Laser Nail Fungus Treatment?
I’ve seen comments online and and did a little research on laser nail fungus treatments. I think a reasonable assessment would be:
* expensive ($1-2k+) (though a friend told me their friend had both feet done for $275)
* safe
* 25% success rate, a bit lower success rate than prescription oral drugs. Many report a clearing in the first year and then a return after 2 years or so.
* easy treatment. visit the foot doctor 1-4 times for short treatments over the course of a few months.
Does that sound correct? Please write in the comments below!
Some comments on my blog from folks suggest what I say is about right.
This is a followup to all the fungus talk on my blog.
thanks for starting this section on Lasers Lee! I know my foot doctor is pushing it (it costs $750 and not covered by insurance) but I haven’t heard too many success stories so I would love to hear what people think who actually did the lasers since it is fairly new!
Hi there Lee, I saw this article by a foot doctor also saying to wait on the lasers and do old fashion nail filing and topical application. http://arborfoot.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/treating-toenail-fungus-cheaply-and-effectively/
and this explains why to wait for lasers http://arborfoot.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/laser-treatment-of-toenail-fungus-wait-a-few-more-months/
Blue, those are some good articles. Thanks. Yeah. Until I hear some stories of people using laser and staying fungus free for 2 years, I’ll hold off.
yeah, seeing that he headed up that study and that he called it “temporary” was scary! I was debating on whether to try it but the cost was stopping me; I am glad he posted that.
The lasers are still new and it seems to me they are, like other treatments, not the fountain of youth we seek. What studies are out there show some fairly promising results, small groups of test subjects show a cure rate that is decent, not better that existing methods of treatment. I may be on holiday in south america soon though and when there I will try to get myself some laserwork done, just to try it. It is not available at home and I might as well seize the opportunity. I have done some searching using google translate and found it is available in one or two places in Rio de Janeiro so I will try to find a clinic that seems good and keep people updated with the results. Somebody who reads this may actually be from the region and if so, be sure to holler, I might need some help. =)
Thank you so much for the info! Very helpful! We actually purchased a laser machine for $750.00 online because there are two in our family that have toe fungus. We used it once in December of 2018. We were supposed to do it again in 14 days but got busy and never did it again. The weird thing is it actually worked in some areas but when the nails grew back, they were ready for the reality tv show, My Feet Are Killing Me because they were so distorted. On may 31 2020, I cut everything back and used the machine again. This time I won’t let treating them slide. I’m going to treat again in 7 days, even if I have to treat every week. Treatment takes about an hour, counting a 20 minute foot soak. One more thing, I haven’t put on any closed toed shoes, all flip flops until I can purchase new shoes or find something that will kill the fungus in them, which is how I found this website.
Melanie, thanks for writing!
First, OMG, there really is a show called My Feet Are Killing Me on TLC!
I just watched the “Sneek Peek” trailer to the show. I am tremendously sympathetic about your nail situation! Yowza! I’d love to hear that you can use the machine to get good nails. Right now, it seems like it’s not working so well. I would LOVE if you could check back in 6 months with an update! I’d love to hear that this can be done at home.
My right big-toe is the only nail that isn’t doing well. I’ve been in the same situation for several years now. It’s not “bad” but it isn’t good!
To address your question about killing the fungus, I’ve kept it at bay by:
occasionally slathering in Selsun Blue in the shower and rinsing off. Definitely helps with atheletes foot and it’s inexpensive.
Other useful (but imperfect!) cures are
– 25% undecylenic acid
– terbinafine based topicals… lamasil
– terbinafine based oral meds (expensive and fixed 9 toes but not my big-right-toe)
There’s more advice and commentary all over my site but the above is a pretty good summary. Search the site for “fungus”.
Good luck to us all.