Foot skin diseases are a very common pathology. Pathogenic bacteria cause the disease and it is transmitted from person to person. Often the sick person does not know whether the skin fungus on the legs is how to treat it and whether it can be removed at home with folk remedies. There are many ways to get rid of the signs of ringworm with the help of special medicines and old recipes.
What is a skin fungus on legs
An infectious disease that affects the skin is called a fungus. The most common type is ringworm of the feet. Fungal spores are able to live in ordinary shoes for a long time and adapt to any living conditions. The most common infections are the platinum nails of the legs and feet. Skin lesions do not pose a threat to life, but contribute to the development of cosmetic defects. If foot ringworm is not treated at the early stage, later on other microbes in the form of mold bacteria or Candida fungi will join it.
disease symptoms
Treatment of skin fungus on legs should begin immediately after the first symptoms appear, otherwise the disease will drag on for a long time. Ringworm is characterized by peeling skin. This is due to the fact that the microbe penetrates deep into the layers of the skin, destroying them. Spots form on the nails (onychomycosis), small blisters appear between the toes (intertriginous form), which fill with fluid and burst, the sole becomes covered with calluses (hyperkeratotic appearance). Reproduction of fungi in any layer of the epidermis is accompanied by an unpleasant odor and the following symptoms:
- burning, itching, accompanied by dry skin;
- mealy scrub;
- nails darken, thicken, exfoliate;
- Erosive processes develop in areas of redness.
Foot fungus treatment
Before using an antifungal agent, it is necessary to consult a doctor, because the pathology must be treated, depending on the type of pathogen and the duration of the course of the disease. In advanced forms, ringworm of the feet is difficult to treat. How to get rid of foot fungus:
- localization of the disease by local therapy at an early stage: ointments, creams, solutions, compresses, baths, disinfection of shoes;
- systemic therapy at a later stage: the use of drugs.
Systemic drugs are used in several ways:
- Classic. The pills are taken throughout the course every day.
- Short. You can stop taking medication before a healthy nail grows back.
- intermittent. Therapy, which is carried out in several courses at intervals equal in duration to the course.
- Pulse Therapy. Taking pills is combined with breaks that exceed the duration of the course.
In the advanced stage of the disease, it is necessary to use antifungal drugs. Systemic antimycotics are selected individually, as these drugs have contraindications. When the first unpleasant symptoms appear, it is necessary to have a scraping of the nail plate for onychomycosis and visit a dermatologist to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe medication for external and / or internal effects on the body. The most effective include:
antifungal ointments
Many people have a question: fungus on the skin on the legs - what can be treated if the infection manifests itself only in the upper layers of the skin. In pharmacies today it is easy to find various antifungal ointments that differ in their mode of action and composition. The following local preparations quickly treat foot flexion at an early stage:
- Zinc ointment. It has a good absorbing and astringent effect. It deals well with skin irritations and mycoses. It is applied 1-2 times/day to the injury site and the area around it. The duration of therapy is 2-3 weeks.
- Sulfuric ointment. An excellent remedy to treat mycosis of the foot. Within a week of daily use, you can get rid of the disease. Sulfuric ointment has one drawback - it smells unpleasant. When buying this fact must be taken into account.
Treatment of leg fungus at home can also be carried out with antifungal creams, which differ from ointments only in the substances that make up their composition.
To speed up the healing process, in addition to the main therapy, it is necessary to treat the fungus with the help of special antifungal varnishes. They differ from drugs of similar action in a special texture. Antifungal varnishes are liquid and are applied directly to the nail plate. The agent easily enters microcracks, affecting the fungus as much as possible. This is practical as ointments and creams have a thick consistency so they are easily removed with the slightest impact.
After application of the drug, the mycosis pathogens die after 8 hours. You can use the remedy under decorative varnishes 1-2 times a week - this does not reduce its effectiveness. The duration of treatment is until the complete disappearance of onychomycosis. List of the most popular antifungal varnishes:
In mycoses of the legs, baths with sodium bicarbonate should be done daily, preferably at bedtime. The procedure should last at least 15 minutes. Baking soda is a substance that negatively affects the vital activity of a fungal infection, so it is part of many remedies that help with athlete's foot. To treat the fungus, warm water with a comfortable temperature of 40 C-45 C is needed. Soda is diluted in the proportion of 2 tbsp. spoons to 2 liters of water.
Before the procedure, you should wash your feet well with washing powder and remove the keratinized layer with pumice stone or sandpaper. You also need to process the nail plates, cutting the free edge of the nail and removing the white plate under it as much as possible with a nail file. After the procedure, the legs should be carefully wiped with a towel, without rinsing, and then treated with an antifungal agent prescribed by a dermatologist.
