In case of problems with the nail plates it is important to know which doctor is treating the nail fungus on the legs to consult a specialist without waiting for complications. For the first time faced with a fungal infection it is difficult for a person to understand what this specialist is called. Dermatologists and mycologists are involved in fungal diseases, so visiting a therapist is hardly advisable.
What is nail fungus
The disease caused by parasitic microorganisms is called a pathogenic fungus. The disease affects the horny integuments( nails) and the skin of the legs around them, develops quickly, brings discomfort and inconvenience. Living in the body, dangerous parasites poison it with toxins, can worsen the general condition. They can be infected by putting on someone else's shoes, not observing the hygiene of feet, walking barefoot along the beach or in the pool. People with such problems need to know which doctor heals the fungus on the nails to prevent complications and get the proper treatment that eliminates an unpleasant disease.
Symptoms of the disease
Which doctor treats the symptoms of the nail fungus on the feet depends on how much the plate damaged by the fungus is damaged, and what kind of lesion it has. The following characteristic signs of the appearance of the fungus are distinguished:
- normotrophic type: stripes, spots on the lateral parts of the nail are ocher-yellow or white, the ease of separating the plate from the skin, the person suffers from itching of the skin under healthy nails;
- hypertrophic: plate thickening, gloss loss, crumbling, tarnish, severe deformation, dark yellow or gray;
- atrophic: brown-gray color, loss of shine, pallor, necrosis and destruction of the nail bed of the toes;
- lateral and distal: loss of color, transverse yellowish furrows, crumbling, roughness, denuded nail bed of toes, swelling, redness, denseness, pain of the foot skin rollers, neglected cases can be characterized by the appearance of pus;
- proximal: whitening, fracture;
- total: complete destruction of the toe nail due to lack of therapy;
- white surface: white spots, crumbling, stratification, pain.
Which doctor treats the nail fungus
Know which doctor is dealing with the nails is useful for every patient who collides with the nail fungus on his legs. The therapist in this case does not help, you need to visit a specialist. This doctor is a dermatologist, he consults at the initial stages of the disease. In advanced cases, consultation with a mycologist is required, this is the specialist who treats the nail fungus narrowly.
Dermatologist
This doctor can prescribe the right treatment, is engaged in the elimination of nail fungus. Its qualification allows to eliminate skin problems, including viral, infectious lesions, dermatitis, eczema and parasitic diseases. The latter include fungal infection. If the case is not started, you should contact the dermatologist at the local polyclinic or skin and venereal clinic, sign up for the first examination. According to the testimony, he can send the patient to the mycologist.
Mycologist
In difficult cases, the answer to the question of which doctor heals nails on his legs is an appeal to the mycologist. So called the same dermatologist, who treats only fungal lesions of the skin, hair and nail plates. He is not in every polyclinic or even in the city. The consultation of mycologists includes the treatment and prevention of fungal diseases: onychomycosis, candidiasis, microsporia, trichophytosis, epidermophytia, mycosis of the foot. Refer to them after the direction of the dermatologist.
How is the reception of
After learning which doctor heals the nail fungus on his legs, do not hesitate to write to the reception. During the first visit, the nail specialist interviews the patient about the prescription of the problem, the feelings experienced by him, the way of life of the patient. After the information is collected, a preliminary examination of the affected areas of the foot is performed, a diagnosis is made, the stage of infection is determined.
External signs may not always indicate a fungal variety, so a scraping of dead scalps for a study in the laboratory is taken. The obtained medical material is examined under a microscope and plated on nutrient media. You need to contact a doctor as early as possible to cure the fungus without consequences for the patient and his body.
Repeated consultation with
After receiving the tests, a second consultation is conducted from the laboratory. Mycologist or dermatologist reports the cause of growth, the presence of the fungus, its type and appoints the right treatment. Drugs are selected depending on the individual characteristics of the patient. The treatment procedure for the disease is long, therefore it will take several more visits to the specialist to control the therapy and prevent infection of the patient's body.
Treatment options
After studying the etiology of the fungus that hit the nail plate on the legs, treatment is prescribed. It is not recommended to select medicines independently, because there is a risk of colliding with side effects. The main antifungal drugs and methods of treatment used:
- oral - tablets, capsules for complex effects on the parasite from the inside;
- local effects - are applied externally, they include ointments, creams, compresses, drops, varnishes;
- special laser treatment - improves the penetration of funds inside, microcirculation of tissues;
- recommendation for surgical removal of the nail is prescribed in extreme cases, when recovery is impossible.
Popular effective drugs, divided into groups for effects on the fungus pathogen, are:
- Antifungal varnishes: Cyclopiroxolamine, Batrafen, Loceril, Mycosan, Ofmol.
- To remove the plate( sometimes required to cure the fungus): Nogtimycin, Nogtevit.
- Antimycotic tablets: Fungovis, Nizoral, Lamisil, Fluconazole, Orungal.
- Creams, ointments, sprays: Exoderyl, Zalain, Mycosoral, Fungoterbine.
- Other products: Castellani liquid, Fundizol, Creolin, tea tree oil, Berezhnoi liquid.