I was recently asked about a piece of equipment sometimes used in dermatology – the Wood’s light. This is something that most dermatology departments will have but rarely does it get a mention in day-to-day practice. So, what is it and what’s it good for? What is Wood’s Light? The Wood’s lamp took its name from an American Physicist, Dr Robert Wood who in 1903 invented a simple device for producing “black light” – what is effectively long wave UV radiation. Wood’s original de

Last year, I was involved in the development of a new video about onychomycosis, supported by Canespro Fungal Nail Treatment. The full video has now been completed and published. The link can be opened by clicking the image below or clicking here. #fungal #diagnosis #video

Tinea unguium is a very common nail infection we see in clinic. By definition, it is invasion of the nail plate by dermatophytes. In my article “Be sure of the cure” in Podiatry Now I discussed the importance of a proper diagnosis of fungal nail infection which is echoed in the published guidelines for onychomycosis (1). For many years, I think as podiatrists we have become hesitant to test for many reasons. Probably the most common is when you do, so often the results come

The modern mobile phone is both loathed and liked – particularly because of the large amount of time people spend glued to it over the course of the day but novel uses are always welcome, particularly if they can be helpful in making a serious dermatological diagnosis! In a forthcoming short paper to be published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Chelidze and colleagues describe the infamous “selfie” as a useful tool to help discriminate a sub-ungual haem

Image from: Squires, B., S. D. Daveluy, M. C. Joiner, N. Hurst, M. Bishop and S. R. Miller (2016). "Acrokeratosis Paraneoplastica Associated with Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma." Case Reports in Dermatological Medicine 2016. Under the Creative Commons Licence. Source: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/cridm/2016/7137691/ Case reports are frequently published in dermatological literature as short pieces and for me act as a form of mini-CPD. The articles are in quiz form or j

Dermoscopy as a clinical aid to decision making has shown to improve the early detection of melanoma and other skin tumours over visual clinical examination. A recent study has been published in the British Journal of Dermatology which demonstrated that 89% of responding Dermatologists regularly use a dermatoscope in their practice [1]. As a technique, it has seen a dramatic rise in popularity from the late 1980’s when it was first introduced and discussed in the dermatologi

This is a copy of an article recently published in Podiatry Now - January 2017 20(1) 14-16 Full download - click here Clinical Comment: Be sure of the cure when treating onychomycosis. Background Onychomycosis is a common clinical condition affecting between 2-8% of adults in the western world [1]. Infection of the nail plate with dermatophytes can lead to discolouration and changes to the consistency of the nail plate. The effect of the disease on patient’s quality of life h