According to the American Academy of Dermatology, onychomycosis, or fungal infection of nails, affects about 12% of Americans. Some cases are worse than others, causing the nail to grow in an abnormal, painful way. Causes of infections are dermatophyte fungi (tinea unguium), yeasts such as Candida albicans, and non-dermatophyte molds. Factors that may increase the development of fungi include humidity, heat, trauma, diabetes mellitus, and underlying tinea pedis (athlete’s foot).
With toenail fungus treatment, the fungal infection is targeted by the laser and killed. The wavelength of the laser toenail fungus treatment targets only the living fungi and does not harm the surrounding toe area.
The treatments generally take between 30 minutes to 1 hour. The treatment is non-surgical and requires little to no downtime. Since the laser targets the infection in the nail only (not living tissue), the patient should feel little discomfort.
