Top 10 Nail Fungus Treatment Tips

Popular vote - what is the most effective treatment for nail fungus?
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Local preparations

Systemic drugs

Folk remedies

Physiotherapy

Hardware cosmetology

Nail removal

Total voted: 8

Vote results

Nail fungus or mycosis is an unpleasant disease that many people diagnose on their own. However, a medical consultation is required to make an accurate diagnosis. You can contact a dermatologist or mycologist.This will allow you to get competent recommendations on how to cure the disease and get rid of the nail defect. The doctor conducts both a visual examination and acquaintance with the patient's complaints, and the tests necessary for accurate diagnosis are prescribed.

If you suspect a nail fungus for an accurate diagnosis, the doctor will advise you to take tests. Their list may differ depending on the characteristics of the course of the disease, its severity, the time since the onset of the first symptoms and the treatment used previously. Most often, it is recommended to take a scraping, culture, and a biochemical blood test.

scraping will help determine the presence of nail fungus with the greatest certainty. It involves the removal of a small amount of affected tissues from the surface of the nail plate, which are sent for analysis. The procedure is performed with a scalpel, special scissors or a needle, and is painless. The analysis will be ready in 1-2 days.

Sowing - this is the way identify the pathogen. This analysis will show which type of fungus has settled on the nails, and will help you choose the most accurate treatment. To perform seeding, the doctor will need a small part of the plate, which is simply sheared. The results of the analysis will be ready in a period of several days to several weeks.

Blood analysis directly for the diagnosis of suspected fungal infection of the nail plates is not used. It is necessary to choose the right treatment that will not harm the health of the patient. Most often, it is recommended to do a biochemical blood test, based on the indicators of which you can choose the optimal drugs.

A treatment plan for getting rid of toenail fungus should ideally be determined by a doctor. Competent advice from a doctor will allow you to cure the disease in the shortest possible time and restore beauty and health to your fingers and toes.

The choice of a drug that is optimally suitable for each specific situation depends on a number of factors:

• time since the onset of the first symptoms;
• the number of lesions and features of their localization;
• the results of the bacteriological culture taken;
• the general state of human health;
• previously used treatment and its effectiveness.

In some cases, it is possible to confine ourselves to local therapy - ointments, creams, varnishes or solutions. With a severe and prolonged course of the disease, you will also need to take systemic drugs - tablets.

In addition, physiotherapeutic procedures, hardware cosmetology can be used. An extreme measure is the removal of the nail affected by the fungus. Often in the advice of doctors there are recommendations to choose folk remedies, which, in combination with traditional treatment, give good results.

Medicines for local therapy aimed at getting rid of nail fungus on the fingers and toes act directly in the focus of the disease.They are effective only with a superficial lesion of the nail plate or if the focus of the fungus occupies no more than 1/3 of its length. If mycosis has occupied half or more of the nail plate, then the use of such drugs is also possible, but the results of treatment will not be so effective.

Doctors prescribe ointments and creams, varnishes, solutions and patches as topical agents.

Ointments and creams are affordable and can show good results of treatment. The only drawback and inconvenience is that they have to be used 1-2 times a day, carefully rubbing into the nail plate. Given the duration of treatment, this can sometimes be tiring.

Lucky against the fungus, it is enough to apply once and they will work for at least 1 week. It is also very convenient that before using the varnish, the nails can not be cleaned from the layer affected by the fungus.

Solutions to be used 1-2 times a day, but, unlike creams and ointments, they are quickly absorbed, effectively penetrate into the deep layers of the nail, do not require rubbing. Just a couple of drops are enough for one treatment.

plasters effective in that they provide the affected area of ​​​​the nail with constant contact with the active substance. Due to this, a quick positive effect is achieved. One patch can be worn without removing it for 2-3 days, which is very convenient.

 

Not always the use of therapeutic varnish, cream or patch is enough to get rid of nail fungus. If mycosis has affected more than a third of the nail plate, is present on several fingers or toes, and also in case of ineffectiveness of previous local treatment, systemic therapy is prescribed. It involves taking antifungal drugs in the form of tablets.

