Fungal nail infections are a serious medical and social problem.
The pathogen is stable in the external environment and is transmitted quite easily from person to person.
By detecting the disease early, you can protect yourself, your family members, and others from infection.
And to know when a consultation with a qualified doctor is necessary, it doesn't hurt to know what nail fungus looks like.
There are many varieties of mushrooms.
And many of them can cause nail diseases.
The general 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.
- Favo.
- Mycoses.
The causative agents of each of these diseases affect not only the nails, but also the skin and hair.
Therefore, if changes appear in the body, even small at first glance, it is better to consult a doctor.
Perhaps this will help identify the onset of the disease and stop the spread of the infection.
athlete's foot
Curiously, when the disease occurs in the nails, the first and fifth fingers are the most affected.
It is unknown why the fungus chooses them.
First of all, change the appearance of the nail:
- The pink color gives way to yellowish.
- The surface becomes dull and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickenings and tubercles appear on the plate.
- Dense growths (hyperkeratosis) develop under it.
- Canary-colored spots or stripes appear in the thickness of the nail.
The nail shape lasts quite a long time: several weeks or even months.
The free edge is gradually destroyed.
It becomes as if corroded, uneven.
Another characteristic of athlete's foot is that the disease develops only in the feet.
The same image that toenail fungus appears on the hands will not be the same.
If so, it is 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 separate from each other, but gradually they merge into one place.
In the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic nail rubrophytosis occurs differently.
The disc first becomes dull and loses its shine.
It thickens due to growths (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail becomes beak-shaped and crumbles easily.
And this applies not only to the free edge.
The long course of the disease makes the nails resemble bird claws - onychogryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
The nail becomes dull and acquires a dirty gray color.
In a fairly short time, the nail plate thins and is destroyed.
Along the edges, in the nail fold, the nail tissue remains, but it can also disappear.
Trichophytosis
This fungus causes diseases on the entire surface of the skin.
Onychomycosis develops in only half of patients and the fingernails are affected.
The appearance of the initial stage of nail fungus with trichophytosis does not allow for an accurate diagnosis, since 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 become detached from its bed.
The process is long and can last several years.
favor
A synonym for this pathology is scabies.
Children rarely get sick.
The disease has a long and chronic course.
The causative agents are various fungi of the genus Trichophyton.
First, due to subungual keratosis, the plaque thickens and moves away from the nail bed.
At the same time, it begins to fall apart.
In its thickness you can see a single yellow spot: the scutula.
Little by little it acquires a dirty color.
The death of the nail occurs several months after the onset of the disease.
The process is usually accompanied by other manifestations of the hair and skin.
candidiasis
Yeast, the causative agent of this infection, normally lives in the human body and on mucous membranes.
Activation of the infection causes the appearance of systemic lesions, which can also extend to the nails.
The reasons for this may be
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II.Immunodeficiency states.
- III.Taking hormonal medications.
- IV.Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are affected with the same frequency.
Visually, the appearance of toenail fungus in the initial stage of a candidiasis is difficult to confuse with other diseases.
The nail plate acquires a brown color and becomes irregular due to stripes and depressions.
Whitish spots appear on its surface and in its thickness.
They are loose and can be easily removed from the nail (if they are located superficially).
The nail itself delaminates and detaches from the nail bed.
Along its edges, in the cuticle area, cheese layers also appear.
It becomes red and swollen.
The interdigital spaces are also affected.