Treatment of fungal diseases

Dermatologists and mycologists try not to use formal approaches to the treatment of fungi, which consist of the standard description of ointments and tablets and lead to the chronic course of fungal infections and the development of serious complications that reduce the quality of life:

1. Fungal eczema.
2. Constant hair loss.
3. Destruction of nail plates and indentation of the nail bed.
4. Chronic inflammation of the penis and vagina, which is constantly bothering men and women and makes sex life impossible.

A method to completely get rid of a fungal disease, which helps to achieve the following goals:

1. Destruction of pathogenic fungi in the focus of skin lesions.
2. Protecting healthy skin (nails, mucous membranes) from the spread of mycosis.
3. Prevention of relapse.
4. Restoring the normal structure of the skin, hair and mucous membranes while maintaining their elasticity and beauty.
5. Removal from the body of fungal waste products, which cause chronic intoxication and allergies.
6. Restoring the sensitivity of the skin and mucous membranes of the genitals to normalize sex life.

It seems that all this is logical and as it should be. But in practice, very rarely, dermatologists follow all the rules for the treatment of fungal diseases, often limiting themselves to external therapies. Yes, and many patients simply want to "paint something" instead of undergoing a full treatment.

Which diseases are treated in the clinic:

• Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nails of the hands and feet.
• Fungal lesions of the skin of the foot, hand.
• Smooth skin fungus.
• Fungal diseases of the inguinal folds, armpits, under the mammary glands, intergluteal folds.
• Pityriasis versicolor.
• Scalp fungus, dandruff.
• Fungi that cause seborrheic dermatitis.
• Candidiasis, thrush of the penis and vagina.
• Fungal prostates.
• Candidiasis of the oral mucosa and tongue.
• Fungal diseases of the outer ear.

The treatment of the fungus, of course, depends on its type and the localization of the process. Let us distinguish the general phases of therapy:

• Mandatory analysis of scratches for a fungus with a determination, if possible, of its type, sensitivity to drugs, quantity.
• Blood tests, biochemical and on the state of the immune system.
• Removal of the affected area of the nail plate, laser hair, hardware or surgical.
• Drug therapy: Intravenous or tablet antifungal drug. Lasts from 10 days to 4 months (with onychomycosis). Injection of antifungals has proven to be the best and allows you to reduce the duration of treatment of a fungal disease and reduce the impact on the liver. External treatment with ointments, creams and antifungal solutions in a certain sequence. Preparations that improve the growth of nail plates, hair, restoring the integrative epithelium of the skin and mucous membranes. Local treatment in the form of baths in the penis and vagina, restoration of normal microflora of the genitals with a fungal disease of the genitals. Immune therapy and removal of fungal toxins and allergens.
• Physiotherapy: ultraviolet radiation with medical quartz, treatment of affected areas with infrared or ultrasonic lasers.
• And finally - control tests for the fungus.

Treating fungal diseases can seem time consuming and complicated. That's right, but only for a doctor! Treatment regimens are designed in such a way that the patient does not notice much discomfort during therapy and everything goes quite easily for him.

Treatment of skin fungus usually does not take time and lasts about 10-20 days. Hair and nail treatment is longer and reaches several months.

But it is not even about the duration of therapy. Treatment of fungal diseases should be carried out by a professional, a dermatovenerologist, a mycologist who is familiar with all the methods listed above and actively applies them in practice. Specialists in this field are admitted daily to clinics.

Treatment of foot mold

The treatment of foot fungus is carried out together with the therapy of other fungal diseases for more than 13 years.

The method of treatment of foot skin fungi, developed and used in the clinic, has long proven its effectiveness, despite the known difficulties in the treatment of fungal diseases.

What do patients who have completed a full course with a diagnosis of foot mycosis get as a result:

• Complete destruction of pathogenic mold on the soles of the feet, in the interdigital spaces, on the back of the foot, in the thickness of the nail plates.
• Eliminate itching and unpleasant odor from the feet.
• Healing cracks and inflammatory changes in the skin of the foot.
• Restoration of skin elasticity, elimination of hyperkeratosis - thickening of the skin of the sole of the foot, especially in the heel area.
• Elimination of excessive sweating - hyperhidrosis of the feet.
• Growing healthy nails.

That is, if at the initial appointment, the dermatovenerologist, mycologist, and the patient themselves see a picture of thick, cracked toes, exfoliated epithelium between the toes, congestive redness of the skin of the foot, constantly wet, and twisted shoes and socks. , the nails darken, then after a full course of fungal therapy on the feet, there is a pleasant feeling of comfort in this part of the body, the skin becomes smooth, the aroma disappears, the nails gradually return.

