Skin diseases of the feet are a very common pathology. Pathogenic bacteria provoke the disease and it is transmitted from person to person. Often the sick person does not know whether to treat the skin fungus on the legs and whether it can be removed at home with folk remedies. There are many ways to get rid of the signs of mycosis with the help of special drugs and old recipes.
What is a fungus of the skin on the legs
An infectious disease that affects the skin is called a fungus. The most common type is athlete's foot. Fungal spores can survive in ordinary shoes for a long time, adapting to any living conditions. The most common infections are nail platinum of the legs and feet. Skin lesions do not pose a threat to life, but contribute to the development of cosmetic defects. If athlete's foot is not treated in its early stages, other microbes in the form of mold or candida will join later.
symptoms of the disease
Treatment of skin fungus on the legs should begin immediately after the appearance of the first symptoms, otherwise the disease will drag on for a long time. Mycosis is characterized by peeling of the skin. This is because the microbe penetrates deep into the layers of the skin and destroys them. Spots form on the nails (onychomycosis), small blisters appear between the toes (intertriginous form) that fill with fluid and burst, the sole becomes overgrown with calluses (hyperkeratotic appearance). The reproduction of fungi in all layers of the epidermis is accompanied by an unpleasant odor and the following symptoms:
- burning, itching, accompanied by dry skin;
- mealy scrub;
- darkening, thickening, exfoliating nails;
- Erosive processes develop in areas with redness.
treatment of athlete's foot
![fungus on the skin of the feet](/images/articles/697/fungus%20on%20the%20skin%20of%20the%20feet.jpg)
Before using an antifungal drug, it is necessary to consult a doctor, since the pathology should be treated depending on the type of pathogen and the duration of the course of the disease. In advanced forms, mycosis of the feet is difficult to treat. How to get rid of athlete's foot:
- Localization of the disease by local therapy in the early stages: ointments, creams, solutions, compresses, baths, shoe disinfection;
- systemic therapy at a later stage: the use of drugs.
Systemic drugs are used in several ways:
- Classic. Pills are taken daily throughout the course.
- Short. You can stop taking medication before a healthy nail grows back.
- changing. Therapy that is carried out in several courses at equal intervals.
- pulse therapy. Taking pills is combined with breaks exceeding the duration of the course.
In the advanced stage of the disease, the use of antifungal drugs is required. Systemic antifungal drugs are selected individually, since these drugs have contraindications. When the first unpleasant symptoms appear, it is necessary to scrape 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: skin fungus on the legs - what can be treated if the infection has manifested 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 treat the bending of the foot quickly and early:
- zinc ointment. It has good absorbing and astringent properties. It copes well with skin irritations and mycoses. It is applied to the site of the lesion and the area around it 1-2 times a day. The duration of therapy is 2-3 weeks.
- Sulfuric ointment. An excellent remedy for treating athlete's foot. Within a week of daily use, you can get rid of the disease. Sulfuric ointment has one disadvantage - it has an unpleasant smell. This fact must be taken into account when purchasing.
Treatment of fungus on the legs at home can also be carried out using antifungal creams, which differ from ointments only in the substances that make up their composition.
![Fungal treatment with antifungal varnish](/images/articles/697/Fungal%20treatment%20with%20antifungal%20varnish.jpg)
To speed up the healing process, in addition to the main therapy, the fungus must be treated with special antifungal drugs. They differ from drugs of similar action in a special texture. Antifungal varnishes are liquid and are applied directly to the nail platinum. The agent easily penetrates into microcracks and has a maximum effect on the fungus. This is practical, because ointments and creams have a viscous consistency, so they can be easily removed with the slightest push.
After using the drug, the causative agents of mycosis die off after 8 hours. You can use the agent under decorative varnishes 1-2 times a week - this will not reduce its effectiveness. The duration of treatment is until complete disappearance of onychomycosis. List of the most popular antifungal drugs:
With mycosis of the legs, baths with baking soda should be done daily, preferably before bedtime. The process should take at least 15 minutes. Baking soda is a substance that negatively affects the vital activity of a fungal infection, so it is a component of many remedies that help with athlete's foot. Warm water with a comfortable temperature of 40 ° C to 45 ° C is needed to treat the fungus. Soda is diluted in the proportion of 2 tbsp. spoon for 2 liters of water.
