Fungal nail infection is a serious health and social problem.
The pathogen is stable in the external environment and spreads quite easily from person to person.
If you detect the disease in time, 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 diseases on the nails.
The common name for this unpleasant wound is onychomycosis.
Depending on which 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 pathogens of these diseases affect not only the nails, but also the skin and hair.
Therefore, if any changes appear on the body, even minor at first glance, it is better to consult a doctor.
Perhaps this will help identify the beginning of the disease and stop the spread of the infection.
Athlete's foot
Interestingly, when the disease occurs on the nails, the first and fifth toes are most often affected.
It is not known why the fungus chooses them.
First, the appearance of the nail changes:
- The pink color gives way to yellow.
- The surface becomes dull and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickenings and tubercles appear on the disc.
- Dense growths (hyperkeratosis) develop underneath.
- 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.
As if corroded, it becomes uneven.
Another characteristic of athlete's foot is that the disease develops only on the feet.
The same image as nail fungus on the hand 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.
The disease has three forms:
- 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 a single patch.
During the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic nail rubrophytosis occurs differently.
The disc first dulls and loses its luster.
It thickens due to the growths (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail takes a beak-like shape and crumbles easily.
And it's not just about the free edge.
The long course of the disease makes the nails look like bird claws - onychogryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
The nail becomes dull and dirty gray.
Within a relatively short time, the nail plate thins and is destroyed.
Along the edges, at the nail fold, 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 patients, and the fingernails are affected.
The initial stage of nail fungus in trichophytosis does not allow an accurate diagnosis, as there are similarities with other mycoses.
The surface of the nail plate becomes dull and gray in color.
Over time, the nail becomes brittle and crumbles.
In some cases, it may even come off your bed.
The process is lengthy and can take several years.
Favus
Scabies is synonymous with this pathology.
Children are rarely sick.
The disease has a long, chronic course.
The causative agents are several fungi belonging to the genus Trichophyton.
First, subungual keratosis causes the plate to thicken and move away from the nail bed.
At the same time, it starts to crumble.
A single yellow spot - the scutula - can be observed in its thickness.
It gradually 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 hair and skin.
Candidiasis
Yeast fungi, the causative agents of infection, usually live on the human body and mucous membranes.
The activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic changes that can also spread to the nails.
There may be reasons for this
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II. Immune deficiency states.
- III.Taking hormonal drugs.
- ARC.Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are affected with equal frequency.
Visually, it is difficult to confuse with other diseases what nail fungus looks like in the initial stage with a yeast infection.
The nail plate acquires a brown color and becomes bumpy due to stripes and depressions.
Whitish spots appear on its surface and thickness.
They are loose and easy to remove from the nail (if they are located superficially).
The nail itself detaches from the nail bed.
Along its edges, in the area of the cuticle, cheesy layers also appear.
It will be red and inflamed.
Interdigital spaces are also affected.