not.
There are a lot of 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 having a nail fungus is 50%, regardless of any manifestations and factors. But what about diseases of the skin of the feet? They obey the same laws of probability. That is, most of the lesions of the skin of the feet are fungal. Remember, untreated fungus on the skin of the feet will sooner or later turn into nail fungus. And it is not so easy to get rid of the 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 a fungus, another nature of these changes should be taken into account. Here it is necessary to highlight, first of all, chronic nail injury. Changes in nails can occur with some common skin diseases, internal infectious diseases, lesions of the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular systems, various kinds of intoxication, as well as 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 consult a mycologist, and not try to heal yourself for any nail changes.
Can you recognize a nail fungus yourself?
No you can not! And not a single professional doctor, no matter how experienced he has, 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 laboratory finds a fungus in a skin flake or a piece of a nail taken for analysis, then this is a fungal disease.
Dilemma: to treat or not to treat a fungus?
Some people have doubts about whether it is worth taking a nail fungus treatment at all. Many argue as follows: does the treatment of a fungal disease require money? Requires. How long will it take to be treated? Probably a long time. Then, really, why bother to be treated for mycosis? Is it all 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 issue . . . Once started, the fungal infection will not go anywhere until the fungus is destroyed. Fungi are very tenacious and can survive for months in the fallen off skin scales. What, then, can you expect from the fungus lurking in the nails? First, the cells of the fungus enter the skin, become fixed, 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. Nail fungus is a hotbed 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, re-infection will come from the remaining foci of infection in the nails.
Fungal nail diseases impair quality of life. Studies conducted by the National Academy of Mycology have shown that the presence of nail fungus or mycosis of the feet significantly reduces the quality of life - a set of indicators characterizing the emotional, mental and social well-being of a person. It turned out that the quality of life in case of fungal nail disease decreases on average to 50–55% of the full value typical for a healthy person. At the same time, patients noted not only physical inconveniences associated with thickening or destruction of nails, but also experienced various experiences, fears, and negative emotions. It was found that the nail fungus severely limits a person's activity, interfering with his rest, sports, and communication with other people. Moreover, feelings of discomfort and shame for the condition of their 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, fungus leads to certain health problems. The first and main health problem, which is caused by the presence of nail mycosis, is the fungus itself - a chronic infectious disease that is steadily destroying nails, and threatens to spread to the people around them, especially to the family members of the patient. The presence of a relative with a fungus, by the way, is noted 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 over the past 10 years has increased by 2. 5 times. A further increase in the incidence is expected. At the same time, the likelihood of the presence of a fungus increases with age: approximately 2 times for every 10 years of life.
Untreated mycosis of nails and mycosis of the feet is considered as an entrance gate for other infectious diseases - for example, bacterial - erysipelas. Fungal nail infection significantly complicates the course of diabetes mellitus and can lead to serious complications.
Allergization of the human body with a fungal infection is possible - the formation of hypersensitivity to the fungus as an allergen, that is, a fungal allergy. 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 was fatal. Fortunately, most modern nail fungus patients do not have such outcomes. But even if you completely exclude their possibility, you can not leave the fungal disease of the nails without treatment. It is impossible not to treat scabies, head lice and other infectious diseases. If you have a suspicion of nail fungus, we advise you to see a doctor as soon as possible.
While we reasoned in this way, the fungus in someone's nail may have moved forward by some fractions of a millimeter. This is his job, a small business, so to speak. The fungus does this all the time, day in and day out. Days add up to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. Over the years, the disease becomes worse 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 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. This is a proven fact. But that's not all. The more severe the fungal infection of the nails, the more difficult it is to treat. If in the early stages of infection antifungal varnish or nail solution can help, then after a few years, antifungal pills cannot be dispensed with. The longer the illness lasts, the longer they will have to be taken (and more to buy). And after ten to twenty years, as a rule, only the removal of the nail plate, plus these funds, will help.
See your doctor as early as possible. Every year you give the fungus a delay, you lengthen the required period of treatment and observation, add large doses of drugs, make the necessary processing of nails. Don't make a big mistake - don't take systemic medications on your own! If fungal diseases of the nails did not cause the changes mentioned above, then, in fact, the treatment of the fungus would become just a matter of attitude to one's appearance. Then we would put healthy nails on the same list along with white teeth, clear skin, and no foul odor. And the question of the cost of treating mycosis would sound like this: Are you willing to give money to get back your un-eaten, un-thickened and unwanted nails? 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 infection today?