Fungal nail infections are a serious medical and social problem.
The causative agent is stable in the external environment and is quite easily transmitted from person to person.
If you detect the disease in time, you can protect yourself, your family members and others from infection.
And to understand when consultation with a qualified doctor is necessary, it doesn't hurt to know what nail fungus looks like.
There are many types of mushrooms.
And many of them can cause nail diseases.
The common name for this unpleasant sore is onychomycosis.
Depending on which particular fungus led to the development of onychomycosis, the disease is called.
What does nail fungus look like: types of diseases
The most common are:
- Athlete's foot.
- Rubrophytia.
- Trichophytosis.
- Favus.
- Candidiasis.
The causative agents of each of these diseases affect not only nails, but also skin and hair.
Therefore, if any changes appear on the body, even small at first glance, it is better to visit a doctor.
Perhaps this will help identify the beginning of the disease and stop the spread of the infection.
Athlete's foot
It is interesting that when the disease appears on the nails, the first and fifth fingers are most often affected.
Why the fungus chooses them is not known.
First of all, the appearance of the nails changes:
- The pink color gives way to yellowish.
- The surface becomes matte and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickenings and tubercles appear on the plate.
- Thick growths (hyperkeratosis) develop under it.
- Canary-colored spots or stripes appear in the thickness of the nail.
The shape of the nail itself lasts quite a long time - several weeks or even months.
The free edge is gradually destroyed.
It becomes as if it is corroded, uneven.
Another characteristic of athlete's foot is that the disease develops only on the feet.
The same picture as the nail fungus looks will not be the same.
If so, it's not athlete's foot.
Rubrophytia
In this case, onychomycosis is caused by a fungus called trichophyton red.
There are three forms of the disease:
- Normotrophic form.
- Hypertrophic.
- Atrophic variety.
In the normotrophic form of onychomycosis, the nail plate does not collapse for a long time.
White or yellow stripes (leukonychia) appear in its thickness.
At first they are separated from each other, but gradually they merge into one point.
In the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic rubrophytosis of nails occurs differently.
The board first becomes dull and loses its shine.
It thickens due to growths (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail takes the shape of a beak and crumbles easily.
And that doesn't just apply to the free edge.
The long course of the disease gives the nails a resemblance to bird claws - onychogryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
The nail becomes dull and dirty gray in color.
In a fairly short time, the nail plate becomes thinner and destroyed.
Along the edges, at the fold of the nail, the nail tissue remains, but it can also disappear.
Trichophytosis
This fungus causes disease of the entire surface of the skin.
Onychomycosis develops in only half of the patients, and fingernails are also affected.
The initial stage of nail fungus with trichophytosis does not allow for an accurate diagnosis, as there are similarities with other mycoses.
The surface of the nail plate becomes dull, and the color becomes gray.
Over time, the nail becomes brittle and crumbles.
In some cases, it may even detach from its socket.
The process is lengthy and may take several years.
Favus
A synonym for this pathology is scab.
Children rarely get sick.
The disease has a long, chronic course.
The causative agents are several fungi from the genus Trichophyton.
First, due to subungual keratosis, the plate thickens and moves away from the nail bed.
At the same time, it begins to collapse.
One yellow spot can be seen in its thickness - scutula.
It gradually acquires a dirty color.
The death of the nail occurs after a few months from the onset of the disease.
The process is usually accompanied by other manifestations on the hair and skin.
Candidiasis
Yeast fungi, the causative agents of this infection, normally live on the human body and mucous membranes.
The activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic lesions, which can also spread to the nails.
There may be reasons for this
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II.Immunodeficiency conditions.
- III.Taking hormonal drugs.
- IV.Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are equally affected.
Visually, as toenail fungus looks in the initial stage with a fungal infection, it is difficult to confuse it with other diseases.
The nail plate takes on a brown color and becomes bumpy due to streaks and indentations.
Whitish spots appear on its surface and in its thickness.
They are loose and easy to remove from the nail (if they are superficial).
The nail itself delaminates, peeling away from the nail bed.
Along its edges, in the area of the cuticle, cheesy layers appear.
It becomes red and inflamed.
Interdigital spaces are also affected.