Folk remedies
The most effective folk remedy for foot fungus is vinegar. It creates an acidic environment that prevents yeast bacteria from spreading. As a result of exposure to vinegar in the home, the pathogen quickly loses access to sources of nutrition and dies. It is best to apply applications immediately after showers. For this, a cotton is moistened in a 9% acetic solution and applied to the area affected by the fungus for 15 minutes.
Another effective folk remedy against Candida fungus is the external use of hydrogen peroxide. First, it is recommended to take a bath with a soda solution, then soak a piece of cotton wool with a 3% peroxide solution and apply it to the affected area of the skin, putting clean socks on top. It is necessary to keep the application up to 60 minutes 2 times a day until complete recovery.
Prevention
To recognize the problem in time, you must know what the fungus looks like. To do this, it is better to ask this question in advance, looking at photos on the Internet. So you need to follow the advice of dermatologists, what you need to do in order not to get infected with foot fungus:
- after visiting the beach, swimming pool and other public places, you should wash your feet well;
- with sweaty feet, the risk of contracting mold fungi develops, so you need to stop wearing socks and closed shoes for a long time;
- in order not to get infected with pathogenic microflora, it is not necessary to give other personal hygiene items, clothes or shoes;
- you should regularly take care of your toes: get a pedicure, trim your overgrown nails.
How to treat skin fungus on legs
Find out how to treat leg skin fungus as this is a contagious disease that can affect the nails. The fungus not only looks ugly, but also harms health. This condition cannot be started, it is urgent to take measures for treatment.
What is recommended to treat skin fungus on legs
For the treatment of trichophytosis fungus, it is necessary to cleanse the skin with iodine. With severe inflammation, it is advisable to make lotions.
In addition to all this, it is desirable to use vitamins, especially ascorbic acid.
It is better to choose vitamins for the treatment period, as the body needs support.
If the skin is affected by Candida fungus, corticosteroid creams, hydrocortisone will be needed.
Symptoms of this pathology
Most of the time, skin fungus appears in older people, after the age of 50. But we must not forget that the disease is contagious, so the younger generation can also have this disease if they do not adhere to certain rules.
Some signs of skin fungus include:
With an injury, the first signs are visible in the area between the fingers. It is from there that the fungus grows all over the leg. It often also covers the nails. Typically, foot fungus affects both feet. If the form is acute, blisters appear, which then rot, sores appear.
Redness is observed on the skin, it becomes very dense. Also, there is an unpleasant smell from feet, not just after wearing shoes. The legs seem to start to burn, and when walking, the pain increases. The skin may become scaly, there is strong dryness.
The fungus spreads as follows. Redness appears on a small area of skin. Over time, it starts to peel and the affected area spreads.
At the initial stage, a person is practically not worried about anything, only his appearance. So there are already painful sensations. The fungus spreads quickly.
Complex disease treatment
Treatment of skin fungus on legs should be carried out not only by applying funds directly to the affected areas, but also by taking medication inside.
To choose a drug, first of all, you need to consult a doctor. When treatment begins, it is desirable to exclude other drugs. During the treatment period, the doctor should check the patient's condition and perform skin scrapings regularly to determine how the treatment is progressing.
The full course of treatment lasts at least three months. First, the first stage of treatment, lasting one week. After that, a break is taken for two weeks, after which treatment is resumed.
This is necessary to avoid relapses. They happen frequently, especially if the immune system is not strong. When it gets weaker, the first signs of fungus appear immediately on the skin.
It is necessary to combine treatment. In the morning it is advisable to use the ointment and in the evening to take the medicine inside. You can use creams and solutions several times a day.
Apply the product with friction movements. If after two weeks there is no noticeable improvement, stronger drugs are prescribed. Any movement must be careful as it is very easy to damage this skin.
Proven Pills for Fungi
For all types of fungi, a strong drug is prescribed. Take the tablet once and only after meals. It quickly penetrates the body and immediately begins the fight against infection.
The main thing when taking pills is not to increase the amount on your own. This will help to avoid overdose and side effects. Pills are best combined with ointments or gels. A pill rarely achieves the desired effect.
drops and solutions
The drops are very effective in fighting the fungus. First, they destroy infected cells, after which they protect unaffected ones. In addition to removing the cause of the infection, the drops remove inflammation and itching.
Drops are best used as an additional element of treatment. The fungus is a serious disease that cannot be cured with medicine. The drops will work best at the early stage, when the fungus has not developed very extensively.
Choosing the best folk remedy
Sometimes medications cannot improve the condition.
