Going to the nail salon has become one of my mom's favourite mother and daughter bonding. At least once a month, we'd visit our favourite nail salon in our neighbourhood and get our manicure and pedicures done.
The tradition started when I turned 15. My mom caught me trying to do my pedicure. She scolded me for a good five minutes, explaining that I could injure myself or get a fungal nail infection if I didn't clean the tools I was using properly.
A few hours later, she asked me if I wanted to come with her to her favourite nail salon. And ever since then, we've always scheduled a Mani-and-Pedi day at least once a month. We'd spend hours there, talking about how my studies and my friends are.
We've always enjoyed our nail salon day, and we promised to keep the tradition alive even as I went to college. We continued to go to the same salon, and it came to the point that I started to call their technicians my aunties.
Even as I started my career in the digital marketing field, we continued to make time for our girls day. We'd make sure that we find a free day in our schedules so we could go to the salon together. But sometimes, we'd miss our girls day.
I would have an important project to do, and wouldn't have a free day until my mom starts going to work again. She would often go by herself, and I'd find the time to make a video call to say hi.
After a couple of months of inconsistent girls day, our schedules finally met. But unfortunately for us, the salon was closed that day. We called the aunties and they explained that the salon will be closed for a little while.
So instead of just cancelling out, we decided to go to another salon. Admittedly, it wasn't as great as our favourite salon was. The store was clean enough, but they had a lot of outdated furniture. For a while, I was worried that maybe they weren't as clean as our favourite place was. But my mother didn't want to be rude, so we just went ahead.
The experience wasn't as fun either. At some point, one of my mother's toenail started bleeding. But the technician reassured us that it was normal.
It has been a while since my mom's last visit to the salon for her pedicure. So she thought it was probably because of that. We decided to get our nails done and go home afterwards.
We laughed the experience off, thinking it was just bad timing. But after a month after our last girls day, my mom started to smell something off about her toenail.
She called me saying that her nail seems to be distorted and brittle. We had a hunch that maybe it was because of the last salon we visited. But we didn't know what else to do.
My dad came in and suggested we have it checked. At first, my mom was reluctant about it. But I told her that it might lead to something else if we don't get it checked.
Thankfully, we were able to get a hold of ECPC. After scheduling a visit, their foot and ankle specialist shared with us that it was probably a toenail fungal infection from a nail injury. We explained that we recently had our pedicure done in a salon we weren't familiar with.
He explained that if a salon's tools weren't sanitized enough and one of their customers got an unfortunate nail injury, it could lead to an infection. Luckily for us, there is a variety of toenail fungus treatment in Singapore. And because ECPC specialised in toenail fungus treatment and other procedures like bunion surgery, they could help us out.
After the assessment, ECPC's foot and ankle specialist was able to find the right toenail fungus treatment for my mother. They discussed with us how the procedure would work and whether or not my mom would need to take some time off at work for recovery.
Thankfully, they reassured us that my mom wouldn't have to go through invasive surgery for the treatment. ECPC introduced us to over-the-counter medications that my mother could take including a topical cream that she could use.
After a while, my mom's toenail started to look, feel, and smell better. ECPC's foot and ankle specialist made sure to check on my mom during her treatment. He made sure to give us some advice on how to keep my mother feeling comfortable.
Additionally, ECPC was also kind enough to give us additional tips on how to avoid getting fungal nail infection like making sure we go to trusted nail salons for our spa days.
Learn more about toenail fungus treatment in Singapore and other bunions treatment without surgery by visiting ECPC’s website.
