Fungal infection of the nail plate is an infectious disease caused by several types of harmful microorganisms. Since the fungus leads not only to deformation, but also in case of complications, to the rejection of the nail, it must be treated. A popular remedy for nail fungus is the safest and most effective treatment option for the disease.
Nail fungus and its signs
Before using folk remedies for nail fungus, you need to make sure that it is. Signs of onychomycosis do not appear immediately, but gradually. The first symptoms almost always go unnoticed, especially if the person has not encountered a similar problem before.
The main warning signs of the disease are itching of the skin of the palms and soles and staining of the nails. If you start therapy at this stage, it will be easy to cure. In addition to itching and changes in the shade of the nail plate, fragility appears, inflammation of the areas of the fingers near the nails is observed, as well as thickening of the skin around it.
Important! The pathological process must be diagnosed by a doctor, who will also tell you which folk remedies should be used to treat mycosis.
Causes of nail fungus
Depending on the type of lesion and its location, there are many causes. Nail fungus affects not only the feet, but also the hands. When one nail becomes infected, the lesion spreads to the other. This disease is contagious, so it is worth getting to know the causes of their appearance on the arms and legs.
On foot
Mycosis is a public disease, as it is easier to get infected in places where it is widely used:
- Infection can occur in a swimming pool, sauna or spa. Harmful microorganisms remain in the shower on the floor, on changing benches and carpets. High humidity is a preferred environment for the life and reproduction of pathogenic fungi.
- At home in the bathroom. Even if a person does not visit swimming pools or wash in a public shower at work, this will not protect him from infection. If there is already a carrier of the infection in the family, the use of a towel, cloth and soap becomes the cause of the family infection. Bath mats, shower screens and an unwashed bathtub can also become a source of infection.
- In a pedicure session. Manicurists and pedicurists must sterilize their instruments after each use. If these rules are ignored, the client may not only be infected by a fungus, but also have additional skin problems.
- When trying on shoes. Not all stores and retail outlets check the process of trying on shoes when they buy them. When choosing a new pair, you should try it on with a sock, as the likelihood of nail and skin problems in the form of fungus increases.
- When you walk barefoot on the beach. Particles from the feet of infected patients remain in the sand, and when walking barefoot, a healthy person can affect onchymosis.
In the hands
Before you think about how to get rid of nail fungus using folk remedies, you should familiarize yourself with the causes of its appearance. The palm does not come into contact with the causative agent of the disease as often as the foot, so the ways of infection of the nail plate on the hands will be different. The most common include:
- disruption of the endocrine gland, the presence of serious blood diseases that lead to complications;
- increase in the level of sweat in the palms of the hand;
- long-term use of antibacterial agents or drugs against malignant tumors;
- the presence of chronic gastrointestinal diseases, which lead to a weakening of the body's resistance to various microorganisms;
- the formation of damage during professional activities, housework;
- manicure with non-sterile instruments.
How can adults and children get rid of fungus?
Depending on the form of the disease being treated, the therapy may vary. At the first manifestations on the skin of the hands or feet, or on the nails of the extremities, you should consult a pediatrician if it is a child, a therapist or a dermatologist if it is an adult.
The specialist will prescribe the necessary drugs. These include tablets and ointments. In addition, many of them recommend folk remedies for nail fungus. These methods are no less effective and help to fight the problem, even if it is an advanced version.
Important! Therapy requires an integrated approach, because this makes it much easier to remove the lesion. Therefore, along with the listed methods, hardware handling options are practiced.
Recipes with folk remedies
Treatment of nail fungus with folk remedies occurs after consultation with a doctor. After diagnosis and analysis, the specialist takes into account the individual needs of the patient and prescribes the appropriate medications. It is not worth practicing independent treatment, since ignorance of some of the features of the disease and the presence of an allergy to some components of the medicine or folk method will lead to complications.
Vinegar and egg essence
Vinegar and other acids destroy the microorganisms that provoke the development of fungi. Therefore, the essence of vinegar or the usual 9% table is used quite often in the treatment. Baths with it can also help with advanced forms. They use it to make baths, creams and to prepare ointments. The most effective medicine with this component is an ointment, which includes a chicken egg with butter. Preparation of homemade oil:
- Wash an egg and put it in a container so that it does not touch the walls and does not come out.
- Pour not with vinegar, but with vinegar essence (70%).
- Put it in a dark place for several days, during which the shell should dissolve completely.
- Remove the film from the resulting composition, then mix with the essence.
- Add a spoonful of butter, beat.
Apply the mixture to the affected areas before going to bed. To improve the effect, wrap it with a bandage. Treat with it for at least a month and a half or until the problem is completely eliminated.