It is extremely important that the fungus tablets are prescribed by a doctor and taken under his supervision. Many of these drugs have a serious number of contraindications and side effects. You also need to strictly follow the recommendations for the duration of administration and dosage.

In some cases, the doctor's advice on treatment may include recommendations for visiting physiotherapy. They are used both separately and in combination with the main treatment. The most effective are laser and photodynamic therapy.

Laser allows you to cure the fungus in just three visits with a frequency of once a week.Before starting the procedure, the nail is cleansed of dead cells affected by the fungus. Then a special gel is applied to the nail plate, which helps to stain the cells of the fungus. It is on these areas marked with the composition that the laser will act, pointwise removing the causative agent of the disease and not affecting healthy tissues. The laser beam penetrates the entire depth of the nail, but it does not cause discomfort. The duration of one procedure is about 30 minutes.

Photodynamic therapy involves the fight against the fungus by means of a light ultraviolet beam. The method is painless and safe, it is prescribed both in combination with other treatment, and separately. Before starting the procedure, a photosensitizing drug is applied to the nail, which is left on the surface for 1-3 hours. Only after that the session of photodynamic therapy begins directly. With a mild form of the fungus, only one procedure is enough, with a more severe course of the disease - from 3 to 5.

In order for the treatment of the fungus to be as effective as possible, it is necessary to regularly clean the nail plates from the tissues affected by the disease. At home, this is sometimes not easy to do, but the beautician during a medical pedicure session will perform this task quickly, efficiently and completely painlessly. Nail cleaning is carried out mechanically with preliminary softening of the tissues using special formulations. After the procedure, the cosmetologist will apply a therapeutic composition to the prepared surface, and then it can be continued at home, using both folk remedies and medicines.

In some cases, even a doctor can advise using folk remedies that help cure fungus on the nails of the hands and feet, because many of the recipes have really proven their effectiveness. At the initial stage of the disease, they can even be used independently, but a combination of traditional and traditional medicine will still be more effective. The best reviews among home remedies for fungus are tea tree oil, birch tar, and vinegar.

Tea tree oil – an effective antiseptic that copes well with fungi and bacteria, which allows it to be used in the fight against mycoses. The easiest way to apply is to put a couple of drops on the nail and rub it in lightly. Baths with the addition of this oil will also be useful.

Birch tar - a product with a pronounced aroma, but excellent characteristics. With its help, compresses are made on the nails affected by the fungus, leaving them all night. Similarly, you can use tar soap, combining it in a 1: 1 ratio with soda.

Vinegar - another folk remedy. This natural product is diluted with water (1 part vinegar and 3 parts water) and makes useful foot baths. The acidic environment for fungi is extremely uncomfortable, therefore, such procedures allow, subject to regularity, to quickly get rid of the problem.

If you wish, you can find many other recipes for the treatment of fungus at home. They include products such as iodine, garlic, soda, celandine, chicken eggs and much more.

Surgical manipulations to remove the nail plate affected by the fungus is an extreme measure, but in some cases it is necessary. It is usually resorted to when other possible treatment options have failed. It is also indicated in case of an ingrown nail problem and infection of its root. Although the removal is performed under local anesthesia and during it the person does not feel pain, the next few days after the manipulation will be extremely uncomfortable. You will need complete rest and taking painkillers. The most traumatic procedure is surgery on the big toe.

If the treatment of nail fungus was complex and carried out in accordance with all the doctor's recommendations, then the risk of recurrence of the disease is extremely small. But it is there, and therefore it is extremely important to do everything necessary to avoid it. This will help:

• good hygiene;
• taking precautions when in public places;
• healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, intake of vitamin and mineral complexes;
• taking care of the immune system.

If the disease does return, it is important to visit a doctor as soon as possible and begin treatment, which at the initial stage of the lesion will be easy and quick.