Is laser treatment for onychomycosis reliable?

Onychomycosis is a very stubborn disease. Once it occurs, it is very difficult to cure. Many patients will be troubled by this disease. Even with surgical treatment, it will relapse again, which makes people very anxious. In fact, as medicine becomes more and more developed, lasers can also be used for related treatments. This treatment method is very effective and can also control the number of recurrences.

1. Surgical nail removal

Suitable for single nails. Under local anesthesia, the affected nail is removed. This method causes large wounds, bleeding, and is prone to infection. The operation generally causes more pain and is prone to recurrence of infection, so it is rarely used in clinical practice. Patients with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. are not suitable for surgical treatment.

2. Oral medication

Suitable for multiple nails. For example, take 250 mg of terbinafine tablets orally daily for 6 to 12 weeks; take itraconazole 400 mg/day for 7 days and rest for 21 days as a course of treatment, and continue for 3 to 6 courses; take fluconazole 150 mg 1 to 2 times a week for more than 4 months. It can cure more than 80% of onychomycosis and onychomycosis. However, because this type of drug must reach the deck where the fungus is parasitic to exert its antibacterial effect, the dosage is large and the medication time is long, adverse drug reactions should be monitored regularly.

3. Topical therapy

Depending on the different drugs, the main methods include local application of drugs and sealing and cutting.

(1) Use a nail file (non-professionals should not use a razor blade to avoid bleeding and infection) to thin out irregular nails. The best time to do this is once every two days.

(2) Apply 30% glacial acetic acid or 10% glacial acetic acid to the affected nails once a day for more than 3 to 6 months. The effect will be better if the diseased nail is thinned before applying the medicine. Before applying nail polish, be sure to protect the skin around the nails with a mild ointment;

(3) Antifungal topical medications such as terbinafine tincture, amorolfine nail liniment, and ciclopirox nail liniment should be applied topically.

In short, you need to be persistent in treating onychomycosis. At the same time, you should actively treat ringworm and chronic systemic diseases in other parts of the body, improve your own resistance, and pay equal attention to prevention and treatment. Only in this way can you completely cure onychomycosis.

Onychomycosis is one of the most stubborn and difficult to treat dermatophytes. You can take oral or topical medications, or have your nail removed surgically. Fingernails and toenails grow at different rates. It takes 100 days for a fingernail to completely replace a new nail, while it takes about 300 days for a toenail, so you must be patient when treating onychomycosis.