Fungal Nail Care
Fungal infection of the nails (Onychomycosis) must first be diagnosed by a doctor. It is important that nail fungus has been diagnosed, as the appearance of a fungal nail can be confused with some systemic diseases and negative effects on the nails after some chronic diseases. In the formation of nail fungus, the nail plate loses its transparency, changes color, can turn brown, yellow, green, gray, white. Again, it is observed that the nail plate loses its hardness and becomes pasty and crumbly. In some cases, the nail plate is separated from the nail bed locally or completely. The nail plate can become much thicker than normal and put pressure on the nail bed. Changes in the nail plate cause the person to be aesthetically uncomfortable and to be under social and psychological stress. Many people with nail fungus problems do not have complaints such as pain and itching. Nail fungus needs to be treated because it can impair the function of the nail. Nail fungus can be seen in the nail plate at the tip, bottom, regional or completely disseminated. In terms of podological operations, the settlement area of the fungus is determined and the mechanical cleaning process is directed. The patient's nail beds are checked. After checking the thickness of the nail, which is thought to be a fungal tissue, and whether the nail structure is crumbling, the thickened nail surface is started to be thinned with appropriate milling cutters. During this process, only dead tissue is worked on the nail.
During the study, live nail tissue is observed and protected. After the thickened nail tissue is completely cleaned, the nail bed is washed with appropriate disinfectants. After the first cleaning, it is necessary to leave the undamaged nail tissue open. Care is supported by suitable products. Since there is no sharp dividing line between the damaged tissue and the clean nail tissue on the nail surface, the cleaning processes are completed by preserving the live and clean nail tissue as much as possible, and the damaged tissue is gradually removed with repeated care in 3-4 week periods.
A second treatment method for nail surface deterioration due to nail fungus is micro-drilling. In this process, the nail plate is prepared by making tiny holes at regular intervals and up to a certain depth of the nail plate. Care is taken not to damage the nail bed during the procedure. By preparing the nail plate in this way, it is aimed to spread the topical drugs (such as applied solutions, polishes) locally given by the doctor to all layers of the nail and to accelerate the healing. When a medical prosthetic nail (Onycoplasty / Gel nail) application is requested for the nails that have been mechanically cleaned with fungal nails due to the concern of aesthetic appearance, it may be applied for a very short time. In long-term (3-4) weeks of applications, fungal infection may increase as the contact of the nail with the air will be cut off. Medical prosthetic nail application may need to be done especially for the complete cleaning of the nail bed and restructuring of the nail bed in cases where there is a risk of loss of form.
In the further process of fungal nail care, wire system / bonding system can also be applied, if necessary, in order to prevent the new healthy nail tissue from becoming ingrown. The necessity of this is determined by the podologist according to the condition of the nail and nail bed. The medical prosthetic nail system applied in fungal nail care is made with a special mixture used in our units. After medical prosthetic nail application, cosmetic products such as nail polish, acetone-free nail polish remover can be used if desired.
