Since more than 20% of the world's population is currently infected with fungus on the feet, and sometimes on the hands, many people know how unpleasant this disease is and what consequences it leads to. However, not everyone is familiar with information about which microorganisms cause this disease and what types of nail fungus exist.
In addition to the form of the disease, its specifics and treatment methods, it would be useful to know how many different types of fungi lead to the destruction of nails and damage to different areas of the feet and hands.
Causes of the disease and its symptoms
With the causes of the disease, everything can be quite complicated, because a person is easily infected with a fungus, both due to the weakness of the body, and due to the fact that he is exposed to constant contact with infected people or objects.
Currently, the main causes of the disease are:
- Visiting saunas, showers and public pools;
- Increased sweating of the feet;
- Using other people's shoes or hygiene products;
- Weak immunity and so on.
Manifestations of fungi on the affected areas include the following symptoms:
- Formation of scales on the skin of the feet and nails;
- Peeling and itching of the skin;
- Appearance of cracks;
- Thickening of infected skin and nails;
- Changes in nail color;
- Destruction of the nail structure.
Important!
In any case, toenail fungus and any other forms of its manifestation cause a lot of trouble, and therefore it is worth dealing with the prevention and treatment of the disease in a timely manner.
Forms and types of diseases
In this case, everything is quite complicated, because the types of fungal nail diseases are distributed according to different criteria.
The classification is as follows:
- According to the depth of penetration and the location of the fungus;
- According to the size of the thickening of the nail;
- By type of pathogen;
- By level of development (early, second, advanced).
If we take the type of pathogen as an example, then in this case the patient will have to study the names in Latin for a long time, therefore it is not worth delving too deeply into unnecessary information with names, it is better to understand in detail the manifestations of nail fungus and how all this is reflected onnail plates.
Classification according to depth of penetration and location on the nail
In this case, the forms of the disease are divided into the following points:
- Distal. This type of onychomycosis appears on the end part of the nail (free), and is characterized by a change in color and the beginning of delamination with the destruction of the structure. In addition, the spot begins to grow in size;
- Lateral. The main signs are similar to the previous form, but the color of the nail changes on one or both sides of the nail;
- Surface white. This form of fungus is expressed by the appearance of several spots on the nail, which ultimately leads to its complete destruction;
- Proximal. The disease originates from the cuticle (becomes inflamed) and gradually spreads to the entire nail, destroying it;
- Total onychomycosis. The color of the entire nail plate changes, which leads to faster destruction.
Classification according to the size of the nail thickening
This classification has only 3 forms, which allows you to separate the levels of compaction to which the nail infected with fungus is subject.
In this case it is:
- Normotrophic form. With this form of the disease, separate foci of the disease appear on the nail, which have a slightly different color. The thickness of the nail does not change;
- Hypertrophic form. The nail begins to thicken, changes color, deforms, gradually collapses and it is no longer so comfortable for a person to walk;
- Onycholithic. In this form, nail fungus leads to separation of the layer from the finger, and if you delay the treatment, bringing everything to that point, you do not have to think about saving the nail.
Of course, the types of toenail fungus themselves are distributed depending on the pathogen. There are three main types of microorganisms, but they have their own varieties.
Classification according to the type of pathogen
In this case, three types of pathogens can be distinguished, each of which has its own subspecies. It is worth noting that these microorganisms can also manifest on the hands, but as hand hygiene is more frequent, this happens less often.
The distribution looks like this:
- Mould. This is one of the simplest forms of fungus because the mold cannot penetrate deep into the affected area. However, manifestations on the toenails are still possible. The main signs are a change in color, ranging from black to green. Sometimes spots of the same color may appear on the skin of the fingers. There are more than 5 types of molds;
- Dermatophyte. There are 3 main pathogens that cause more severe symptoms. The appearance of gray and yellow streaks, separation of the nail, and what's worse, microorganisms of this type can infect the entire foot;
- Yeast fungi. This fungus is well-known because it belongs to the Candida genus, which is also responsible for thrush. The characteristics of the symptoms when infected with such a fungus are a decrease in the thickness of the nail, a change in its color to gray, separation and damage to the finger, up to inflammation.
It is worth noting that due to the presence of subspecies, only a specialist will be able to prescribe the correct drugs for the fungus; independent selection of drugs will simply be useless.
Finally
Some experts identify other forms of the disease, taking into account the manifestations of the disease on the hands, however, being guided by the species known to science, you can understand what kind of fungus it is by looking at the symptoms that appear.
But this does not mean at all that you can self-medicate in this way, because there are other diseases that lead to a change in the color of the nail, as well as to its peeling. For this reason, if fungus suddenly appears on your nails, immediately consult a doctor, for example a dermatologist, and take a comprehensive approach to solving this problem.