With severe internal diseases, poor nutrition, as well as with increasing age, the growth of the nail slows down and its structure changes. Only a doctor can accurately determine the cause of the violation based on the results of tests and microscopic examinations.
To get an idea of what happens to the nails on the legs or hands, you can use the photo on fungal diseases of various kinds.
Causes of the nail deformation
Molds, yeast-like fungi and dermatophyte fungi cause infectious nail diseases (onychomycosis) with similar symptoms.
All types of toenail or hand toenail fungus deform the nail plate, change its transparency, shine and color. This variety can be seen in the photos shown.
Changes in the nail occur not only with onychomycosis, but also with injuries, chronic paronychia (inflammation of the nail folds), psoriasis, hand eczema, dermatitis. Before you can conclude that you have a yeast infection, you need to consider all possible options.
Signs of a fungal infection
The most informative signs of a fungal infection are changes in the color of the nail plate, the presence of nail peeling, superficial changes - transversely, longitudinal grooves on the nail plate, point depressions, thickening, destruction of the nail.
The pink color of a healthy nail is determined by the transparency of the nail plate and the blood vessels that can be seen through it. With onychomycosis, the nail loses its transparency, the color becomes brownish, yellow, less often green, black.
Candida fungi and dermatophytes cause onycholysis - the separation of the affected part of the nail. When infected with dermatophytes, onycholysis is observed from the distant edge of the nail, and when infected with candida, the nail lags behind the nail bed at the base in the crescent area.
A symptom of a Candida fungus can be inflammation of the lateral periungual ridges - paronychia. This disease has bacterial forms caused by streptococci and staphylococci, as well as non-infectious - eczema, psoriasis, systemic vasculitis.
If the toenails are affected by the fungus Trichophyton rubrum, then the plate is affected as you can see in the photo. The roller is not affected by the infection. The plate becomes yellowish, thickens strongly, the accumulated mushroom masses are clearly visible underneath.
Nail fungus due to a dermatophyte infection
In 95% of all nail fungus cases, the disease is caused by dermatophytes Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
Trichophyton rubrum infection
Onychomycosis begins when the fungus penetrates under the nail plate from the free edge. Fungal infection is indicated by the appearance of a yellowish stain, an uneven, crumbling surface on the distal (far) edge of the nail in the area of the stain.
distal-lateral formof a Trichophyton rubrum dermatophyte fungal infection is common. In the photo you can see that the spot caused by the introduction of the fungus is along the lateral periungual nail fold.
The Trichophyton rubrum fungus usually affects the big toes and causes hyperkeratosis - a collection of fungi between the nail plate and the nail bed that looks like a loose yellowish mass in the photo.
At this stage, the fungus occupies an insignificant part of the nail, as in the photo shown, and with the help of local treatment it is possible to cope with the onset of onychomycosis.
Without treatment, the stain grows, gradually affects the entire edge of the nail, and then moves to the crescent. In the photo, the nail fungus looks like yellowish stripes, aimed at the growth zone of the nail plate.
With, the distal form of nail fungus, which often occurs on the big toes, a yellowish infection spot appears on the distal edge of the nail in its central part as possible as seen in the photo.
At the advanced stage of the fungus on the legs, as in the photo, several nails are affected, and treatment is no longer limited to local remedies and pills. In addition to antifungal agents, the nail will undergo a hardware cleaning to remove all or part of the nail plate.
A long-term therapy using all known antifungal drugs and treatments on the leg caused by Trichophyton rubrum with hyperkeritosis, as can be seen in the photo.
A fungal infection with total nail damage spreads to the entire area of the nail plate, the nail is completely destroyed.
An infection with another representative of dermatophytes, the fungus Trichophyton mentagrophytes, can also lead to a complete fungal infection of the nail.
Trichophyton mentagrophyte infection
With a complete defeat of the toenail with Trichophyton mentagrophytes fungi, the nail plate is deformed. The photo shows that it thickens, changes its structure, collapses, and yellowish spots appear on its entire surface.
An infection of the nail with this dermatophyte usually leads to superficial white onychomycosis of the big toe, less often of the little toe.
This fungus practically does not appear on the nails of the hands, often causes interdigital dermatophytosis on the legs, as in the photo, and requires simultaneous treatment of the skin of the feet and nails.
