Curanail 5% Nail Lacquer Amorolfine - The Only Once Weekly Treatment for Mild Fungal Nail Infections

Fungal nail infection (onychomycosis) is often perceived to be a niche problem, affecting few people in the UK.

However, over a million people in the UK suffer from the condition – that’s a third of all fungal skin infections and approximately half of all nail disorders.

Patient perception of fungal nail infections

For patients suffering from onychomycosis, the appearance may be unsightly and embarrassing; as a consequence patients are often reluctant to seek help for what is thought to be nothing more than a cosmetic problem and are unaware that the appearance of their nails may be due to a more serious medical condition.

Availability of Curanail

The availability of Curanail Nail Lacquer (amorolfine hydrochloride 5% w/v) as a Pharmacy medicine for the treatment of mild fungal nail infections provides sufferers with access to an effective treatment that was previously only available on prescription. It also means pharmacists can make a major contribution to the primary care management of onychomycosis, in much the same way as they do in the treatment of athlete’s foot.

Pharmacist’s role

Encouraging compliance
Compliance with the long treatment regimen is essential if Amorolfine nail lacquer is to be effective. Patients must be made aware that eradicating onychomycosis takes considerable time as a new fungal-free nail needs to grow (around 6 months for fingernails and 9-12 months for toenails).

This can be difficult for users to accept and pharmacists will have to manage patients’ expectations, in particular, as there may be little or no visible change in the first three months of treatment. Encourage patients to continue with treatment despite this slow progress. Using the four nail templates in the Curanail pack should help patients see how their treatment is improving the nail condition. Using the diary card can also help patients keep track of when they have applied treatment.

Treatment reviews
Advise customers to have assessments every 3 months to monitor progress, check that Amorolfine is the right treatment for their nail condition and that the product is being used appropriately. Encouraging patients to use the nail templates in the Patient Information Leaflet in the Curanail pack can help demonstrate improvements.

A treatment review can be done by either a pharmacist, podiatrist, nurse or doctor and provides a good opportunity to reinforce the compliance message. Now it is possible for a wider range of healthcare professionals to be involved in the treatment of onychomycosis. There is also scope for pharmacists to use the reclassification of Amorolfine 5% nail lacquer to create and improve relationships with local Primary Care Organisations in line with the new pharmacy contract.

Counselling advice for Curanail users

• Advise patient to complete the course as the infection stays in the nail and is only cleared once the nail has completely grown out
• Warn patients not to expect much difference in the first 3 months
• Encourage patients to use the nail templates to record the improvements
• Remind patients they should see a healthcare professional for a treatment review every 3 months
• Warn new users there may be a temporary burning sensation when amorolfine nail lacquer is applied, but this wears off
• Avoid nail polish and false nails when using amorolfine nail lacquer
• Nail files used on infected nails should not be used for healthy nails as this could spread infection
• If the patient also has athlete’s foot in addition to a toenail infection, the athlete’s foot should also be treated with a different antifungal product
• Give advice on how to prevent a fungal nail infection in the future – this is very similar advice to preventing athlete’s foot

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