Fungal Nail and Skin Treatment

Fungal Nail Infection

Fungal infections of the nails are also known as onychomycosis, or tinea unguium. This is usually the same fungus that causes fungal infection of the skin. In fungal skin infections the fungus lives in the keratin that makes up the outer layer of the skin. When the fungus spreads to the keratin of the nails, the result is a fungal nail infection.

Fungal infections of the toenails are very common (1 in 4 people can be affected at a given time.) 

Warm, moist environment helps fungi to grow and cause infection. Wearing occlusive footwear or gym changing rooms and swimming pool surroundings can increase the risk of fungal infections.

Diagnosis

Many nail problems can look like a fungal infection – for example the nail changes seen in psoriasis, after a bacterial infection or an old injury.
An accurate diagnosis will save you time and avoid you wasting money on unnecessary products and treatments. Historically, a nail sample was sent to the laboratory and grown in culture (this takes several weeks).

The Diafactory testing system has a 97% accuracy rate and the results are ready in under 5 minutes, meaning your treatment can begin immediately.

This not only assures that fungal nail treatment is justified, but also avoids the long wait for microbiology results to return from the lab before beginning treatment.

The charge for testing is £40 plus the initial consultation fee of £45

Treatment

Fungal infections of the nail do not clear up without treatment. If they don’t worry you they can be left alone (although you should remain cautious and try not to spread the infection to other parts of the body and nails or other people).

On the other hand, if infected nails are embarrassing or uncomfortable then they are usually treated.

If a positive result is confirmed, Sole Solution offers the following treatment plan which can begin straight away:-

• Photograph of the nails to accurately monitor progress (with your signed consent)
• Pre-treatment nail reduction of thickened nails where necessary
• Tiny perforations painlessly made in the nail plate to enable application of the solution
• A solution is applied that seeps through the holes to reach the infection underneath the nail plate – extra charge
  
• Your treatment includes the spray to use daily at home
• If there is visual indication of fungal skin infection a topical treatment is applied or given to you to apply at home - extra charge
• Sanitisation of your shoes with the innovative SteriShoe® shoe sanitiser which is  clinically proven to be effective in killing up to 99.9% of problematic microorganisms causing infections of the foot - extra charge

If you already have a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of fungal nail infection treatment can begin at your first appointment without further testing.

The new nail will grow slowly outwards from its base, and it may be 6 months to a year before the nails look normal again.
Follow up appointments at six week intervals are recommended until the fungal infection has completely cleared to monitor progress. Nail reduction and perforations will be repeated as necessary.