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Understanding Fungal Nail Disease
What is Onychomycosis? What causes it?
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
How do I get an infection? Can I pass it on?
- Onychomycosis is fungal disease of toenails.
- Tinea Unigum infection of fingernails
- Tinea Pedis (Athlete's Foot) infection of skin
- It affects up to 30% of UK population at any one time
- More prevalent in the elderly
- Less common in children
- Caused by fungal parasitic dermaphytes which invade into the nail plate and colonise
- Trichophyton rubrum most common 90%
- Trichophyton mentagrophytes less common 10%
- Candida alibicans/ yeast can affect nails, responsible for 50% finger nail infections
- Fungal spores main cause of spread
- One infected shed skin cell contains 1000s of microscopic spores
- Can live on dry surface for approximately 20 months
- Damp surfaces up to 50 months
How do I get an infection? Can I pass it on?
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
How do I get an infection? Can I pass it on?
- People inadvertantly damaging or damaged integrity of their nail plates
- Risk factors:
- Sporting activities (sweaty trainers)
- Water sports e.g.swimming
- Working in hot climates e.g. chef
- Communual changing rooms,showers
- Painting nails (nail bars)
- Close proximity to other infected nails/ person
- Genetic predisposition
- Compromised health, immune issues, increasing age
- Diabetes
- Long courses of antibiotics
- Being too clean!
Yes, it is easily transmitted to other people/ feet.
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
- Nail plate will become progressively more diseased and unsightly
- It will thicken, become distorted and nail bed will be damaged, often permanently
- Can have a malodourus smell
- Start with 1 infected nail end up with 10!
- Can become increasingly more uncomfortable
- Can predispose sufferer to secondary bacterial infections e.g.cellulitus
- Can cause regular outbreaks of Athlete's Foot
- Can delay or postpone joint replacement surgery
Latest Innovations
Working Hard Together
What will happen if I do not treat an infection?
We regularly take diagnostic nail cultures to check for infection and whether a course of Lunula treatment has been successful. This can take 2 - 3 weeks which can waste valuable time. We now have Diafactory Dermaphyte testing which can take all of 5 minutes! Great for preliminary diagnosis.
Keepng Ahead
Working Hard Together
Working Hard Together
We make it our mission to be one the best and most prgressive fungal nail treatment clinics by keeping up with current innovations and research. Little was known in the Podiatry world about fungal 'biofilms' and the 'superfungi' until we helped to start the conversation.
Working Hard Together
Working Hard Together
Working Hard Together
We like ro work closely with our patients to ensure they get disease free nails. We have accumulated lots of tips and tricks to help you to break the cycle of infection.