Causes of fungus
The cause of infection is fungal spores, which, once in the body, begin to divide, causing damage to the host in the process.
If you look at a photo of fungus on the feet, you will notice that with the disease, formations appear on the skin or nails. The infection penetrates into the tissues, after which it begins to develop right there, but what we see is the consequences of this process.
There are certain reasons for the appearance of fungus on the feet, and we will also look at the most popular of them. Let's start with infection, most often it occurs through indirect contact - the skin of the legs comes into contact with objects on which spores from an infected person remain.
Moreover, this can happen in public places, such as the beach and bathhouse, while the carrier of the virus may not even have external symptoms.
A weakened immune system makes your body a favorable place for the virus to develop. This is facilitated by physical damage to the skin, which can be caused even by simple tight shoes that rub against you.
Excessive sweating of the feet, calluses, other infections in the body, harmful medications and even flat feet can all cause fungus.
Fungus symptoms
The disease develops in several important stages. Initially, as soon as the spores enter the body, they go through an incubation period. Outwardly this does not appear in any way. The first symptoms of foot fungus begin to appear when it becomes active.
It all starts with simple flaking of the skin, which is often mistaken for dryness. Later, when moisturizing creams do not have any effect, the first suspicions begin to appear. Small cracks begin to form on the skin. During this stage, the problem area continues to enlarge, often extending to the sides of the leg.
The exacerbation develops more and more rapidly - physical discomfort appears. Skin defects are accompanied by pain, such as itching or even burning. Lumps form on the skin and become hard. The burning and itching become more and more intense.
At the last stage, the infection reaches the nails, and the skin begins to decompose with a characteristic odor. Nails crumble and open wounds appear on the skin - in the process, the nails can separate from the finger.
Routes of infection
Anyone who does not observe personal hygiene and certain precautions can become infected with a fungus. The risk of contracting the disease also arises when a person tries on someone else’s shoes or puts on the socks of someone who has had mycosis. You can also become infected if you walk barefoot on the floor in a sauna, swimming pool, or bathhouse.
Signs of this disease are often encountered:
- athletes, doctors, salespeople, teachers;
- people working in rooms with high humidity;
- women using high heel shoes.
You can become infected with a fungus if the following factors are present:
- getting a foot injury;
- formation of cracks in the heel, poor circulation in the extremities;
- insufficient care of your own feet;
- diseases of the endocrine system;
- hypothermia of the body, especially if the lower limbs are additionally wet;
- surgical intervention, after which local immunity weakened.
Diagnosis of fungus
It doesn’t take long for people to start thinking about what to do if they have fungus on their feet. This is because at the beginning they don’t notice it. A timely visit to a dermatologist can greatly improve the situation - treatment will be easier and faster if the problem is detected in the early stages. What can we say about your health - the infection will not develop for a long time, and there may not be any pain.
To do this, the doctor will send you for tests. If a skin infection is suspected, a sample will be taken from you for testing. At the same time, the doctor should tell you about your recent trips to public places, such as a sauna, beach, or swimming pool.
Do not forget about diseases that were also experienced recently - they can be the cause of weakened immunity. Having decided on the type of problem, the doctor will prescribe treatment for you.
Fungus treatment
Correct diagnosis is the key to quick and effective treatment of foot fungus. Depending on the stage of the disease, treatment may become more complicated. At more advanced stages, it can become complex - not only ointments will be used to treat problem areas, but also medications such as tablets.
It is important to understand that at the same time you need to improve your personal hygiene. In many cases, it is problems on this front that allow the infection to appear and begin to develop.
Prevention
Preventing the occurrence of mycosis is quite simple. The list of preventive measures:
- compliance with hygiene rules;
- use only personal bath accessories, shoes, items of clothing;
- regular disinfection of premises with chlorine-containing agents;
- careful foot care, application of preventive liniments;
- treating wounds with antiseptics;
- strengthening the immune system;
- wearing comfortable shoes;
- therapy for existing ailments;
- maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Heel fungus is a pathology that is difficult to treat. The rapid suppression of the disease is facilitated by early detection and compliance with the recommendations of a dermatologist.
Medicines for treatment
It is best if the treatment is prescribed by a doctor. Yes, there are medical and traditional methods of treating foot fungus, and it’s up to you to choose, but both directions have their own characteristics.
Medical treatment without consulting a doctor can cause many future problems, including worsening the current condition of the disease.
Pills chosen at random can harm the immune system, causing the fungus to develop even faster. It is especially dangerous to do this with children - parents are often confident that they themselves can cope with the vast majority of ailments. It depends on your luck - you can cure it, but you can also harm it.
In many cases, using the cream does not pose any particular danger - simple external symptoms are usually enough to diagnose foot fungus even at home.
The same applies to ointments - if you don’t guess correctly, you will simply waste time, which will make it a little, or much more difficult for the doctor to treat you. Therefore, you should not often self-medicate, especially with dermatological diseases.
Traditional methods of combating fungal infections
It so happened that people nowadays trust pharmaceutical drugs less and less and begin to look for traditional methods of treatment. This is not to say that home remedies are less effective; in some cases, they are the only way out.
The use of alternative medicine methods still requires consultation with a dermatologist, since without knowing the purpose of some remedies, you can cause even more harm.
Baths with pharmaceutical herbs, such as calendula, celandine, chamomile and burdock root, are perfect for treatment. The plants are pre-brewed and added to water. This method is used every day before bed. You need to place your hands or feet in the bath and hold them there for 15 - 20 minutes. Afterwards, you need to treat your nails with a disposable file and lubricate them with an antifungal agent. In order to cure a child, you need to carry out such procedures every day. Herbs have mild anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and healing effects.
Everyone has the following remedy in their home medicine cabinet, and this is regular iodine. If the baby is not allergic to this antiseptic, then you can treat the affected nails twice a day. You can also add a few drops of the solution to the bath.
A regular solution of soda, which can be found in any housewife’s kitchen, will help cope with the unpleasant symptoms of fungus. From it you can prepare both a solution and a paste, which is applied to the nail and waited for complete drying. After this, rinse with water, dry and sprinkle with starch.
Tea tree oil is also a great help. It should be applied to clean feet, preferably before bed, with thin socks on top.
The main thing in traditional medicine is that all procedures must be regular. Another necessary condition for getting rid of fungus is complexity. You need to try combining several products to achieve the desired result.
