Foot fungus: photos, symptoms and treatment, folk remedies

The most common disease from the series of dermatomycosis is the foot fungus.

Characterized by mycotic lesions of feet with a long, chronic, recurring course of the disease.

Fungal infections cause dermatophytes:

1. 1) Almost 80% of cases the causative agent is.rubrum - superficial trichophytosis. Causes infection of the skin only in humans, unlike other forms of mycosis. It adapts well to the environment, is localized and permanently stored on shoe soles, socks and gloves, towels and wooden surfaces.
   
2. 2) 20% of infections occur due to the trichophyton mentagrofites - Thrichophyton mentagrophytes, interdigital variant of dermatophytes. Causes fungal infection between the toes of the feet in the form of psoriasis, eczema, bubble suppuration, coarsening, thickening and lamination of the nail plate. Refers to the dyshidrotic form of dermatophytosis, which causes allergic reactions in the body in people predisposed to it.

Wet, warm environment promotes reproduction and development of fungal spores. Penetrate into the human body through external skin lesions. The keratinase enzymes released by the fungi destroy the molecules of keratin proteins that form the basis of connective tissue, cause a mutation of the elastin genes, thereby disrupting the amino acid balance.

Fungi feed on nutrients extracted from the skin, hair follicles, nail plates, simultaneously causing degenerative processes in them. Fungi successfully adapt to the external environment, suspending their growth and reproduction under adverse conditions - cold and in a dry environment.

Can be stored for a long time in home and personal things. But, under the appearance of appropriate conditions, growth and reproduction continue.

Causes of foot fungus

Causes of infection by foot fungus are various - baths, common showers and swimming pools with insufficient sanitation. Use of other people's shoes, bath sponge and towel.

There are a number of general and local predisposing factors contributing to the formation of fungus. Common factors predisposing to fungal infection of the feet include:

• secondary infections;
  
• external irritants leading to skin eczematics processes;
  
• vascular disease of the limbs;
  
• repeated focal microtrauma, resulting in permanent hemorrhages;
  
• failure in the work of the endocrine, nervous and immune systems;
  
• diabetes and long-term use of medications, in particular - glucocorticoid drugs, broad-spectrum antibiotics or cytostatics - a group of antitumor drugs;
  
• hypovitaminosis;
  
• overheating or hypothermia of the feet

The following are the local infection factors:

1. 1) Losses due to poorly matched and non-breathable shoes;
   
2. 2) Local hyperhidrosis, leading to loosening of the skin, due to the use of socks made of synthetic materials, tight or not seasonal( warm) shoes, causing excessive sweating.

Symptoms of

Symptoms of fungal lesions of the feet are expressed by four forms - erased, intertriginous, dysgidic and squamous-hyperkeratotic, each of which has a number of characteristic signs of the foot fungus:

1. 1) With an erased form of the disease, the lesion is manifested by minor inflammatory processes with weak scaling in the folds between the third and fourth fingers, sometimes surface cracks are observed.
   
2. 2) In the stage of intertriginoid involvement, the fungus affects the folds of the fourth and fifth fingers on the foot. In the areas of contact, skin softening is formed. There is redness, a bubble rash, ulcers and cracks in the skin, accompanied by acute pain and severe itching.
   
3. 3) Disease that occurs in the stage of the dishydrotic form is expressed by a bubble rash on the superficial arch of the foot. Increasing, the rash can be combined, resulting in the formation of multi-chambered blisters. Secondary infection leads to purulent transformation of the bubble rash. Opened pustules form erosion. After healing of erosions, skin peeling is formed.
   
4. 4) In squamous-hyperkeratotic form, the disease occurs in the form of keratoderma of the skin on the heels. In large dermal grooves, small-lamellar ecdysis and cracks are noted, which cause painful movement.

Regardless of the type of pathogen, the symptoms are largely of the same type and are expressed:

• by a lesion between the folds of the fingers, which do not initially cause discomfort;
  
• developing, the defeat captures the surface of the feet from the sides and places of greatest load.
  
• appear from one to several cracks in between finger folds;
  
• shows dryness of the skin, cracking, and peeling between the toes and on the foot;
  
• is characterized by manifestations of skin hyperemia, its considerable thickening;
  
• the affected skin acquires a shine, scales appear on it;
  
• is characterized by the manifestation of itching, burning and soreness;
  
• lesion captures the nail plates, causing their thickening and turbidity.

