Fungal nail infections are a serious medical and social problem.
The pathogen is stable in the external environment and is quite easily transmitted 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 a consultation with a qualified doctor is necessary, it does not hurt to know what nail fungus looks like.
There are many varieties of fungi.
And many of them can cause nail disease.
The common name for this unpleasant sore is onychomycosis.
Depending on which particular fungus has led to the development of onychomycosis, the disease is called.
What does nail fungus look like: types of diseases
The most common are:
- Mycosis.
- Rubrophytia.
- ringworm.
- Favus.
- Candidiasis.
The causative agents of each of these diseases affect not only the nails, but also the skin and hair.
Therefore, if any changes appear on the body, even if they are insignificant at first glance, it is better to visit a doctor.
Perhaps this will help to identify the beginning of the disease and stop the spread of the infection.
Mycosis
Interestingly, when the disease manifests itself on the nails, the first and fifth toes are most often affected.
Why the fungus chooses them is not known.
First of all, the appearance of the nail changes:
- The pink color gives way to yellowish.
- The surface becomes dull and loses its healthy shine.
- Thickenings and tubercles appear on the plate.
- Dense formations (hyperkeratosis) develop under it.
- Canary-colored spots or streaks appear in the thickness of the nail.
The very shape of the nails is preserved for a long time - several weeks or even months.
The free edge is gradually destroyed.
It becomes like corroded, uneven.
Another feature of mycosis is that the disease develops only on the feet.
The same picture as the fungus on the nails of the hands 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.
There are three forms of the disease:
- Normotrophic form.
- Hypertrophic.
- Atrophic variety.
In the normotrophic form of onychomycosis, the nail plate does not disintegrate for a long time.
White or yellow streaks (leukonychia) appear in its thickness.
At first they are separated from each other, but gradually merge into one spot.
In the typical course of the disease, the border at the base of the nail remains unchanged.
Hypertrophic rubrophytosis of the nails proceeds in a different way.
The recording first becomes dull and loses its luster.
It thickens due to growths (hyperkeratosis) underneath.
The nail takes on a beak-like shape and crumbles easily.
And this applies not only to the free edge.
The long course of the disease gives the nails a resemblance to bird's nails - onychogryphosis.
The atrophic form is also special.
The nail becomes dull and turns dirty gray in color.
In a relatively short time, the nail plate thins and is destroyed.
At the edges, at the nail fold, the nail tissue remains, but it can also disappear.
ringworm
This fungus causes disease on the entire surface of the skin.
Onychomycosis develops in only half of patients, with fingernails being affected.
What the initial stage of nail fungus with trichophytosis looks like does not allow making an accurate diagnosis, as there are similarities with other mycoses.
The surface of the nail plate becomes matte and the color becomes gray.
Over time, the nail becomes brittle and crumbles.
In some cases, it may even come off its bed.
The process is long and may take several years.
Favus
A synonym for this pathology is scabies.
Children rarely get sick.
The disease has a long chronic course.
The causative agents 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.
A yellow spot - scutula - can be seen in its thickness.
It gradually acquires a dirty color.
The death of the nail occurs after a few months from the onset of the disease.
The process is usually accompanied by other manifestations of the hair and skin.
Candidiasis
Yeast fungi, the cause of this infection, usually live on the human body and mucous membranes.
The activation of the infection leads to the appearance of systemic lesions, which can also spread to the nails.
The reasons for this can be
- I. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
- II.Immunodeficiency states.
- III.Taking hormonal drugs.
- IV.Treatment with cytostatics.
- V. Hypovitaminosis.
Hands and feet are affected equally often.
Visually, how the toenail fungus looks in the initial stage with a fungal infection is difficult to confuse with other diseases.
The nail plate acquires a brown color and becomes uneven due to stripes and indentations.
Whitish spots appear on the surface and in its thickness.
They are free and easily removed from the nail (if they are located superficially).
The nail itself delaminates, separating from the nail bed.
On its edges, in the cuticle area, cheesy layers also appear.
It becomes red and inflamed.
Interdigital spaces are also affected.