Fungal Nail Laser Treament
Is It Worth It?
By Lance Penn - Senior Podiatrist
Lets start by talking about your options and their pros and cons when it comes to treating nail fungus. (If you are looking for more information about nail fungus then read our ultimate guide on fungal nail infections.
Over-the-counter topical medications:
are the cheapest way to treat a fungal nail infection with costs ranging between $12 – $90 for a tube/bottle of anti-fungal medication. As many of you may have found out topical medications take perseverance and have a very low success rate (approx 5-10%). Many people start with these as they don’t require a prescription, and can be applied at home.
Oral Medication:
To get this medication under prescription which significantly lowers the cost, you will need a doctors referral to get a sample taken of your nail. This takes approximately 4 weeks to get a result, approximately 50% of results come back with a false negative. This means that you may have an infection but is showing a negative result. If you do get a positive result then this treatment is an option for you. The success rate is around 65-75% There a potential harmful effects of the medication which include liver toxicity, you will need to discuss this with your Doctor.
Hot Laser:
This system uses laser that is on a high frequency that effectively “burns” the fungi. The success rate is around 40-60%. The potential harmful effects of this treatment can be permanent damage to the nail plate due to the heat of the treatment. The cost range is $200-$300 per session depending on how many nails are infected.
Cold Laser (Lunula):
This is the latest generation laser which uses 2 laser beams. The 1st laser weakens the cell wall of the fungi and the 2nd laser increases your body’s natural defence system to help it attack the fungi.
The success rate is between 75-90%. There are no major side effects of this treatment and can be used on children and diabetics. The cost will vary depending on how significant your nail infection is.
Typically a mild infection needs 4 sessions and a severe infection needs up to 8 sessions. The cost is approx $150 per session. Take our 1 min quiz to find out about your infection.
Your Health Will Effect Outcomes: All of the above treatment’s success rates will depend on your own health. People with poor circulation, diabetes, heart conditions, smokers and people with poor diets find that their treatment success rate is often significantly reduced due to these factors impeding the body’s natural ability to fight the disease.
We often recommend seeing a nutritionist if people have a significant skin and nail infection.
So is laser worth the cost?
Well it really depends on your own personal circumstance;
Are you just starting out? Haven’t tried anything? Well then it might be worthwhile trying topical treatment first, just keep in mind if you are not seeing any changes after 2- 3months then it is worth while considering another treatment. Always take a before photo of your toenail so you can compare after a couple of months, this takes the guess work out of it.
If topical medications haven’t worked for you or are hesitant in trying oral medications then YES it is a far superior treatment. If you have had hot laser and it has failed then YES absolutely cold is a great option (see the graph below on the difference between the two lasers).
If you have health/diet issues then it may be an option but bear in mind your success rate will be much lower than 75-90%, it could be as low as 40-50% so it would be worth discussing this with one of our Podiatrists before starting treatment.
Lunula Cold Laser Treatment
- Up to 80% success rate
- Pain Free
- Each session takes only 20 minutes
- Can treat all 10 toenails at the same time
- Socks and shoes can be worn immediately after each treatment session
- Improves nail bed, due to increasing circulation
- Safe for children and diabetic
Hot Laser Treatment
- Limited effectiveness
- Can be painful
- 1 hour + Treatment time (for 10 nails)
- Only one toenail treated at a time
- Closed footwear may be uncomfortable to wear after treatment
- Can damage nail bed
- Not recommended for children and diabetics
Lunula Cold Laser?
Now that you have an understanding of how different treatments work, it is easy to see why we now exclusively use cold laser. Unlike conventional anti-fungal medications and Hot laser systems, cold laser works by using two rotating laser beams:
- Blue Laser acts directly and specifically upon the fungus causing changes in its walls which weakens it significantly.
- Red Laser acts on your body’s natural immune cells fortifying them, thus making them more active to destroy the weakened fungus.
- Your body’s immune system is activated to attack and destroy the fungus
Still not sure about laser then read our article on the 5 best nail fungus treatments or jump straight in and find our more about cold laser for fungal infections.
