Nail fungus is an unsightly, sometimes painful condition that affects millions of Americans. This is more common in nails than toenails, which is usually difficult to treat. The next article discusses the reason why this is the case, and what doctors use most often to eradicate the infection.
A fungus is an organism similar to bacteria, viruses, parasites, plants or animals. There are many types and forms of fungi, some large ones (for example, mushrooms) and some microscopic in size. Microscopic types of fungi are those that can invade a person's body and use it as a forest for life. Infection of the fungus can be seen in the lungs, skin, and numerous openings (for example, in the area of the oral cavity and genitals). Although it is usually not life threatening for reasonably healthy people, fungal infections are annoying and can cause numerous problems that encourage people to seek quick relief. Perhaps the most common site of infection by fungi is on the skin, which also includes nails. A skin fungal infection occurs under many common names depending on its location, including “ringworm”, “knock” and “stop loss”. Skin fungus thrives on the body, where the environment is warm and humid, and therefore the legs and the genital area seem to develop infections more easily. Foot-fungus is transmitted or caught in wet areas, such as showers, changing rooms and other public places where one is barefoot. Several types of fungi can invade the legs, including mold and yeast. However, the most common types of fungi that invade a leg are called dermatophyte. It is this type most often causes purulent infection.
Nails become infected when a skin fungus uses a small crack or breaks into the tissue of the nail and invades the skin surface under the nail. The fungus uses the nail above, as a scaffold for life, and thrives on the skin material under it. Sometimes this leads to the fact that the nail becomes weakened, discolored, thickened and deformed, since the surface of the skin and nails is partially destroyed by infection. The infection creates nail fragments, which are visible from the outside as a crumbly material coming out of the end of the nail.
So why is this infection difficult to treat? Athlete's foot infection is easy to treat with local creams, and nail fungus is the same organism. Why will it be harder to heal when it is in a nail? The answer lies in the nature of the nail itself. Nails are hard, compressed plates of keratin fabric. This material is usually imperfect for water, and the possibility of penetration of drugs applied locally on a nail, as a rule, is poor without a special formulation. Even if the medicine can penetrate the nail, because the nail is more lair than the skin, the final concentration of the drug that reaches the bottom surface of the nail can be quite low, which makes it much less effective. Since the fungus lives on the skin under the nail, the medicine must reach the skin with sufficient concentration to kill it in the most favorable environment for it - so it is. Most of all topical antifungal drugs do not have this ability, as there is either poor drug penetration due to their cream, or solution-based, or the active ingredient is not active or not sufficiently concentrated relative to the more ingrained nail fungus. Many home treatments have evolved in response to this difficult treatment. These include tea tree oil, wiki, listerine, vinegar, and many others. Unfortunately, none of them have true proven antifungal properties, and they have not demonstrated scientifically destroy the nail fungus. Some of these treatments can flush out the garbage or clean up the excellent discoloration, which leads many to the false notion that their fungus will be cured when the change is only beneficial and the fungus is preserved. In addition, not all discoloration of the nails is due to the fungus, and these excellent treatment methods can sometimes clear the discoloration of the nails, which leads to anecdotal rumor that they work on the fungus.
Treatment of nail fungi is possible, but more involved than the treatment of other major non-life-related skin infections. Obviously, the most effective way to deliver drugs to the skin under the nail is to completely bypass the nail and send the drug through the bloodstream to enter the surface of the skin below. This is achieved by taking a pill that dissolves in the stomach and enters the bloodstream. Currently, there are two drugs for this purpose, one of which is used most often due to problems with the drug interaction of the other. Treatment must continue for three months before the infection can be effectively eradicated, and another six to nine months must pass before the destroyed nail grows far enough so that the new uninfected nail is the entire length of the nail. Unfortunately, this medicine can rarely cause liver damage, and should be avoided in those with liver disease, those taking certain medicines that break down in the liver in the same way, or with other health problems, such as kidney disease. .
A new generation of topical drugs has emerged to eliminate the need to replace an internal one, especially for those who cannot take it. These topical solutions use special oil-based formulas to help send medicine through the nail plate. For some time, a prescription version has been released, and several over-the-counter versions have been developed, which are distributed by physicians, primarily podiatrists. The most popular of these brands is called Formula 3. According to this author, this drug seems to be more effective clinically than the prescription of topical medications based on eight years, as a rule, unsuccessful use, and Formula 3 is used in this practice for this cause. Collectively, these topical medications are much less effective than internal medicine, but much safer to use. To destroy the fungus requires a long period of use, which can take from six months to a year, depending on the growth rate of the nails and the severity of the infection. Again, much of this is related to the ability of the medicine to reach the skin under the nail. These topical medications work better than store-bought creams and water-based solutions that essentially control only the fungus on the folds of the skin around the nail. They do not work as well as internal medicines, which are still not 100 percent effective and still require three months of treatment. All this is due to the hardy nature of the nail fungus, given its rigor numbness in the skin under the nail and the relative shelter that provides a thick nail plate.
Perhaps one day the pharmaceutical industry will develop a more effective drug for use with nail fungus. Unfortunately, in addition to the difficulty that the current medicine is facing in killing the fungus that causes the infection of the toenail, the theory of observations that some nails may simply be more likely to develop a nail fungus infection over others, and our environment leads to the possibility that infection of nails to nails of nails can happen again and again. Steps can be taken to prevent the infection from re-rooting into the nail, but this requires regular vigilance.
Alternative technologies are being developed to facilitate the treatment of nail fungus and are safer for reuse if necessary. Laser therapy is becoming popular in many parts of the country. Those seeking this treatment should consider several factors. It is expensive, and insurance does not yet cover it. The results of a recent study in a medical journal looked promising in terms of its effectiveness. However, according to this author, the study (which was funded by laser) had some drawbacks. He did not follow patients long enough to determine whether there was true long-term treatment, and there were not enough patients to convince him of his overall credibility. More research is needed before this treatment should have considered the possibility of treating nail fungus, especially considering its cost. Until then, nail fungus remains difficult to treat an infection that affects millions of people worldwide, and requires a different approach than similar infections on the skin.
