Fungal nail infection, also known as onychomycosis, affects fingernails or toenails. If you are experiencing discomfort from fungus in your nail, it is important to seek and consult a podiatrist in Singapore early.
Causes, common signs and symptoms of fungal nail infection:
- A fungal nail infection occurs from the overgrowth of fungi in, under, or on the nail. Fungi thrive in warm, moist environments.
- It occurs when fungi invades nails that have been damaged by shoes, trauma or sporting activity. Fungus often grows at the end of the nail plate and continues to spread underneath, forming white chalky plaques on the nail surface.
- As the infection progresses, yellowish and brownish discolouration may start to occur. Further cell damage by the fungus to the nail can also cause it to thicken and change in shape.
- If you have come in contact with someone else who has a fungal infection, it may spread to you. This infection is contagious and may result in pain, discomfort and an undesirable appearance.
- Visible signs of a fungal nail infection include:
- thickening, discolouration and staining of the nail plate
- scaling under the nail
- white or yellow streaks
- crumbly nail edges
- flaky white areas, which may involve pits in the nail.
- appearance of yellow spots at the base of the nail
- nail detached from nail bed
How can a Podiatrist help?
Physio & Sole Clinic offers nail fungus relief in Singapore. Our team is trained to diagnose fungal infections as well as recommend and administer different types of toenail fungus management. We offer a conservative approach including advanced, pain-free light therapy.
- During your podiatry appointment, the podiatrist will trim and thin the nails to physically remove affected areas of fungi, allowing better penetration of the antifungal gel. It effectively kills fungi while preventing the infection from spreading to neighboring nails. The therapy may require 3 months or longer, depending on the severity of the infection.
- At Physio & Sole Clinic, Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy (PACT ®) Therapy, the latest state-of-the-art antifungal light therapy, is available. This painless method has no adverse side effects. It is scientifically proven to be extremely effective in destroying fungal cells and our clinic has had great success with fungal nail therapy.
How Does PACT® Work?
- Photodynamic therapy involves the interaction of light, a photosensitive agent and oxygen to produce a localised chemical effect. This photochemical reaction induces fungal cell death without affecting surrounding tissue, which means it is a completely safe method!
- A single PACT session involves the following:
- The podiatrist will confirm diagnosis of nail fungus and check for suitability of PACT.
- All affected fungal nail areas will be trimmed and filed down with sterile, specialised podiatry instruments.
- A gel is then applied to the nail and left to absorb for 5-10 minutes. This gel stains the fungal cells, making them sensitive to the light emitted by the PACT LED lamp.
- The PACT LED light is subsequently applied, to penetrate the nail and destroy fungal cells.
How Is It Different From Going For A Pedicure?
Podiatrists are trained medical professionals in managing nail conditions. We use sterilised and specialised medical instruments when removing affected fungal nails. We often attend to patients who developed fungal infection on their nails due to pedicure parlours not sterilising their equipment. We will be able to provide permanent long term solutions.
Our Success Cases in relieving fungal nail infection
Our patients typically come in after trying various toenail fungus approaches but had no significant improvement. Their fungal problems have plagued them for many years.
20 year old fungal nail issue