Treatment steps for foot fungus

1. The diagnostic phase involves the study of scratches from the skin and nail plates for a pathogenic fungus by determining the pathogenic group, which is important for the selection of an antifungal drug. To complete the picture, information is needed on changes in the patient's metabolism, which may be the main cause of excessive sweating of the skin of the feet and decreased local resistance to fungal infection. This is where blood tests help.
2. The treatment of foot mycosis itself is performed in several stages, which depend on the initial clinical picture and the type of mold. Removal of thick keratinized layers of skin and affected areas of nail plates. This is achieved with the help of special ointments, procedures or hardware and laser removal of pathological areas. The duration of the phase is from 1 to 7 days. When the skin is cleansed, it becomes possible to use an external antifungal therapy that sends the medicine directly to the skin of the foot.
3. Antifungals with systemic action, ie antifungal drugs administered by injection or in tablets. Of course, intravenous drip of such drugs turned out to be more effective. Moreover, it turned out to be safer for the liver and reduced the duration of treatment, which is 7-14 days for skin lesions and up to 4 months in combination with nail lesions.
4. Physiotherapeutic treatment of foot fungus includes exposure to medical ultraviolet radiation, which has a detrimental effect on foot fungus, and infrared laser therapy, which further improves blood supply to the affected areas, accelerates skin recoveryand nail growth. The duration of the procedure is from 3 to 10 minutes.
5. If, as a result of the diagnosis, problems with the internal organs are identified, the lack of micronutrients and other substances necessary for the delivery of antifungal drugs to the skin, for skin regeneration, to activate the fight against pathogenic fungi. , then additional adjuvant medications are prescribed to correct these changes: immunomodulators, ozone therapy, vitamins, hepatoprotectants, iron, calcium, and micronutrient vitamin complexes.
6. Excessive sweating and odor often disappear with this treatment for foot fungus. But sometimes it is necessary to prescribe drugs that block the sweat glands of the skin of the foot, to perform sessions of laser therapy and cryomassage with liquid nitrogen.
7. After treatment, it is necessary to check whether the fungus on the feet are destroyed. Repeated scratch tests for the fungus were performed. But usually the result is close to 100%.

A very important step in the treatment of foot fungus is the appointment of subsequent relapse prevention, which includes skin care products and shoe treatment in which fungal spores may remain.

The treatment of foot fungus is very varied. It is impossible to describe all therapy options in one article. Clinic dermatovenerologists, after examination and based on the results of laboratory diagnosis, will be able to determine the most appropriate technique in your particular case of foot skin fungus and perform a thorough treatment.

Nail fungus treatment

Nail fungus treatment is one of the main areas of clinical work in specialized centers, for the development of which specialists approach in detail each stage of onychomycosis therapy.

It has long been known that treating fungal diseases is a serious problem, even more serious than treating bacterial infections. Uncontrolled use of various antifungal ointments, tablets, solutions, varnishes has led to the growth of a large number of drug-resistant fungi. And the number of these drugs is very limited, unlike antibiotics. Therefore, to achieve the maximum effect of treating patients, we had to use a scientific and practical approach to the treatment of nail and hand fungus, and not be limited to the formal description of external therapy for onychomycosis.

What results will you see after a full course:

• Restore the color and texture of the nail plate.
• Normalize nail growth and its shape.
• Elimination of nail fungus, confirmed by the laboratory.
• Unpleasant smell and excessive sweating of the feet will disappear.
• The inflammatory process of the skin of the periungal ridges, interdigital spaces and the soles of the feet or palms of the hands will go away. That is, the redness, itching, peeling, crying caused by a fungal disease will disappear.

The treatment of nail fungus on the hands lasts 2-3 months, on the feet up to 3-4 months. But everything, of course, is individual and depends on the type of pathogenic fungus, the rate of nail growth in a given person, the presence of concomitant pathology of internal organs and blood vessels. For example, in diseases of the veins or arteries of the lower extremities, when the delivery of drugs and nutrients to the nails is disrupted, the treatment time is much longer and the result is very difficult to achieve.

Cure control is performed with hand nail fungus after 6 months, with toenail fungus after 1 year.

The clinic employs dermatovenerologists who are trained in all methods of nail removal and professionally choose the optimal course of therapy for each individual patient diagnosed with nail fungus on the hands and feet.

How is nail fungus treated in the clinic

Mycosis of the nails is a chronic disease, so treatment has several stages and is always preceded by a detailed diagnosis that reveals the type of mold and the possibility of complex treatment, which, unfortunately, can not be described to everyone.

