Fungal Nail Laser Brisbane
Fungal Nail Laser Brisbane
What causes nail fungus (also known as Onychomycosis) ?
Typical toenail fungus
Nail infections can be caused by fungi, yeasts and molds. Each of these is a micro-organism – a bit like a bacteria – but from a different family. Fungus can affect several types of tissue including mucous membranes, skin, hair and of course the nails of the fingers and toes. This means that, when treating the condition, attention needs to be given to the skin around your nails, in the space under your nail and in the nail itself. Those affected by fungus often comment that the condition has killed the nail. In actual fact, all nails – even the healthiest look ones – are already dead. The only living part of the nail plate is below the skin at the base. This fact is important as it means that nails don’t have any potential to fight off infection by these bugs and fungal spores are everywhere – all the time. The nail’s only protection from being infected is the shiny surface of the nail. With this intact, the spores can’t settle in and grow but just ‘slide off’. A good analogy is to think of it like a concrete driveway. No cracks means no weeds will grow. If cracks occur, no matter how clean you keep your environment, weeds will grow.
The most common fungi that cause nail infection disease in animals and humans are Trichophyton rubrum, Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
What are the signs and symptoms of nail fungus ?
Fungal nail infections are unsightly and embarrassing to most sufferers. When they occur on the fingers, they can cause additional hygiene concerns, for example, when preparing food. Not all nail infections will cause pain but this can occur as debris builds up below the nail plate. Some of the symptoms can include:
- Streaking and staining of the nail plate and / or nail bed
- Yellow, white, brown or black discolouration of the nail
- A collection of debris building up between the nail and the skin
- Nail that is unattached from the nail bed skin
- Disorderly nail plate
- Brittle, crumbling and thickened nails
- Soft and powdery nail surface
- Flaking or tearing away of the nail
- Putrid odour emanating from the below nail space
How did I get this fungal nail infection ?
Fungal nail infection
As discussed above, fungal spores get into the nail when it is damaged.This can occur if the nail was scuffed up by a tight fitting shoe, scraped while you were using a nail cutting instrument or damaged by any other kind of trauma. Also, leaving nail polish in place for extended periods effectively ‘paints’ the fungus into place. We advise our patients to be particularly wary about the communal nail polish pots used at pedicure salons. The only way that fungal spores can be killed is to pass exposed instruments through an autoclave after every customer. So called ‘sanitation units’ have been proven to not kill these micro-organisms. Legislation requires that podiatrists must use an autoclave but this requirement does not extend to beauty therapists and nail salons. As autoclaves cost up to $10 000, consider whether the local pedicurist has invested in one of these. Wonder also whether the customer before you may have wanted their nails painted to hide an ugly fungal nail infection of their own.
How to treat fungal nail infections ?
If you have a fungal nail infection, you have literally millions of fungi reproducing via spores and spreading the infection through the nail. It can spread to other nails if they too are damaged or if the same nail care implements are used on a good toe after they are used on an infected one – whether it is yours or a previous client. The podiatrist will remove much of the infected nail to lessen this effect. This is painless because the affected nail is not attached to the nail bed. The skin under the damaged nail will be thickened with debris that the infection has produced. This build up should to be removed because the regrowing, healthy nail cannot stick to this layer. An unattached nail is more likely to be reinfected.
At this point, there are several treatment options. The podiatrist may prescribe a paint for the nail to reduce the rate of fungal spore reproduction. A medication in tablet form is also available that is very effective, although it can be harsh on the liver. Before taking this drug, careful consideration is needed if you have known liver problems, drink (or have drunk) significant quantities of alcohol or if you take other drugs that rely on the liver to metabolise them. Several deaths have been reported by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia after use of this medication.
Our clinic suggests that, as unsightly and embarrassing as this fungal nail problem can be, patients need to carefully weigh up whether to risk their health and even their lives to resolve it. We are pleased to offer an effective alternative that has no systemic side effects whatsoever.