Before the procedure, you should wash your feet thoroughly with laundry soap and remove the callused layer with a pumice stone or sandpaper. You also need to process the nail plates by cutting off the free edge of the nail and using a nail file to remove as much of the white plaque underneath as possible. After the procedure, without rinsing, the legs should be gently wiped with a towel, and then treated with an antifungal drug prescribed by a dermatologist.
home remedies
The most effective folk remedy for athlete's foot is vinegar. It creates an acidic environment that prevents the proliferation of yeast bacteria. As a result of exposure to vinegar at home, the pathogen quickly loses access to food sources and dies. It is better to apply applications immediately after bathing. To do this, a cotton pad is moistened with a 9% acetic acid solution and applied to the area affected by the fungus for 15 minutes.
Another effective folk remedy for Candida fungus is the external application of hydrogen peroxide. First, it is recommended to take a bath with a solution of soda, then soak a piece of cotton wool in a 3% solution of peroxide and apply it to the affected area of \u200b\u200bthe skin, putting clean socks on top. It is necessary to maintain the application up to 60 minutes twice a day until full recovery.
prevention
In order to identify the problem in time, you should know what the fungus looks like. It is better to ask yourself this question in advance by looking at photos on the Internet. Then you need to heed the advice of dermatologists on what to do in order not to get infected with athlete's foot:
- After visiting the beach, swimming pool and other public places, you should wash your feet thoroughly.
- with sweaty feet there is a risk of mold, so avoid socks and closed shoes for a long time;
- In order not to become infected with pathogenic microflora, it is not necessary to give personal hygiene items, clothes or shoes to others.
- You should take care of your toes regularly: do a pedicure, trim ingrown toenails.
How to treat skin fungus on legs?
Find out how to treat leg skin fungus, because this is a contagious disease that can get to the nails. The fungus not only looks ugly, but is also harmful to health. This condition cannot be started, it is urgent to take measures to treat it.
What is recommended to treat the fungus of the skin on the legs
To treat trichophytosis fungus, it is necessary to wipe the skin with iodine. With severe inflammation, it is advisable to make lotions.
In addition, it is desirable to use vitamins, especially ascorbic acid.
It is better to choose vitamins for the period of treatment, since the body needs support.
When the skin is infested with Candida fungus, corticosteroid creams and hydrocortisone are needed.
Symptoms of this pathology
Most often, the fungus appears on the skin of elderly people after 50. But we must not forget that the disease is contagious, so the younger generation can also have this disease if they don't follow certain rules.
Some signs of skin fungus are:
With a lesion, the first signs are visible in the area between the fingers. From there, the fungus grows throughout the leg. It often covers the nails as well. Athlete's foot usually affects both feet. When the form is acute, blisters appear, which then fester, sores appear.
Redness is observed on the skin, it becomes very dense. There is also an unpleasant foot odor, not only after wearing shoes. The legs seem to burn and the pain increases when walking. The skin may be scaly, there is severe dryness.
The fungus spreads in the following way. Redness appears on a small area of the skin. Over time, it begins to peel off and the affected area spreads.
At the initial stage, a person is not worried about practically anything, only appearance. Then there are already painful sensations. The fungus spreads quite quickly.
Complex treatment of the disease
Treatment of skin fungus on the legs should be carried out not only by applying funds directly to the affected areas, but also by taking medications.
To choose a drug, you must first consult a doctor. When treatment begins, it is desirable to exclude other drugs. During the period of treatment, the doctor should check the patient's condition and periodically take skin swabs to see how the treatment is going.
The full treatment takes at least three months. First the first phase of treatment, which lasts a week. After that, a break of two weeks is taken, after which the treatment is resumed.
This is necessary to avoid relapses. They are common, especially when the immune system is not strengthened. When it weakens, the first signs of fungus appear on the skin immediately.
It is necessary to combine treatment. In the morning it is advisable to use the ointment, and in the evening take the drug. You can use both creams and solutions several times a day.
Apply the product with rubbing movements. If after two weeks there is no noticeable improvement, stronger drugs are prescribed. Any movement should be careful, since it is very easy to damage such skin.
Proven pills for fungus
A powerful drug is prescribed for all types of fungus. Take the tablet once and only after meals. It quickly penetrates the body and immediately begins to fight infection.
The main thing when taking pills is not to increase the amount yourself. This will help avoid overdose and side effects. Tablets are best combined with ointments or gels. A pill rarely achieves the desired effect.
drops and solutions
Drops are very effective in the fight against fungus. First they destroy infected cells, then they protect unaffected cells. In addition to eliminating the cause of infection, drops eliminate inflammation and itching.
Drops are best used as an additional element of treatment. Fungus is a serious disease that cannot be cured with one remedy. Drops work best in the early stages, when the development of the fungus is not too extensive.
Choosing the best folk remedy
Sometimes medication cannot improve the condition.