Any infection in the human body, including the foot fungus, causes a response of immunity. In this case, an allergic reaction, as a response to the invasion of a fungal infection, manifests itself in a more severe course of the disease, expressed by numerous bubble formations, with the formation of erosions and ulcers on the skin not only of the soles but also of the palms.

Any manifestation of a fungal lesion is treatable. Even if it does not cause any particular trouble, for a particular person, it is worth considering that the carriage of the infection threatens much more serious manifestations in your loved ones.

See also how to treat the nail fungus on the hands.

Diagnosis of the disease

Modern diagnostic methods allow you to quickly identify the foot fungus, based on the clinical picture and methods of microscopic and culture, bacteriological research.

Similarity of symptoms with other diseases provides a basis for differential diagnosis to exclude:

1. 1) Dyshidrotic eczema, manifested by skin blistering rashes;
   
2. 2) Psoriasis, which is manifested by scaly lichen;
   
3. 3) Pustular bactericide, rashes in the form of purulent vesicles or vesicles.
   
4. 4) Surface trichophytosis, characterized by purulent manifestations on the skin.

Treatment of foot fungus

The therapeutic process includes - etiological, pathogenetic and symptomatic complexes.

The basis of the etiologic complex for the effective treatment of foot fungus is:

1. 1) The use of various creams and nutrient ointments containing azole components with a broad antifungal effect. The most effective are: Isoxazole or Isothiazole, Imidazole, Thiazole and Oxazole.
   
2. 2) Preparations and creams containing active substances of binofin - Terbinafine or Lamicon( cream or spray).
   
3. 3) If damaged nail plates are prescribed drugs, aerosols, varnishes and creams with antifungal action - Amorolfin, Batrafen or Clioquinol. These preparations for the treatment of fungus are inexpensive but effective.

The pathogenetic treatment of foot fungi is based on the elimination or significant reduction, contributing to the manifestation of the disease, causal factors.

• treatment is aimed at improving blood microcirculation;
  
• elimination of endocrine pathologies;
  
• use of immunostimulatory therapy.

Symptomatic treatment methods include pathogenetic and symptomatic therapy, using antipruritic drugs. The method is used mainly to eliminate associated pathologies and prevent relapses.

Treatment of foot fungus with folk remedies

In the treatment of foot fungus, methods of traditional medicine that have been tested for many years are successfully applied. It can be various baths, tinctures, lotions and creams.

Before using any products at home, it is necessary to soften the skin of the feet well in a hot alkaline solution consisting of laundry soap and ordinary baking soda. Softened skin on the thickened areas of the feet, on the scaly areas must be carefully scraped, then apply different oils and creams:

1. 1) Tea tree oil or lavender oil with antiparasitic action is considered effective. The smeared skin is wrapped in parchment, put on socks and left overnight. Course - once a week.
   
2. 2) Ointment based on a raw egg with the addition of one tablespoon of vinegar and dimethyl phthalate is applied overnight, wrapped in an improvised boot as well as with the use of oils.
   
3. 3) Ointment from mashed garlic and butter helps well. It is mixed in equal proportions, applied and fixed on the affected areas.
   
4. 4) For rapid healing of cracks, tar tar is prepared. As a fat base, take ten parts of a baby cream or Vaseline, add two parts of vegetable tar and sulfur powder. The mixture is heated and mixed until a uniform consistency is obtained.
   
5. 5) In the same way, an ointment is prepared from two parts of vegetable or butter with the addition of three parts of ground propolis.
   
6. 6) To process the soles of feet with alcohol tincture of propolis.

Prevention

Preventive measures are an important component in the prevention of fungal diseases. In particular, for fungal diseases of the feet, measures are necessary to prevent the appearance of the fungus:

• , when visiting public places - baths and swimming pools, the feet should be treated with an antifungal agent;
  
• do not walk barefoot and use only personal shoes;
  
• ensure timely drying of shoes;
  
• before going to bed to take foot baths without fail;
  
• to fight sweating of feet using appropriate means;
  
• should be avoided using general footwear if the family has an infection carrier;
  
• it is necessary to disinfect the bath after each bath;
  
• replace the wooden grill in the bathroom with a rubber mat.

Compliance with basic hygiene rules is much easier than treating a problem.

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