To prepare the second recipe, you also need essence (1 tablespoon) with an egg, as well as dimethyl phthalate (1 tablespoon). Mix all the ingredients and leave in a cool place for 24 hours. The resulting ointment can also be used before going to bed. After application, wear gloves or socks, depending on the location of the lesion. The result after daily application of the composition should appear after 3-4 weeks.
Peroxide and vinegar
Fungal nail disease can also be treated with vinegar and peroxide. With the help of this composition, it is removed from the skin for 1 week. 3% hydrogen peroxide and the same vinegar are used for the preparation. It is necessary to mix these solutions in equal quantities. If a 3% vinegar solution is not available, it is worth diluting a 9% solution with water in a ratio of 1 to 3.
Before applying the resulting liquid, it is worth preparing the surface. The hand or foot should be washed with antibacterial soap and the nails, if any, should be trimmed. Apply the solution using a cotton pad. Remove it from the nail plate only after stopping the hissing process, which is characteristic of peroxide. Next, wash your feet and hands and rub the affected areas with tea tree essential oil. Although this recipe is quite effective, it will take a month for your nails to grow back.
Tea mushroom
Before, kombucha was popular and could be found in almost every home. Despite its current importance, it is an effective folk remedy in the fight against fungi. It has an antibacterial effect. For the first treatment option, not the juice is used, but the mushroom itself. A small portion is applied to the affected area, wrapped in a bandage or plastic bag. Leave it like this until it dries or in the morning. For preventive purposes, in addition to creams, kombucha juice itself is also used. In addition to creams, kombucha is used in other ways. To do this, it should be pressed and rubbed on the affected nails or on the skin of the feet or hands. Do this at least twice a day.
The other option involves the presence of a three-month infusion of kombucha. The liquid in which the mushroom floats is also used as a solution for creams. First it should be drained and boiled for at least 40 minutes.
Important! It is not recommended to use this option for pregnant and lactating women, those suffering from diabetes or alcoholism, as this mushroom contains alcohol.
Treatment with laundry soap
Another at-home option for eliminating fungus involves using laundry soap. Despite the fact that experts consider this option not very effective, it is still used as an aid. Laundry soap has antibacterial and antifungal properties.
It helps soften the nails during baths, which simplifies the subsequent process of nail treatment. To increase the effect, tar and vinegar are used together with soap. You can speed up the healing process by using the following options for using the product:
- wash your feet or hands with laundry soap 2 times a day (morning and evening);
- steam your feet with a small amount of grated soap for at least 20 minutes (one spoonful of soap per liter of hot water);
- soap your feet, wait 20 minutes.
After the presented manipulations, the skin and nail plates are softened, which simplifies their processing.
Birch pitch and pitch soap
Birch tar and its derivatives, most often soap, are used to solve cosmetic problems. These include increased oiliness of the skin, the appearance of comedones, and this includes nail fungus. Previously, birch tar was used to eliminate skin lesions by lubricating the skin and nails with it. But before doing this, it is worth steaming it in soapy water or another solution. After removing the dead skin using a pumice stone, nail file or scissors, the tar is applied with a cotton swab and left for several hours without dressing.
In addition to using it in its pure form, you can prepare an ointment based on it. For this you need baby cream and tar. Mix in equal amounts. Also use by applying to required areas. Leave the oil for 2 hours, then wash your feet (hands) with warm water.
Another way to cure a fungal infection is to make tar ointment. To prepare it, you need badger fat or cream, sulfur powder and tar. The mixture consists of two parts tar and one part fat and sulphur. Blend all of these together until smooth. To make the process easier, heat it in a water bath. Apply the resulting composition to the nails and cover with a bandage.
Folk remedies for the treatment of nail fungus include the use of tar soap. With it, as with household items, you can make baths and creams. It also has antibacterial properties. Tar soap and ointments based on it are effective products, but their significant disadvantage is the specific smell, as well as some limitations.
Important! Soap and ointments should not be used if the patient has sensitive or dry skin or has allergic manifestations.
Iodine solution against mold
Iodine is used to fight the spread of microorganisms in the nails and skin. It helps to eliminate unpleasant odor as well as itching. To get the effect of this medicine, you need to use it systematically for one or two months.
To get rid of the fungal infection, you need to take a 5% solution and apply it twice a day. They also make baths with it, adding it to hot water. The procedure takes at least 15 minutes, and after that, hydrogen peroxide is applied to the damaged nails.
Lotions are made using iodine solution. For preparation you need nitrofungin with garlic juice, iodine and vinegar essence. Mix everything in equal amounts, mix and apply to the steamed area of the skin at night. Also, with this composition, the affected areas of the nails can be easily removed.
