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In the case of mild infestation, topical treatment is usually sufficient to effectively combat nail fungus. With severe forms of the disease, you cannot avoid medication in tablet form. Such antifungal agents must be prescribed by the doctor.
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- Anti-fungal tablets contain active ingredients such as griseofulvin, terbinafine, fluconazole.
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Nail fungus is one Infectious disease and should be treated as soon as possible to avoid further spread and contagion of other people. There are basically two strategies to combat the fungus:
- Local therapy: external treatment
- Systemic therapy: internal treatment with tablets
While agents for local therapy such as medical nail polish, ointments or creams are usually available without a prescription in the pharmacy, systemic drug therapy with antifungals (antifungal agents) must be prescribed by the doctor.
Treat nail fungus properly
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Nail fungus drug: severity of the infestation decides on treatment
According to medical recommendations, if no more than three nails are affected by nail fungus and less than half of the nail plates are affected, external treatment is sufficient. It is also important for the therapy decision in which sections of the nail the fungal infection is present. Because an infection predominantly in the area of the nail edges is easier to treat than one in the area of the nail bed.
Antifungal tablets help in severe cases
Antifungal drugs that are effective in tablet form against nail fungus include, for example, itraconazole, terbinafine, bifonazole, amorolfine and fluconazole. They are transported through the blood and attack the fungus from the inside. The duration of treatment is usually several months. Which drug ingredient is ultimately selected depends on the fungal spores present.
The doctor will usually remove a little nail material for the diagnosis before starting treatment and use it to create a mushroom culture.
It is not uncommon for doctors to combine internal and external treatment. This has the advantage that the fungal pathogens are attacked from two sides and therefore disappear again more quickly.
Pills for nail fungus: what you should consider
When the nail fungus is treated externally, undesirable side effects (for example, reddening or scaling of the neighboring skin) occur very rarely.
Antifungals in tablet form, however, are more often associated with side effects. These include, for example:
Nowadays, however, the modern substances against nail fungus are significantly less side effects. In addition, doctors check very carefully whether a person affected is at all eligible for systemic therapy. For example, people with liver diseases, pregnant women and nursing mothers are not allowed to take the active substances mentioned.
The doctor also asks before starting therapy for nail fungus with tablets about other medications that the patient may have been prescribed by another doctor or that he bought over the counter in the pharmacy. This is to prevent interactions between these drugs and the nail fungus tablets.
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