Nail fungus treatment steps:

1. Appointment of a mycologist.
2. Diagnosis.
3. Direct treatment.

At the initial appointment, the doctor will assess the damage to the nail plates and the surrounding skin, if it is also involved in the pathological process, which happens often. He will examine other areas of the skin, mucous membranes, hair, because there are cases when a patient is referred for suspicion of mold and in the end the diagnosis sounds like onychodystrophy, so the symptoms are similar to the disease, but without an infectious agent. It is associated with metabolic disorders, hormonal levels, chronic skin diseases and injuries of the matrix and nail bed.

Next, a plan of diagnostic measures is drawn up, the particles of nail plates and blood are taken for examination.

Diagnosis of onychomycosis of the toes and feet

Nr.	analysis	The aim	Execution period
a.	Scratches from nail plates and nail bed for fungus	Determining the type of fungus to choose the most effective medicine	1-3 days
2.	Planting mushrooms	Determining the type of mold and its susceptibility to antifungal drugs	7-10 days
3.	PCR diagnosis for Candida	Identification of mycosis caused by yeast-like fungi	1-2 days
4.	Blood chemistry	Determining the state of liver and kidney function when planning systemic antifungal therapy. It is also possible to detect metabolic disorders that led to a change in the nails.	1 day
5.	Hospital complex (syphilis, HIV, hepatitis, coagulogram)	If you plan to remove nail plates or the affected part of the nail	1 day

Here is a complete list of key diagnostic measures, but not every person is assigned all of these studies by a mycologist. In superficial forms, for example, when there is no need to remove plaque and prescribe oral or spot antifungal medication, there is no need to do blood tests.

Crops are also carried out quite rarely due to their low sensitivity.

Therefore, those who treat toenail or hand fungus should always consult a dermatologist or mycologist and then start doing tests, smearing ointments and taking pills and not vice versa.

It is also of great importance to take correct samples of the material from the affected areas to identify the fungus. Its detection in a particular patient depends on this by 90%. For research are taken not only the strong parts of the nail plate, but also the loose mass from the nail bed, which contains the maximum amount of pathogen.

But even with this approach, the laboratory does not always immediately detect the presence of a fungal infection.

With obvious signs of onychomycosis, the analysis is repeated three times with negative results.

So the diagnosis was made, the fungus was discovered, its type was identified, the condition of the internal organs was examined, and therapy was started.

Treatment of nail fungus by a mycologist

Everything here depends on the clinical situation. Superficial forms of mycosis can be treated using external agents such as varnishes, drug-containing solutions that are harmful to the fungus, and laser plaque treatment. Total nail damage requires removal of the affected areas and administration of oral or intravenous medication.

We will look at the stages of treating an advanced form of toenail fungus because this is the most difficult stage of onychomycosis to treat with medication.

Removal of the nail or part of the nail plate affected by the mold.

As a result, we will immediately save the body from a large accumulation of fungi and make the nail bed accessible for the penetration of medicinal substances into it in order to destroy the microbe left in it. It also reduces the absorption of fungal waste products into the blood, reducing the allergic and toxic effects in humans.

There are several methods for removing plaque affected by mycosis. The choice depends on the clinical situation and from which doctor treats the nail fungus in this patient, what technique is most professionally mastered:

Nr.	METHODOLOGY	How it is performed	strengths	PRICE
a.	Hardware nail removal	Used most often. The affected part of the nail plate is sawn with a special cutter on the nail bed and the back periungual crest	Safety Minimal discomfort The patient does not lose work capacity	1000-1500 rubles
2.	Surgical removal	After finger tracing anesthesia, the nail plate is removed completely or partially, if necessary. An antibacterial dressing is applied.	The most "clean" removal of the affected nail, when the fungus is removed, including from below the nail ridges, the nail bed is cleaned of fungal layers. It is possible to perform a plastic surgery of a curved nail bed.	From 2500 rubles.
3.	Laser nail removal	The anesthesia of the treated finger is also performed. The laser beam burns the nail area affected by the fungus by capturing the nail bed	Maximum removal of fungal masses, but without penetration under the rear roller	From 3000 rubles.

The hardware technique is used more often because it gives a minimal number of complications, does not damage the growth area and the nail bed, it is affordable, but requires more frequent cleaning of the nail bed, as it does not ensure complete nail hygiene. finger from the fungus.

After surgical or laser removal, of course, the amount of fungus left is minimal, but the length of the recovery period, possible disability, dressings limit the use of these methods in some patients.

Destruction of fungi by external means.

In the cleaned nail bed as a result of removing the nail plate antifungal solutions are applied daily for several months until the growth of a normal nail and a negative analysis for the fungus. It is also possible to add antifungal varnishes to the growing edge of the nail plate.