In such cases, you can resort to proven folk methods:
- Coffee. This drink is useful not only for internal use, but also as a tincture for baths. Strong insoluble coffee should be doused with hot water and dipped your feet in this remedy. Coffee relieves pain and inflammation, removes the overgrown layers of skin. It will perfectly help restore the condition of the epidermis even after recovery.
- 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 need to be kept in vinegar for half an hour, squeezed well, then put on your feet and covered with a blanket. If you do this procedure at night, you can see a visible effect in the morning.
- Juices. The skin affected by the fungus can be wiped with gauze dipped in lemon or onion juice. These remedies may initially cause a burning sensation, but it will go away after a few minutes. As a result, the number of bacteria will be reduced, the fungus will not progress. You can try another treatment with ready-made tomato juice. You just need to choose juice without salt so that it does not pinch the skin.
- herbal brew. Boil the calendula, verbena and oak bark in water. You can keep your feet in this decoction or use it as lotions. The components are easy to find in a pharmacy, the effectiveness of such a collection is comparable to expensive medicines. It can be used every day, both in the morning and in the evening.
- rye flour. After foot baths, it makes sense to rub the affected areas with rye flour. It is able to absorb all bacteria and rid the skin of the disease. The main thing is to grate a small amount.
- antiseptics. A mixture of baking soda and laundry soap becomes a home antiseptic. All this must be dissolved in warm water. Pour the resulting mixture into a basin and leave there to clean the legs for half an hour.
Alternative treatment methods make sense as they have no side effects and all ingredients are natural ingredients.
What to do if the nail comes off
Problems with a nail with fungus indicate a neglected condition of the disease. The nail darkens, begins to peel off, thins, and then moves away from the skin.
This condition is divided into several types:
Onychoshisis can be recognized by the fact that the nail flakes off across, Kaylonchinia - the nail flakes off in the middle.
Onychomodesis is when the nail comes off at the base only. This is the most difficult case, since then inflammation occurs.
It is important to ensure that the nail does not fester, otherwise it may be lost completely. When a person's nail comes off, they don't notice it at first. Pain and inflammation only occur when there is an infection.
The following symptoms indicate that nail peeling is due to the fungus:
- a gap forms under the nail;
- the nail acquires a yellow tint;
- severe itching appears, but you should not tear the fragile nail;
- the manifestation of pain occurs only in advanced cases of the disease.
When such a problem arises, it is important to constantly treat the affected nail with an antiseptic, since it is open to various microbes.
You must follow the scheme below. When peeling off the tip, use sterile scissors to cut off the edge. The interface is treated with an antiseptic. After that, prepare a bath with sea salt and hold your feet for ten minutes. Lubricate the interface with a remedy.
You should stop painting nails and masking the problem, this will only aggravate the condition. It is also very important not to wear tight shoes. You have to be careful not to make the nails too long because then the shoes can compress them and eventually break them.
On the feet, the fungus spreads fairly quickly, moving from one nail to another in a matter of days.
prevention of the onset of the disease
Avoiding the problem of infection with a fungus is not difficult. You need to follow some rules, then health is fine.
The first rule to remember is that you cannot wear someone else's shoes. After all, someone can become infected with a fungus. He tends to stay in shoes.
You can even try on shoes with just socks in the store. Every day you need to wash your feet with soap and water, especially in the evening after wearing long shoes. You should always choose shoes according to the weather.
In too hot weather, it is impossible to wear warm shoes, since the foot begins to sweat, and in a humid environment, the development of the fungus increases significantly. It is important to choose socks only from natural materials and not to wear them more than once, as after wearing them they are filled with bacteria.
In every pharmacy you can find disinfectant foot sprays that you must use if you have to wear shoes all day. When visiting the bath, it is better to take a change of shoes and not walk barefoot on the tiles. This advice is also followed in the sauna.
Treatment should be started at the first symptoms of the fungus. This disease does not go away on its own. No secondary effect should be an increase in the immune system.
The skin on the feet needs to be cared for. If corns appear, get rid of them immediately. If your feet suffer from excessive sweating, you need to use special foot deodorants. 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 sanitized, especially if you're doing it in the salon. If someone in the family has a fungus, then the floors must be thoroughly washed and showered. All you have to do is wear slippers and dry yourself with an individual towel.
Foot skin fungus is a disease that is better not to face. It differs in that it requires a lot of time for treatment, as well as a long recovery afterwards.
A person who falls ill with a fungus after an illness has a great risk of becoming infected with it again. To protect yourself from it, you need not only to be treated properly, but also to take preventive measures.