A symptom of a fungal nail infection, usually on the feet, is white patches of different sizes, as in the photo, reminiscent of leukonychia - a disease of the nail plate itself.
Unlike leukonychia, in which white spots are caused by the appearance of air bubbles in the layers of the nails, white spots in a fungal infection are the result of the activity of Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
In rare cases, superficial white onychomycosis is caused by mold. In AIDS, the causative agent of this type of fungus can be Trichophyton rubrum and affect the nails on the feet and hands.
Changes in the nail due to a Candida infection
The fungus usually occurs in women, it affects the nails on the working hand, which are more likely to come into contact with water.
In Candida onychomycosis, the proximal form of the infection is characteristic, in which the fungus first affects the nail fold at the base of the nail and then penetrates the growth zone and the nail bed. Then it gradually moves along the nail from the base to the edge, capturing an ever larger area of the nail plate.
The causative agent of the disease in Candida onychomycosis is Candida albicans. This fungus invades toenails and fingernails and spreads from the crescent zone at the base of the nail plate to the free edge, as can be seen in the photo.
A sign of a candida nail infectionAlbicans is inflammation of the nail fold (paronychia), separation of the cuticle from the nail plate, pain, discharge of pus if there is a bacterial infection.
Candida albicans can penetrate the nail and from its free edge. In this case, they are talking about the distal form of the infection, which is usually associated with cutaneous candidiasis.
Treatment of candida fungus on the nails of the hands and feet with damage to more than half the area of the nail plate, as in the photo, includes not only the fight against onychomycosis, but also measures to reduce itthe activity of Candida in the natural reservoirs of their storage - intestines, oral cavity, genital mucosa. . .
Mold infestation
Molds cause fungus much less often than Candida or dermatophytes. The main symptom of toenail infection with mold, as you can see in the photo, is the change in the color of the nail plate to blue, black and greenish tones.
Signs of toenail mold can be dark spots, dots on the nail plate or, as in the photo, a black vertical stripe.
Preparations against fungi
Antifungals containing fluconazole, ketoconazole, terbinafine, itraconazole and griseofulvin are used to treat nail fungus caused by dermatophytes, like in this photo.
Antimycotics with terbinafine are effective against dermatophyte infections.
Antimycotics with voriconazole are highly active against dermatophytes.
It isused andto treat nail moldon feet, hands andagainst Candida yeast. The spectrum of activity includes molds such as Aspergillum, Fusarium, Penicillium.
Preparations based on itraconazole treat mold.
Fungal nail diseases
Sometimes a gray shadeappears on the nailwith eczema. In this case, the nail plate can move away from the nail bed, which is observed in a fungus.
Outwardly very similar to onychomycosismanifestations of psoriasis. With this disease, not only does thecolorchange, but thenail plate also thickens.
There are point depressions on its surface, a separation of the nail plate from the nail bed is noted. However, there are differences to the fungus: In psoriasis, the detached and healthy parts of the toenail are separated over time by a pink, yellowish stripe.
Bluish colorgets the nailwith Pseudomonas nail infection. Frequent mechanical rubbing of the nail fold leads to the appearance of superficial grooves, waviness of the nail.
White leukonychia spots, the occurrence of whichis associated with metabolic disorders, can also be confused with a superficial white fungus with a large area of the stain.
Changes in the color and shape of the nail that lead to injuries. Big toes are most at risk. The injured nail, as well as a fungus, thicken and darken.
The difference between the injury and the fungus is that the changes during the injury are only noticed on the injured finger, the nails on the other fingers remain unchanged and are not infected by the diseased finger as in onychomycosis.
The consequence of trauma can be a partial separation of the nail from the nail bed, the formation of a cavity which, under unfavorable conditions, is quickly colonized by fungi.
The nail plate can be separated from the nail bed under the influence of light (photoonicholysis) with iron deficiency anemia and hormonal diseases. Cleavage, nail loss occurs with lichen erythematosus, bullous dermatoses, nail trauma.
But you can finally make sure the conclusion is correct and start treatment. You can only do this after asking for help from a dermatologist - a specialist in skin diseases or a mycologist - a doctor who treats fungal diseases.