Laser treatment for toenail fungus
Fungal infections of toenails (onychomycosis) are embarrassing problems as the nails turn a yellowish colour and become thicker. They do not look very nice. The bugs that cause them like darkness and moisture which is the exact environment inside footwear. Because of this they are hard to treat as they can get infected again just as quick as they are treated.
A new recent treatment is laser treatment for toenail fungus. This uses a laser to destroy the fungal infection. It does not fix the nail immediately, but you then have to wait until the nail grows out. Laser treatment for onychomycosis is being widely touted in the news media and on You Tube on the basis of a small uncontrolled clinical trial done by the company that is marketing the device. Larger clinical trials are underway, but are not yet been completed.
The laser treatment for nail fungus is expensive and can cost up to $1000 for a single treatment. Insurance companies are not reimbursing for it yet. The Federal Drug Administration have not yet approved it, but some of the news media and You Tube clips are claiming that it is. A lot of concern is being expressed that this treatment (or any other treatment) should be allowed to be marketed so heavily and patients charged a lot of money for it when it is not clear just how well it works relative to current treatments. The evidence may well show that it does work better than current treatments, but claims should not be made until all the research data is in.
