Fight with a fungus of nails in the hands

Onychomycosis of the hands (nail fungus on the hands) occurs 3-7 times less often than the fungus on the toes, however, many people are interested in treatment methods. Especially women, because they suffer from fungus in their arms they are three times more likely than men. There are several reasons for this: women have to keep their brushes in water for a long time, to come into contact with household chemicals. Even a visit to a manicurist can end with a fungus on the nails of the hands.

Appointment of an agent against the fungus can only specialist, because the choice of the drug depends primarily on the type of fungus that has settled on the nails, and the neglect of the process of infection. It is impossible to determine the type of the fungus independently, and, therefore, it will not be possible to choose a remedy for hand nail fungus either. However, it is not inconvenient to orientate in the variety of antifungal preparations, therefore we suggest to find out what the fungus usually treats.

You decide how your nails look like :)

Let's find out how to treat the fungus. There are 4 main ways:

1. Remedies for nail fungus topical application.
2. Medicines taken orally.
3. Laser treatment (to find out the price ) and hardware cleaning.
4. Folk methods of treatment .

Topical agents

If you contact the dermatologist immediately after finding the first symptoms, you can get by using nail fungus drugs on your hands, applied only to the affected areas. These include creams, ointments, varnishes, solutions, etc. Their advantages:

• The ability to use for a long time, even in cases where the state of health can not take antifungal drugs in the form of capsules and tablets .
• The minimum number of side effects and the rarity of allergic reactions.
• Relative availability in the financial plan (antifungal varnishes will be the most expensive).
• Simplicity of application and the ability to accurately determine the therapeutic concentration.

There are several disadvantages, among which the most important and important is the inability of the active substances of ointments and creams to penetrate deep into the nail plate, to the bed, and in fact the most viable fungi accumulate there. When using varnishes you can be calm: they penetrate through the nail tissue and accumulate in them, due to which high antifungal effectiveness is formed. However, the ability to penetrate creams and ointments can still be increased by removing the affected horny structures of the nail. Do this mechanically (armed with nippers and a nail file) or by applying keratolic patches that soften the nail and act like an antiseptic.

List of the most effective means for local therapy (in alphabetical order)

1. Lacquer "Batrafen"
2. Candide ointment
3. Ointment "Clotrimazole"
4. Cream "Lamisil"
5. Laceril lacquer
6. Cream and Drops " Exoderil "

Before treating the nail fungus on the hands of one of these means, you need to steam up your nails in a warm bath with the addition of herbs, laundry soap or soda. Cream and ointment are rubbed with massaging movements in the nail and nearby tissues 1-2 times a day, unless otherwise specified in the instructions. Varnishes are used only once a week. Duration of treatment may be up to 6 months, but if after 2 weeks of regular use of local remedies there is no effect, then they should find an alternative or start a course of systematic therapy.

Medications taken internally

Ten to fifteen years ago, nail fungus was treated with only two drugs - ketoconazole and griseofulvin . They needed to be taken 10-18 months. Duration of treatment is not the only drawback. It was necessary to constantly visit the clinic for the delivery of tests, because these drugs were the cause of numerous side effects.

In the early 90's, the introduction of itraconazole and terbinafine drugs began, which acted much faster and had fewer side effects. The principle of action of drugs with a 40-year history and modern is simple: their active substances penetrate into the matrix and nail bed through the blood, accumulate and destroy the fungi.

Assign medication from the nail fungus on the hands, taken orally, in the following cases:

• Defeat more than half the area of ​​the nail plate.
• Subungual hyperkeratosis.
• Extensive damage to the nails on the hands (more than three plates).
• Concomitant diseases (immunodeficiency, diabetes, etc.)
• Age over 50 years.

List of drugs used in systemic therapy (in parentheses the trade name is indicated):

1. Griseofulvin (currently used very rarely due to side effects).
2. Ketoconazole ( Mycosorrhal ).
3. Intraconazole (Itramicol, Orungal ).
4. Terbinafine (Binofin, Lamisil, Terbizin).
5. Fluconazole ( Diflucan , Mycomax, Mycosyst ).

These drugs kill spores of the fungus, and also contribute to the softening of the horny masses. Depending on the characteristics of the body and the stage of the fungal infection, 1 to 2 tablets (capsules) are prescribed per day.

It is possible to take medication and short courses. As the called pulse therapy is relatively easy to tolerate by the body, but brings good results.

How to use:

Ketoconazole ( Nizoral )

• The daily dose is 200 mg. (1 tablet).
• Take with food.
• Duration of application - 4-6 months.

Itraconazole (Orungal)

• With onychomycosis, brushes require 2 courses of pulse therapy with the drug.
• The procedure looks like this: 7 days for two 400 mg., 3 weeks break, seven-day drug intake.

Terbinafine (Lamisil)

• The daily dose is 250 mg. (1 tablet).
• Duration of admission - 1.5 months

Fluconazole ( Diflucan )

• The dose is 150 mg. once a week.
• Duration of admission is 6 months.

Do not buy tablets yourself in pharmacies. Yes, they all stick to the membrane of the fungus and destroy it, but one of them can not be taken to people with kidney failure, and others can only fight dermatophytes and yeast fungi. Only a few can be taken for children and pregnant women ( Flucostat ).

Laser treatment and cleaning equipment

Hardware cleaning helps to get rid of the upper damaged layer of the nail plate. This procedure may be needed if the patient has started the fungus and has given him the ability to destroy the nail . The result of this painless operation is a 1.5-2-fold reduction in the duration of treatment and the possibility of "exposing" the nail bed for maximum penetration of antifungal agents .

Laser treatment does not cause pain in the patient. The luminous flux of the laser kills the fungus and its spores, without touching the surrounding tissues, sterilizes the nail bed and intravenously irradiates the blood. In addition to fungicidal action, the laser gives a good antipruritic, desensitizing, anti-inflammatory and drying effect. The duration of one procedure is 20-25 minutes. In total 3-4 laser irradiation are required, although the effect will be noticeable after the first session.

Traditional methods of treatment

It is not necessary to resort to folk methods of treatment, because they only relieve the itching and facilitate the general condition. They can not prevent the reproduction of fungi deep under the nail, they can not. If you really want, then you can use them as an addition to the main therapy, but only if the doctor will allow:

1. For 30-40 minutes put a compress on the nails of grated potatoes. Then the brushes and nails are washed with warm water.
2. Baths for brushes made from non-hardened strong coffee are made several evenings in a row. Shake the sediment is not recommended.
3. You can also immerse the brush in warm water, in which soda and salt are dissolved (1 tbsp).
4. Ointment, which includes 20 gr. Cones of hops, as much burdock root and 10 gr. Inflorescences of calendula, boiled in a water bath, and Vaseline (mixed in a 1: 2 ratio) are applied like a drugstore several times a day with a thin layer.
5. Mint leaves are pounded with salt, and then apply the resulting mass to the nails for 1 hour.

No matter how good a fungus is, there is always a chance that in your case it will not work. Fungi adapt to many drugs, especially if the treatment regimen was not followed. Another common cause is the immunity of the body to the active components of antifungal drugs. Therefore, if in two weeks from the beginning of treatment the result is completely absent, it is worthwhile once again to visit the doctor and replace the drug, and perhaps simply supplement the action of the local drug with a systemic one.