Important! After using files, scissors and other objects to remove the lesion, it is necessary to disinfect it. This is necessary to eliminate the possibility of re-infection.
Potassium permanganate solution
The easiest way to disinfect a surface is to treat it with potassium permanganate. This product allows you to use it both for creams and for baths. The easiest way is to take a wet cotton swab, dip it in manganese and treat the skin and nails.
- To prepare an antimicrobial bath you need half a liter of vinegar and 10 grams of manganese. All these are diluted in 10 liters of hot boiled water. Keep your feet or hands in this liquid for 20 minutes. Repeat the procedure until recovery occurs.
- For creams, add half a teaspoon of liquid potassium permanganate to a glass of water. Add some lemon juice here. Moisten a tissue or cotton with this solution and apply it to the lesion. Put on a stocking after you've bandaged the area. Keep the lotion for at least a quarter of an hour.
Cream with essential oil
Traditional treatment methods are inexhaustible, and everyone can choose a more effective option for themselves. Oils, essential and otherwise, are used for various purposes, but they have also proven to be an effective solution to the problem of fungus. Onychomycosis is eliminated using tea tree oil, lemon, eucalyptus, mint, thymol and pine. Also castor oil, avocado oil, coconut oil.
The first lotion solution consists of a small amount of vinegar and eucalyptus oil. Leave the composition for three days and store in a cool place after use. Rub the nail and affected skin with it. Use until the signs of the disease disappear. No less common is a mixture of two oils - tea tree and lemon. This composition will quickly return your nails to their previous state.
Important! The use of tea tree oil often leads to darkening of the nail plate.
Baths and compresses with table or sea salt
The simplest and most effective anti-fungal remedy consists of sea or table salt. In addition, you will need iodine with soda, essential oils, garlic water and more. For the first bath, you need to mix a glass of soda with a liter of water, two spoons of salt and a solution of iodine.
The other option requires the use of essential oils, which have a calming effect and disinfectant properties. For 100 grams of salt, you need 6 drops of oil. Chamomile, eucalyptus, juniper are suitable. Lotions are also made with salt. The solution calls for a tablespoon of sea or table salt, as much as garlic juice. All these are distributed in a glass of water. Apply to the nail plate and skin twice a day.
Important! Sea salt baths are also effective for advanced forms of the disease.
The mummy
This pharmaceutical drug is a tool for wide application and action. Its rich composition allows you to eliminate the signs of onychomycosis. But its significant disadvantage is that it can cause an allergic reaction. This drug negatively affects the spread of fungi by activating various processes. They allow you to destroy pathogenic microorganisms without unnecessary pain and problems. This medicine allows you to restore the natural process of skin regeneration, which leads to the rapid healing of leg and arm lesions.
Cheap and effective medicine
The best medicine for the treatment of mycosis is the one that is ideal for a particular patient. If we are talking about the initial form of the disease, then the simplest and cheapest means are suitable for therapy. These include vinegar lotions, hydrogen peroxide, and iodine solutions. The best foot baths with hands are when you add sea salt or ordinary table salt, also with the same potassium permanganate or iodine.
Despite the cheap price and ease of preparation, the use of these options leads to the rapid achievement of the effect. The more advanced the form, the lower the possibility of eliminating the manifestations of the disease. In this case, you can not do without the use of medications.
Important! When using folk remedies, the main condition is systematic use.
evaluations
After people notice manifestations of the disease, they often do not go to the doctor for a consultation, but go to the forum and read comments of those who have already solved their problem. This option is suitable if the patient has at least some knowledge about the treatment.
There is a lot of information and videos on the Internet on the topic of onychomycosis and its therapy. Each of them is effective in a specific case. If we are talking about an advanced form of the disease, the traditional treatment option will not work. Therefore, it is worth saying stop alternative medicine before an examination by a specialist.
Prevention of nail fungus
A good method for eliminating onychomycosis is its prevention. The fight against the disease begins with the following recommendations:
- refuse to walk barefoot on the beach;
- use rubber slippers when using bathrooms and showers in places of extensive use, saunas and baths;
- try on shoes while shopping with socks;
- prefer socks made of cotton fabric;
- refuse someone else's shoes;
- do not use other people's personal hygiene items;
- keep your feet dry;
- monitor your state of health, as a fungal disease appears against the background of general illness.
Important! Compliance with preventive measures is also necessary after treatment, since after recovery the patient has an increased risk of relapse.
CONCLUSION: Folk remedies for the treatment of nail plate fungus are an effective method that even experienced specialists consider. Therefore, it is actively used not only at the first signs of the disease, but also in advanced forms of nail fungus. Watch the video from the user: how to get rid of nail fungus fast.