In such cases, you can turn to proven popular methods:
- Coffee. This drink is useful not only for internal use, but also as a tincture for baths. Strong insoluble coffee should be poured with hot water and the feet should be soaked in this remedy. Coffee will relieve pain and inflammation, remove overgrown layers of skin. It will also perfectly help after recovery to restore the condition of the epidermis.
- Wine vinegar. This tool is an excellent antiseptic and a tool in the fight against bacteria. At night, you can use the following method. Clean woolen socks should be kept for half an hour in vinegar, squeezed well, then placed on the feet and covered with a blanket. When doing this procedure at night, in the morning you may notice a visible effect.
- juices. The skin affected by the fungus can be cleaned with gauze soaked in lemon or onion juice. These remedies may cause a burning sensation at first, but after a few minutes it will go away. Due to this, the number of bacteria is reduced, the fungus does not progress. You can try another tomato juice treatment. You need to choose the juice only without salt, so that it does not pinch the skin.
- Herbal decoction. Boil calendula, verbena and oak bark in water. In this decoction you can keep your feet or use as lotions. The components are easy to find in a pharmacy, the effectiveness of such a collection will be equivalent to expensive drugs. It can be used every day, both morning and night.
- Rye flour. After foot baths, it will be helpful to rub rye flour into the affected areas. It is able to absorb all bacteria and rid the skin of disease. The main thing is to rub a small amount.
- Antiseptics. A mixture of baking soda and washing powder will make a household antiseptic. All this must be dissolved in warm water. Pour the resulting mixture into a basin and leave the legs there to clean for half an hour.
Alternative treatment methods are helpful because they have no side effects and all ingredients are natural.
What to do if the nail came off
Problems with a toenail with fungus indicate a neglected state of the disease. The nail darkens, begins to exfoliate, gets thinner, and then pulls away from the skin.
This state is divided into several types:
Onychoshisis can be identified by the fact that the nail exfoliates crosswise, kaylonchinia - the nail exfoliates in the middle.
Onychomodesis is when the nail peels off at the base only. This is the most difficult case, because inflammation occurs.
It is important to ensure that the nail does not rot as it can be completely lost. When a person's nail falls off, at first he doesn't notice. Only with an infection does pain and inflammation appear.
The following symptoms indicate that the nail exfoliation came from the fungus:
- a void is formed under the nail;
- the nail acquires a yellow tint;
- intense itching appears, but you should not tear the fragile nail;
- the manifestation of pain occurs only in advanced cases of the disease.
When this problem occurs, it is important to constantly treat the affected nail with an antiseptic as it is open to different microbes.
You need to follow the following scheme. When peeling off the tip with sterile scissors, cut off the edge. The cut site is treated with an antiseptic. After that, prepare a bath with sea salt and hold your feet for ten minutes. Lubricate the cut site with a healing agent.
You should stop painting your nails and masking the problem, this will only worsen the condition. It is also very important not to wear tight shoes. You need to make sure your nails aren't too long, because shoes will compress them and could eventually break.
On the feet, the fungus spreads quite quickly, so it will pass from one nail to the other in a matter of days.
Prevention of the onset of the disease
Avoiding the problem of a fungus infection is not difficult. You need to follow some rules, then health will be in order.
The first rule to remember is that you cannot wear someone else's shoes. After all, someone could be infected with a fungus. He tends to stay in shoes.
You can even try on shoes in the store with only socks on. Every day you need to wash your feet with soap and water, especially at night after wearing shoes for a long time. You should always choose shoes according to the weather.
It is impossible to wear warm shoes in very hot weather, because the foot starts to sweat, and in a humid environment, the development of the fungus grows significantly. It is important to choose socks only from natural materials, wear them no more than once, because after wearing them they are full of bacteria.
At any drugstore, you can find foot disinfectant sprays that you need to use if you need to wear shoes all day. When visiting the pool, it is best to bring a change of shoes and not walk barefoot on the tiles. This advice is also followed in the sauna.
At the first symptoms of the fungus, treatment should be started. This disease does not go away on its own. Not a secondary action should be an increase in the immune system.
The skin of the feet needs to be taken care of. When calluses appear, get rid of them immediately. If your feet suffer from excessive sweating, you need to use special foot deodorants. Any cracks and open wounds on the legs should be treated immediately and constantly disinfected.
When getting a pedicure, it's important to make sure all tools are disinfected, especially if you're doing it in the salon. If someone in the family has a fungus, it is necessary to wash the floor well and shower. You just need to wear flip flops and dry off with an individual towel.
Foot skin fungus is a disease that is best not dealt with. It differs in that it requires a lot of time for treatment as well as a long recovery afterwards.
A person who becomes sick with a fungus, after an illness, has a huge risk of being infected with it again. To protect yourself from this, you need not only to be treated properly, but also to take preventative measures afterwards.