Birmingham - Fungal Nail
What causes a fungal nail infection?
They can be caused by the same micro-organisms that cause athlete’s foot. They use the keratin in your nails as a food source and cause discolouration and thickening.
Often the discolouration is white, yellow or brown. Black nails are usually caused by trauma (stubbing or dropping something on your toe) but if you haven’t damaged your toe and your nail becomes black or green, seek advice from your podiatrist or a dermatologist as it should be looked at.
Who gets fungal nail infections?
Anyone could get a fungal nail infection. They are often a result of trauma or poor foot hygiene.
Treatment options
There are many schools of thought surrounding how to treat nail infections. This is because nail fungus is particularly difficult to get rid of.
Fungal nail infections, also known as onychomycosis, are a relatively common condition. Fungal nail infections affect about 10% of adults in the United Kingdom. The prevalence of fungal nail infections increases with age, with up to 50% of individuals over the age of 70 affected. Fungal nail infections are more common in toenails than fingernails and are more common in men than women. They are also more common in people with certain underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, or immune system disorders.
Fungal nail infections are caused by the same fungus that causes athlete’s foot. In fact it is always the fungus from the skin on the foot that migrates into a nail often because the nail has been damaged somehow. Whilst they don’t often pose a serious health risk, an untreated infection will not go away by itself and can spread around the feet and other parts of the body – often to the groin!
Infected nails can alter in appearance over time, becoming white,yellow, orange or brown and have an thickened and can be crumbly. You may also notice a musty smell. Some people find this an embarrassing condition that can be uncomfortable and even painful.
Until recently, treatment options have been limited to topical and oral medication, with disappointing results and potential side effects. K Laser fungal nail treatment targets the fungal cells themselves, heating them up to destroy them in the first instance but also to increase blood flow to the area to help your body to fight the infection itself.
How Does It Work?
K-Laser therapy targets and destroy the fungus that causes nail infections. The laser emits a focused beam of light at a specific wavelength that penetrates the nail and heats the fungus, destroying it without causing damage to the surrounding tissue.
Laser therapy is believed to be effective for treating nail fungus because the light energy from the laser can penetrate the nail and reach the fungus, which can be difficult to access with topical or oral antifungal medications.
Fungal Nail Laser treatment is:
- Safe & painless
- No recovery or downtime
- No side effects
- No systemic drugs
- Suitable for patients with diabetes
K laser treatments are carried out by our podiatrists who are degree-qualified and HCPC registered
We will explain all the options available to you in an intial consultation. We may also need to test for the presence of fungi and confirm the diagnosis if appropriate.
A typical K-laser treatment plan doesn’t always need many laser treatments before you see positive results. It typically involves a course of 3 treatments in a week and we repeat this at monthly intervals, each lasting approximately 20-30 minutes.
We provide straightforward aftercare advice, and you can resume your normal daily activity after each treatment without any discomfort.
How do we treat your nails?
Step 1: We will thin the nail using a gentle nail drill to reduce the thickness of the nail. This allows laser light to fully penetrate into the treatment site.
Step 2: The laser light is applied straight lines covering the entire nail. The patient feels a heating sensation throughout the nail.
Step 3: We treat 3 times in a week and then the patient returns after a month for another 3 treatments. We may repeat this this until we see clear nail growth. The number of treatments needed varies depending on the severity of the infection.
In roughly 12 months most patients are completely cleared from onychomycosis
What are the benefits?
- Increased self confidence
- Motivation to pursue a healthier lifestyle
- No embarrassment when wearing sandals
- Your toes feel more comfortable when inside shoes because they are no longer thick and crumbly.
- Your feet feel healthy and comfortable.
- You won’t infect your friends and relatives
Topical Treatments Here at Supafoot Birmingham we offer the following topical treatments once we have idenitifed there is a fungal nail and we feel a topical treatment is a good option for you. We often also have treated the nail by thinning it out first to make these treatments more effective.
- A medicated nail lacquer (Amorolfine 5%)
- Emtrix
- Lamisil spray
If a patient has an ingrowing toenail or fungal infection one option for treatment is to remove part or all of the nail under local anaesthetic.
This is performed when your podiatrist has diagnosed a deformity of one or more toenails. The most common deformities/causes are:
1. ingrowing toenail
2. excessively curved nail (involution)
3. excessively wide nails
4. thickened nails due to fungal infection or trauma
5. incorrect cutting of the nails
An ingrown nail will predispose the skin around the nail to swell and press onto the nail causing pain. This could lead to infection which must be treated immediately.
These are problems that are of particular concern to diabetic patients and other at risk patients.
If an infection is present, antibiotics from your Podiatrist or GP may be necessary, however they will not cure the problem alone. The cause (the nail digging into the skin) must be addressed or the infection and pain will return or persist after the course of antibiotics have ceased.
There are conservative treatments which can help to prevent pain or infection, although this will not cure the problem. If the problem recurs regularly or if the condition is acute (comes about very quickly), then surgery is recommended.
Do I need to be referred by my doctor?
No, either book online or give us a call or email and you will be given an appointment slot to suit you. You will need an initial surgery assessment before a date for the surgery can be given, allowing us to diagnose the problem and ensure that surgery is a viable option.
How Is the Nail Growth Corrected?
Usually only the troublesome sides of the nail are removed. If you have one or both sides of the nail removed, this is termed a partial nail avulsion or PNA. This approach involves a chemical called phenol being applied to the nail matrix (where the nail grows from), which kills the cells of the matrix. This means that the offending sides do not grow again, leaving a slightly thinner looking nail in the middle. It is very often not noticeable that surgery has been performed.
If the entire nail is damaged, thickened or infected with fungus, it is sometimes required to remove the entire nail. This is termed a total nail avulsion or TNA. The skin under the nail (nail bed) will harden once exposed to the air and after 6-8 weeks, a tougher skin will develop where the nail used to be. Many ladies paint this skin and the surgery again goes virtually unnoticed.
Local Anaesthesia In Nail Surgery
This involves two injections at the base of the toe, not at the site of the inflammation and pain. A mild discomfort is felt, but this will pass quickly as the toe numbs. No treatment will begin until the patient is totally pain free. It is important to note that local anaesthesia does not block all sensation, so the feelings of pressure will still be present. Only pain sensations are blocked.
How Long Will The Surgery Last?
The surgery will usually last only 15-20 minutes, but you will usually be in the surgery for around an hour to allow sufficient time for the anaesthetic to work and for preparation.
Will It Be Painful After Surgery?
Generally speaking, there is very little discomfort the night of the operation or during the healing period. Any pain is usually easily controlled by paracetamol or ibuprofen (do not use aspirin or products that contain aspirin, as this could encourage bleeding ).
It is advisable that you rest with your foot/feet elevated for a few hours after the operation. You should be able to return to work the following day, dependant of course on the type of work you do. Elevation of the foot and reduced pressure on the toe is essential as much as possible to aid healing.
The footwear that you wear post-surgery needs to be spacious enough to accommodate the dressing and not cause pressure, which may cause discomfort.
What Happens After The Surgery?
You will require an appointment the following day for a check-up. Here, you will be instructed how to change the dressing yourself on a daily basis. From then, appointments will be scheduled on a fortnightly basis for dressing changes and to monitor the healing process. You must keep the dressings dry.
If there are any worries or complications, you may telephone us and we will either advise you over the telephone or online video consultation or give you an appointment to return as soon as possible.
Our clinics
Drop in and see us at one of our clinics or contact us.