What are the early signs of nail onychomycosis

Onychomycosis is a relatively common skin disease caused by fungal infection. When patients suffer from onychomycosis, they often show some early symptoms. For example, the patient's nails will become bent, and the nails will gradually thicken. In addition, the nails will become turbid, particularly fragile, and the surface will appear uneven. When the condition is serious, it will also cause symptoms such as nail separation and nail plate curling.

1. Hook Armor

The diseased nail grows too long and bends toward the palmoplantar side; this is a typical early symptom of onychomycosis.

2. Hypertrophy

There is accumulation of keratin under the nails.

3. Symptoms of different types of onychomycosis

The most common pathogen is Trichophyton rubrum; there are two types of onychomycosis. One manifestation is white nails, which often starts from the root of the nail. Small white spots appear on the surface of the nail plate and gradually expand, causing the nail plate to soften and sink. Another type of damage starts from the free edge and side wall of the nail, causing small depressions or transverse grooves on the nail plate, and gradually develops until the nail plate becomes brittle, easy to break, thickened, and brown inside. The accumulation of debris under the nail often causes the nail to become hollow, lift up and separate from the nail bed, and the surface of the nail plate to be uneven, rough and dull.

4. Turbidity

After the onychomycosis invades the nail plate or nail bed, due to the rapid reproduction of a large number of hyphae and spores, a large amount of keratin accumulates on the nail bed. When viewed with the naked eye, the nail plate becomes turbid and opaque. Therefore, onychomycosis is commonly known as gray nails.

5. Thickening

After the fungus invades the nail plate or nail bed, the keratin in the nail plate proliferates rapidly due to the action of the fungus. The accumulation of keratin causes the nail plate to thicken, and the thickening of the nail plate also deepens the opacity of the nail bed. Generally, it can be 1 to 3 times thicker than a normal nail plate.

6. Uneven surface

Due to the accumulation of keratin on the deck or under the deck, and the damage of the deck, the surface of the deck becomes rough, uneven, and loses its luster. This unevenness may be either longitudinal or transverse. At the same time, it can also be understood that the main lesions of diseased nails are under the nail plate.

7. Deck lift

Fungi and hyperplastic keratin accumulate in large quantities under the nail plate, causing the distal end of the nail plate to be significantly higher and appear to be raised. At this time, the diseased nail becomes thicker, more turbid, and the color change is more obvious. The raised nail plate affects the wearing of shoes and seriously affects the quality of life.