Nail fungus

 Nail fungus

What is Nail Fungus?
Nail fungus , also known as onychomycosis, is a common fungal infection that begins as a white or yellow spot just below the tip of an individual's finger or toenails .
As the nail fungus infection deepens inside the nail, it can cause discoloration of the nail, thickening of the nail, and chipping or splitting at the edges of the nail. Nail fungus can be limited to a single nail, or it can affect more than one nail at the same time. If it expands and gets to nail fungal infection found in the area between the toes of the feet with this situation athlete or athletes foot or with medical name tinea pedis is called.

Nail Fungus Treatments Products

Nail fungusdiabetes It is common in individuals with conditions that affect the immune system, such as
Under normal circumstances, if the condition of a healthy individual is mild and the fungal infection does not bother the individual, treatment may not be necessary. However, in cases where the individual feels pain or thickening of the nails, healthy hygiene habits, individual care measures and scientific and medical nail fungus drugs available in pharmacies can help in clearing the infection. However, even in cases where treatment is successful, nail fungus is a condition that can often recur.

Reasons
What Causes Nail Fungus?

• Nail fungal infections are caused by various types of fungal organisms. Among these fungal organisms, the most common cause of nail fungus is a type of fungus called a dermatophyte . In addition, various types of yeast and mold can cause nail infections .
• Nail fungus can develop at any age, but is more common in adults and the elderly. Depending on the aging of the individual, their nails can become brittle and dry.
• Cracks in the nails allow fungi to enter under the nail or in its interlayers. Other factors such as reduced blood circulation in the feet and weakened immune system observed in the individual may also play a role in the development of fungal, nail infection.

Toenail fungus infections also athletes or athlete's foot , called the nail fungus can be seen standing with the jump seen. Getting a nail fungus infection from another personis a common occurrence, although it is relatively rare.

Older individuals, individuals with slow blood circulation, individuals exposed to fungi for a long time, individuals with slow growing nails, individuals with heavy standing sweating, individuals with athlete's or athlete's foot infection , in humid public areas such as swimming pools, gyms and shower rooms Individuals who walk barefoot, individuals with minor injuries to the skin or nails, and individuals with conditions such as psoriasis , diabetes , circulatory or immune system problems are at higher risk of developing athlete's foot .

What Complications Can Occur with Nail Fungus?
A severely advanced case of nail fungus can be painful for the individual and can cause permanent damage to the nails. The condition can lead to other serious infections that spread beyond your feet to other parts of the body, especially in individuals who are immunocompromised by medications or diabetes or other conditions.

• Individuals with diabetes may have reduced blood circulation and nerve supply in their feet. These individuals are also at greater risk for bacterial skin infection. Therefore, any injury to an individual's feet, even relatively minor, can lead to a more serious complication, including a fungal nail infection. Individuals with diabetes should consult a doctor if they think they have developed nail fungus.
• How to Prevent Nail Fungus?
• Various measures can be taken to prevent nail fungus . These measures can also prevent the possibility of developing athlete's foot or various bacterial infections.
• Individuals should primarily wash their hands and feet regularly. After touching an infected nail, the individual should wash their hands. Moisturizing the nails after washing can prevent them from drying out and cracking.

Nails should be cut neatly and straight, their edges should be smoothed with a nail file. The thickened areas of the nail should be filed. Nail clippers should be disinfected after each use.

Individuals should wear sweat absorbent socks or change socks frequently during the day. In the same context, shoes made of materials that allow comfortable air circulation and do not cause perspiration should be preferred. Old shoes, possibly bearing fungal spores, should be discarded or carefully cleaned with disinfectant and antifungal powder.

It is important for individuals to avoid walking barefoot in pools and locker rooms, and to use shoes or closed slippers, especially in such places.

When choosing a beauty salon for nail care, a place that uses sterilized manicure tools should be preferred for each client and care should be taken to avoid using nail polish or fake nails.

Symptoms
What are the Symptoms and Types of Nail Fungus?

• Symptoms of nail fungus include thickened, discolored nails that lose their natural color to white, yellow or brown tones, break apart easily, are brittle, crumbly or rough, and show deterioration in their normal shape.
• In addition, a dark-colored, usually slightly foul-smelling rash can be seen under the nail of the individual. Although nail fungus is most commonly seen on the toenails, it can also occur on the hands in some cases.