Use of systemic oral and intravenous antifungal drugs. This is the main stage of treatment after nail removal.

It is necessary to ensure the delivery of drugs to the nail matrix, from where a new nail grows, and to the nail bed with bleeding.

Based on the analysis, the doctor will choose a medicine that is suitable for this patient, as well as the way of its administration.

The type of fungus, the condition of the liver and kidneys, and the comfort to the patient are taken into account.

For the liver, intravenous administration of drugs that enter the bloodstream and nails, bypassing the intestines and liver, respectively, is safer.

The treatment is carried out for up to 3-4 months with foot lesions and 2-3 months if the fungus is on the hands.

There are several treatment regimens for nail fungus, which include both daily treatment and discontinued course.

A blood test for liver and kidney indicators is done at least once a month. If it deviates from the norm, treatment is discontinued.

1. Physiotherapy in the treatment of nail fungus - helps to destroy the infection and improve the distribution of drugs, accelerates the growth of nail plate. UV radiation of the nail bed is a harmful effect on the fungus. 10-15 sessions for 3-5 minutes. Infrared laser - improves blood flow to the growth area and the nail bed, which ensures increased delivery of drugs to the affected area and accelerates the growth of a new plaque saturated with an antifungal. Electrophoresis of antifungal drugs is the creation of the maximum possible concentration of drugs directly in the focus of the pathological process.
2. Regular hardware cleaning of the nail bed from layers of hyperkeratosis and fungal debris. For patients with fungal nail diseases, it is important to imagine the whole treatment process and understand that this is a fairly long-term event, the success of which depends mainly not only on which doctor treats nail fungus, but also on themselves. It is important to take medication regularly and apply antifungal solutions, treat your shoes regularly, adhere to the schedule of physiotherapy procedures and clean the nail bed.

Which doctor treats nail fungus?

Nail fungus is a serious problem. Anyone who has encountered the loss of fungal nail plates knows this. It is treated for a long time, not always with a good effect, and the use of ointments, creams, various solutions in almost 95% of cases does not bring any results.

But, in fact, not everything is so sad if you know which specialist to contact for nail fungus. And then success is guaranteed even when it comes to onychomycosis.

A doctor who treats nail fungus is a mycologist or dermatologist who has experience in managing such patients.

Why experience is important, and not just theoretical knowledge. The fact is that the therapy of a fungal infection that affects the nail plates lasts more than a month. The result is not immediately apparent, it can be very difficult to assess effectiveness. It is also not easy to choose the full range of procedures and medications for a particular patient, which vary in each clinical situation.

There is a lot of information on the internet about antifungal medicines, various lasers, physiotherapy methods and nail removal. Patients, self-medicating, start buying one medicine after another and, after not getting a result, despair and stop all attempts to get rid of the fungus. The same thing happens when treatment is prescribed by a doctor who has no experience in monitoring such patients.

The clinic visits a doctor who treats fungus on the legs and arms daily, there is also a fully equipped mycology room, in which all stages of diagnosis and treatment of onychomycosis are performed.

Which doctor effectively treats nail fungus

1. This is necessarily a dermatologist or mycologist.
2. Has experience in examining and treating nail fungus.
3. Knows how to remove affected nail plates, clean the nail bed.
4. Knows the stages of systemic therapy of onychomycosis, introduction to the course of physiotherapy methods.
5. May change treatment tactics in time or add a procedure, a medicine, with a weak effect of the previously described therapy.
6. Has the ability to use all the modern methods and equipment needed in the clinic for the treatment of nail fungus.

Treatment of such fungi is a planned procedure and not an urgent procedure. Therefore, after the examination, the doctor treating the nail fungus explains to the patient all the options for possible therapy, but the choice always belongs to the person himself.

The course, regardless of the choice of technique, is very long and every patient should understand from the beginning the effectiveness of each method:

Treatment of nail fungus with external methods (solutions, varnishes, ointments) - the effectiveness is less than 10%, ie it helps only with the initial, superficial forms.

Using an integrated approach, but without removing the affected areas of the nails, is up to 60% effective.

Complex treatment with removal of the affected part of the nail plate and physiotherapy - efficiency up to 90-95%.

Usually, at the initial appointment, the doctor treating the nail fungus tells the patient: If patients are ready to undergo a 3-4 month course of complex therapy for onychomycosis, then success can be achieved. If not, then it's better not to start. Money, time will be spent and the result will be questionable. This is a disease that requires a long and pedantic treatment from both the doctor and the patient, where even the smallest details are important.