ARE YOU EMBARRASSED BY YOUR TOENAILS?

Do you have unsightly yellow, thickened toenails?
Are your toenails cracked and crumbling?
Do your toenails have a foul smelling odour?
Have you been using topical ointments, lacquers and solutions on your nails with no results?

WELL WE HAVE THE SOLUTION FOR YOU!

The long wait for people with fungal nail infections is over.  Fungal nails infections affect approximately over a million Australians.  The use of topical medications is time consuming, with either daily or weekly applications that you must do for up to 12 months.  After a month you tend to forget to apply the solution, so the nail never seems to improve.

Oral medications are more effective, but not everyone can take them due to existing medical problems, or current medications.  Oral medications can also be toxic to your liver, and can have some nasty side effects.

Laser therapy is a recent treatment, that can be effective, but it can be painful and very expensive.

There is another alternative treatment, and that is PACT Therapy.

PACT THERAPY IS HERE AT SUTHERLAND PODIATRY CENTRE

What is PACT Therapy?

PACT stands for Photodynamic Anti-microbial/fungal Therapy. It uses a combination of light and a specific gel, that when combined destroys the walls of the fungal cell, effectively killing the microorganism.

Is It Safe?

PACT therapy does not use acids, drugs, lasers, it is a very effective and safe treatment.  It is not excluded for use in diabetic patients.  However, it is possible to be allergic to the ingredients in the gel although that would be extremely RARE.

What Does The Treatment Involve?

Fungal nails infections start from the tip of the nail and spreads to the rest of the nail over time, it can also infect the adjacent toenails as it is contagious.  PACT treatment is simple, it will require the following to be done:

• We need to trim away as much as possible the infected nail.  This will involve cutting the nail back as we can, and thinning out the nail plate.  This is to allow the gel and light to penetrate the active fungal cells
• Apply the special light sensitive gel to the nail and allow this to penetrate the nail for 10 minutes
• Now the PACT light is placed over the nail, and a high power LED lamp is introduced for 9.5 minutes
• During the treatment the patients will feel a slight warming sensation

It is imperative that the nail is debrided back as far as we can to give the treatment the best advantage.  This is not a painful process, but when most of the nail is infected, we have to cut back ‘to the base’.

How Many Treatments Will I Need?

For successful treatment of a single nail there are 5 x 30 minute consultations required as follows:

• Initially there are 3 treatments in the first week
• 1 treatment review after 1 month
• 1 treatment review after 3 months

A final review/repeat treatment may be required at 6 months for severe fungal nail infections.  In some cases 6 monthly treatments may be required for prevention.

How Long Will It Take To Work?

The sessions are short and effective, however, waiting for the new nail to grow takes a few months.  Everyone’s nails grow a slightly different rate but commonly healthy new nail growth is evident at between 3 and 6 months.

So if this applies to your toenails just remember:

• Quick and Effective
• No side effects
• Painless
• You don’t have to do a thing!