Fungal nail infections are a serious medical and social problem.
The pathogen is stable in the external environment and spreads easily from person to person.
If you catch an illness early, you can protect yourself, your family, and others from infection.
In order to know when it's time to consult a qualified doctor, it doesn't hurt to know what onychomycosis looks like.
There are many varieties of fungi.
Many of these can cause nail disease.
The general name for this unpleasant sore is onychomycosis.
This disease is called based on the specific fungus that causes onychomycosis to occur.
What Onychomycosis Looks Like: Types of Disease
The most common are:
- Athlete's foot.
- Rhodophyceae.
- Trichophyton.
- Faus.
- Candidiasis.
The causative agents of these diseases affect not only the nails, but also the skin and hair.
Therefore, if you experience any changes in your body, even if they appear to be minor at first glance, it is best to see your doctor.
Perhaps this will help identify the onset of illness and stop the spread of infection.
Athlete's foot
Interestingly, when the disease occurs on the nails, the first and fifth toes are most commonly affected.
Why the fungus selects them is unclear.
First, the appearance of the nails changes:
- Pink gives way to pale yellow.
- The surface becomes dull and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickening and nodules appear on the plate.
- A dense growth occurs underneath it (hyperkeratosis).
- Canary-colored spots or streaks appear across the thickness of the nail.
The shape of the nails themselves can last quite a long time - weeks or even months.
The edges of freedom are gradually being undermined.
It became as if it were corroded and bumpy.
Another characteristic of athlete's foot is that the disease only occurs in the feet.
The same picture as onychomycosis will not look the same on your hands.
If so, it's not athlete's foot.
Rhodophyceae
In this case, onychomycosis is caused by a fungus called Trichophyton rubrum.
The disease comes in three forms:
- Normal nutritional form.
- Thick.
- Shrinking varieties.
In normotrophic onychomycosis, the nail plate does not collapse for long periods of time.
White or yellow streaks appear across its thickness (leukonychia).
At first they are separated from each other, but gradually merge into a single point.
During the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic onychomycosis progresses differently.
The record first becomes dull and loses its luster.
It thickens due to underlying growth (hyperkeratosis).
The nails are beak-shaped and can chip easily.
This doesn't just apply to free edges.
The long-term course of this disease makes nails look like bird's claws - onychomycosis.
The form of atrophy is also very specific.
Nails become dull and turn a dirty gray color.
In a fairly short period of time, the nail plate becomes thinned and damaged.
Along the edges, at the nail fold, nail tissue is still present but may disappear.
Trichophyton
This fungus can cause disease throughout the skin's surface.
Only half of patients develop onychomycosis, and the nails on the hands are also affected.
The initial stages of nail fungus in trichophyton do not allow for an accurate diagnosis because of the similarities to other mycoses.
The surface of the nail plate becomes dull and changes color to gray.
Over time, nails can become brittle and break.
In some cases, it may even detach from the bed.
This process is lengthy and may take several years.
Faus
A synonym for this pathology is scabbing.
Children rarely get sick.
The disease has a long course and is chronic.
The causative agents are several fungi of the genus Trichophyton.
First, due to subungual keratosis, the nail plate thickens and moves away from the nail bed.
At the same time, it started to fall apart.
In its thickness one can observe a yellow spot - the scutellum.
Gradually, its color becomes dirty.
Nail death occurs several months after the onset of the disease.
This process is often accompanied by other manifestations of hair and skin.
candidiasis
Yeast is the causative agent of this infection and usually lives in the human body and mucous membranes.
Activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic lesions, which may also spread to the nails.
The reason for this may be
- 1. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II. Immunodeficiency states.
- three.Take hormone medications.
- Four.Treat with cytostatics.
- 5. Vitamin deficiency.
The hands and feet are affected equally frequently.
Visually, toenail fungus in the early stages of a fungal infection is difficult to confuse with other illnesses.
The nail plate is brown and becomes bumpy with streaks and pits.
White spots appear on its surface and thickness.
They are loose and can be easily removed from the nail (if they are on the surface).
The nails themselves delaminate and peel away from the nail bed.
Along its edges, in the area of the cuticle, a cheese layer also appears.
It will become red and inflamed.
The space between the fingers is also affected.