What causes onychomycosis? How to prevent onychomycosis

Summer is the peak season for onychomycosis, and this season has conditions suitable for fungal reproduction. Therefore, how to prevent the spread of onychomycosis in summer is a severe test. The number of people suffering from onychomycosis is increasing day by day, and everyone must pay great attention to it and must not be careless. Everyone thinks onychomycosis is very ugly. In fact, onychomycosis is not only ugly, but also harmful. If it is not treated in time and early, it will induce other diseases. So what are the hazards of onychomycosis? If you don't want to be infected with onychomycosis, what preventive measures should you take?

What are the dangers of onychomycosis ?

1. Onychomycosis can easily lead to various fungal infections, resulting in serious skin diseases such as tinea manuum, tinea pedis, tinea corporis, tinea cruris, erysipelas, etc.

2. Fungi can produce about 150 different toxins, many of which are carcinogenic and extremely toxic. For example, aflatoxin B1 in mold is dozens of times more toxic than the highly toxic drug potassium cyanide and is a strong carcinogen.

3. Onychomycosis affects a person’s overall appearance, harms health, and damages one’s image.

4. Onychomycosis is the cause of some malignant tumors.

5. 95% of lesbians suffering from onychomycosis can transmit it into serious gynecological diseases such as fungal and candidiasis.

6. Nail fungus (onychomycosis) not only infects and harms skin tissue, but also invades the internal organs of the human body and even causes death.

How to actively and effectively prevent onychomycosis ?

1. Maintain good personal hygiene in the living environment and do not create an external environment suitable for fungal growth and reproduction. Wash bed sheets, quilts and clothes frequently, change socks frequently, and pay attention to indoor ventilation.

2. Do not share daily necessities and bathing utensils with others to avoid cross infection. Do not borrow shoes, socks, foot basins, foot towels, etc., which is also an effective way to prevent indirect infection.

3. Daily necessities of patients with onychomycosis, tinea pedis and hand should be disinfected regularly with boiling water, and items that cannot be washed with scalding water should be disinfected by exposing them to sunlight for 2-3 hours.

4. People with excessive sweating of hands and feet may use some treatment methods to inhibit local sweating (such as applying 5% formalin solution or antiperspirant lotion, etc.). Summer is the peak season for tinea pedis and tinea manuum, so special attention should be paid.

5. Strengthen physical exercise and enhance body resistance. At the same time, pay attention to proper nutritional adjustment to enhance the body's ability to resist pathogenic fungi, which is of great help in improving the ability to resist fungal infections.

Things to note about onychomycosis

1. Be alert to lesions

There are many reasons for nail changes, and it cannot be assumed that all nail diseases are onychomycosis. However, one thing should be kept in mind, that is, onychomycosis often starts from one fingernail (toe) and then gradually spreads to other fingernails (toes). If ten fingernails or toenails are affected at the same time, it is often a manifestation of a systemic disease and requires a thorough physical examination.

2. Timely treatment

It is best to choose treatment from April to September of the year. All things grow most vigorously in spring and summer, and the same is true for nails. Choosing suitable and effective treatment methods in this season can shorten the treatment time by one third, minimize the impact of treatment on patients, and reduce costs to the lowest level.

3. Be careful about cross infection among family members

According to statistics, about 30% of the family members of onychomycosis patients in China also have varying degrees of fungal infection on their feet. People often ignore the severity of onychomycosis and only discover onychomycosis on their hands and feet when they are receiving outpatient treatment for fungal infections in other parts of the body. Many of these patients are infected by their own family members.

4. Do not treat yourself after infection

Onychomycosis is a chronic fungal infection that requires active treatment. It is best to go to a regular hospital for relevant mycological examinations to confirm that it is onychomycosis, and choose an appropriate treatment plan under the guidance of a doctor to avoid indiscriminate use of drugs without a clear diagnosis.