toenail-fungus

I’ve just come across yet another woman who has developed an unprecedented fungal nail infection  (Onychomycosis) in her toenails following a trip to Bali.  This infection is usually due to a species of tinnea that has managed to infiltrate the nail structure.  According to good old naturopathic theory we might wonder about what has made this individual susceptible e.g. high sugar diets and dysbiosis however my experience tells me that often these infections are directly the result of exposure to the fungi and don’t necessarily point to a bigger story.

In several patients recently who have presented with these, each one had recently returned from Bali where…yes you guessed it…they had a pedicure or ten!  Multiple uses of nail scissors, clippers or any other pedicure equipment without proper disinfection in between will frequently lead to infection subsequent clients.

These infections are extremely difficult to treat due to poor penetrance of any remedies through the nail in which the fungi is thriving.  Effective treatment needs to be started very quickly and necessitates vigilant daily administration of a topical anti-fungal (be that herbal, essential oils or otherwise).  Patients also need to understand the basic ways to prevent the spread of infection to other nails which includes using a separate pair of nail scissors for infected nails only.  Commonly these acute nail infections progress over weeks to months leading to loss of the entire nail and typically regrowth of a permanently infected and deformed nail – hence why treatment needs to taken so seriously early on.  At that stage surgery, laser therapy and pharmaceutical oral antifungals become the only treatment options.

Just thought it was worth spreading the word on this one as it seems to be increasingly a case of Bali (or any other Asian country offering cheap pedicures) Beware! 🙁