Fungal nail infections are a serious medical and social problem.
The pathogen is stable in the external environment and can be transmitted from person to person quite easily.
If you recognize the disease early, you can protect yourself, your family members and others from infection.
And in order to understand when it is necessary to consult a qualified doctor, it does not 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 of this unpleasant sore is onychomycosis.
Depending on which fungus led to the development of onychomycosis, the disease is called.
What does nail fungus look like: types of the disease
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, it is better to consult a doctor if changes occur in the body, even if they are minor at first glance.
Perhaps this will help detect the outbreak of the disease and stop the infection from spreading.
Athlete's foot
Interestingly, when the disease occurs in the nails, the first and fifth toes are most commonly affected.
Why the fungus chooses them is unknown.
First of all, the appearance of the nail changes:
- The pink color turns yellowish.
- The surface becomes matt and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickenings and tubercles appear on the plate.
- Dense growths form underneath (hyperkeratosis).
- Canary-colored spots or streaks 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 looks corroded and uneven.
Another feature of athlete's foot is that the disease only develops on the feet.
The same picture as it looks with toenail fungus 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.
With the normotrophic form of onychomycosis, the nail plate does not collapse for a long time.
White or yellow streaks appear in its thickness (leukonychia).
At first they are separated from each other, but gradually merge into a single spot.
During the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic nail rubrophytosis progresses differently.
The record initially becomes dull and loses its shine.
It thickens due to growths (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail takes on a beak-like shape and crumbles easily.
And that doesn't just apply to the free edge.
The long course of the disease gives the nails a similarity to bird claws – onychogryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
The nail becomes dull and takes on a dirty gray color.
In a relatively short period of time, the nail plate becomes thinner and destroyed.
The nail tissue remains at the edges, on the nail fold, but it can also disappear.
Trichophytosis
This fungus causes diseases of the entire surface of the skin.
Onychomycosis develops in only half of patients, affecting the fingernails.
What the initial stage of nail fungus in trichophytosis looks like does not allow for an exact 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 cause him to move away from his bed.
The process is lengthy and can take several years.
Favus
A synonym for this pathology is scab.
Children rarely get sick.
The disease has a long, chronic course.
The pathogens are several fungi of 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 crumble.
In its thickness you can see a single yellow spot - the scutula.
Gradually it takes on a dirty color.
Death of the nail occurs several months after the onset of the disease.
The process is usually accompanied by other hair and skin manifestations.
Candidiasis
Yeast fungi, the causative agent of this infection, normally live in the human body and on mucous membranes.
Activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic lesions that can also spread to the nails.
The reasons for this can be
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II. Immunodeficiency states.
- III.Taking hormonal medications.
- IV. Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are equally commonly affected.
Visually, the appearance of toenail fungus in the early stages of a yeast infection can hardly be confused with other diseases.
The nail plate turns brown and becomes uneven with streaks and depressions.
Whitish spots appear on its surface and in its thickness.
They are loose and can be easily removed from the nail (as long as they are on the surface).
The nail itself delaminates and separates from the nail bed.
At its edges, in the cuticle area, cheesy layers also appear.
It becomes red and inflamed.
The interdigital spaces are also affected.