In cases where healthy hygiene habits do not work, the area where the color of the nail changes gradually becomes wider, the nail becomes thick or deformed, individuals should come to the doctor and seek medical help. As well as diabetes, ie diabetes  that individuals should look necessarily a doctor in case of nail fungus development.

Diagnostic Methods
How Is Nail Fungus Diagnosed?
In the process of diagnosing nail fungus, the doctor will examine the individual's nails. The doctor may also take a piece of the nail or take a sample of the debris under the nail and send the sample to a laboratory to determine the type of fungus causing the infection.
Various other conditions, such as psoriasis ,can cause symptoms that can mimic a fungal infection of the nail . Microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria can also infect nails. Learning the root cause of nail infection always helps to determine the most effective treatment method.

Treatment Methods
How Is Nail Fungus Treated?
Nail fungus is not a medical condition that can go away on its own in most cases. It may require at least regular hygiene habits and medicinal fungicide remedies.

How to treat nail fungus?
Treatment of nail fungus infections can be difficult and challenging in many cases. If the personal care strategies, healthy hygiene habits, and over-the-counter antifungal products used by the individual do not work, the individual should consult a doctor.

• Treatment for nail fungus depends on the severity of the individual's condition and the type of fungus causing it. In the treatment of nail fungus, drug therapy or surgical intervention methods can be used. It can take months to see the results of treatment. However, it is common for the infection to recur, even if the individual's nail is healed.
• Your doctor may prescribe oral (taken by mouth) or topical (applied directly to the nail) antifungal (fungal remover) medications for the individual. In some cases, combining both oral and topical antifungal medications helps the treatment process to be successful.

Oral antifungal medications are often the first choice because they clear the infection faster than topical medications. Oral antifungal medication options include terbinafine and itraconazole. These drugs help the nail grow again without infection and slowly replace the infected part with clean nail.

Such drugs are usually used for 6 to 12 weeks, but the results of the treatment may not be seen until the nail is fully grown. It may take four months or longer for an infection to completely disappear. It has been observed that the success rates of treatment with oral antifungal drugs are lower in adults over 65 years of age.

Oral antifungal medications can cause side effects in individuals ranging from skin rash to liver damage. For this reason, the doctor may order a blood test from time to time to check the effects of such drugs on the individual. These types of medications are not recommended for people with liver disease or congestive heart failure, or who are taking certain medications.

The doctor may prescribe an anti-fungal nail polish for the individual in some cases. This nail polish is usually applied to the infected nails and surrounding skin once a day. After seven days of application, the nail polish layers accumulated on the nails are cleaned by wiping with alcohol and the first layer of nail polish is applied again. It may be necessary to use this type of nail polish every day for almost a year.

In some cases, the doctor may prescribe an anti-fungal cream that is applied after soaking the infected nails. These creams may give better results if the nails have been thinned beforehand. This filing helps the medication reach the fungal area under the protective and hard surface of the nail. A lotion can be used to thin the nails, or the doctor can thin the nail surface in a controlled way with a nail file or other tool.

In some cases, the doctor may recommend temporary removal of the nail so that the antifungal medication can be applied directly to the infection.

Some fungal nail infections do not respond to medication. If the fungal infection is severe or extremely painful, the doctor may advise the individual to have the nail removed permanently.

Lifestyle Changes And Home Care For Nail Fungus
In many cases, it is possible to deal with the fungal infection in the nails with home care methods. For this, individuals can try over-the-counter antifungal nail creams and ointments. If the individual sees white spots on the nail surfaces, it may be sufficient to file the nails, soak them in water and dry them and apply a medicated cream or lotion.

Trimming and thinning the nails helps to reduce the pain felt by reducing the pressure on the nails. If this is done before applying an antifungal, the drug used can reach the deeper layers of the nail. Softening the nail with a cream before thinning thick nails will make this process easier. However, individuals who have a condition that causes poor blood flow to the feet, such as diabetes , or who cannot cut their nails for different reasons, should consult a healthcare professional regularly to have their nails trimmed.