What does the treatment involve?
The treatment involves passing laser light over the infected nail or nails in order to destroy the fungus. The treatment is painfree, quick and safe with no side effects on the surrounding healthy tissue.
Pre-treatment preparation.
Before any treatment is started your medical history will be recorded and photographs will be taken of the infected nails for later comparison.
The nails will be filed and cleaned prior to laser treatment.
Frequency of treatment
The treatment consists of 4 or more visits depending on the severity of the infection and we recommend that treatment is performed at weekly intervals in order to make sure that the fungal nail infection is clear and to prevent reinfection.
Post-treatment recommendation.
We recommend that you wash all socks and hosiery on a very hot wash -
60 degrees centigrade in order to kill all fungal spores that could cause reinfection.
However not all tights, stockings and popsocks will survive such a hot wash and you may want to consider throwing them all away and buying new in order to prevent reinfection from your old footwear especially after investing time and money in the treatment itself.
Your shoes may also be harboring fungal spores and you may want to use the Sterishoe ultraviolet shoe sanitizer to kill fungal infections inside your shoes.
As part of our ongoing aftercare your nails will be re examined after 6 months and progress will be monitored through photographic comparison.
When will I see results?
Toe nails grow at a rate of about 1mm per month so it will be between 3 to 6 months before you see any improvement. Complete regrowth of a new healthy nail will normally be between 12 to 18 months.
Finger nails grow at a faster rate so improvement should be noticeable more quickly.
Who is prone to catching Onychomycosis?
Anyone can acquire a fungal infection in one or more of their nails.
Infection is unusual in children but as one gets older the chance of catching a fungal nail infection increases.
The statistics are:
Of people between 40 to 60 years old, 15% of the population will acquire a fungal nail infection.
Between 60 to 70 years old over 30%.
Over 70 years old there is about 50% chance of infection.
Also people with low immunity, diabetes and HIV are more at risk of catching onychomycosis.
Is this treatment covered by Insurance?
Many insurance companies consider this a cosmetic or aesthetic procedure and so most of them will not cover the treatment cost.
Articles from the press:
Click on link below
Feet home to more than 100 fungi BBC News by Helen Briggs. 22nd May 2013