Laser Therapy Obliterates Toenail Fungus

Treatment brings 80% success rate when combined with topical ointments.

Shortly after blowing out the candles on the cake during her 16th birthday celebration, Christine* was handed a map of Florida. A bit befuddled, she was asked by her parents to point to the place she wanted to visit for a vacation that year.

“I thought about Miami for a second, but for some reason I put my finger on Sarasota,” the British teen remembers. “It was a life-changing decision, because I fell in love with the area and decided soon after to move there.”

At age 18, Christine left her suburban London home and headed overseas to attend college in Sarasota. She later met her husband while spending a day at the beach on nearby Siesta Key.

“The beach is what I love most about this area,” says Christine, now 58. “I love digging my toes in the sand and being near the water. For a while, however, I was digging my toes in the sand because I didn’t want anyone to see them.”

What Christine was hiding was a bad case of toenail fungus. It invaded her left big toe about two years ago, then spread to the other toes on her left foot before attacking her right big toe.

Embarrassed, Christine eventually went in search of a solution. She found one at Sarasota Foot and Ankle Center, where Dawn Chiu, DPM, AACFAS, has adopted PinPointe™ FootLaser® therapy as her “weapon of choice” in the battle against toenail fungus.

PinPointe FootLaser therapy is a quick, easy, painless in-office treatment that effectively kills the underlying fungus without side effects and does not require a blood test beforehand.

“It lasts only a few minutes, and during that time the laser is passed over the nail in a crisscross pattern to ensure full coverage,” Dr. Chiu explains. “Patients usually feel a warmth on their toe during the treatment, but there is no pain.”

Afterward, patients can return to normal activities immediately. When combined with topical ointments, the laser therapy has an 80 percent success rate, according to Dr. Chiu, who counts Christine among her successes.

“I first went to see Dr. Chiu thinking she’d have some kind of super-powered ointment to give me for my toes, but then she mentioned the laser treatment and I thought, Well, that should knock it out,” Christine remembers.

“I told her, Let’s do it, and I’m really glad I did. She started the treatment that day and I went back to her once every three months for almost a year, and after a couple months, my toenails started growing back naturally, looking the way they should.

“It’s been about a year now since I first went to Dr. Chiu, and my toenails look great. It’s like I never had a problem at all, so the treatment worked wonderfully, and it was completely painless. I recommend it and Dr. Chiu to anyone with toenail fungus.”

© FHCN article by Roy Cummings. Before and after images courtesy of Sarasota Foot and Ankle Center. mkb
*Patient’s name changed at her request.

About Roy Cummings

Roy Cummings is a native of Chicago, Illinois who grew up in the suburb of Lombard. He and his family later moved to Lakeland, Florida, where Roy attended high school at Kathleen High. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications in 1983 and immediately went to work for the Tampa Tribune. After five years working in a Polk County bureau covering everything from high school sports to college football to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, Roy moved back to Tampa and became the Tribune's first beat writer for the Tampa Bay Lightning, covering the team from its inception through the first eight years on the ice. He was then moved to the Buccaneers beat, where he stayed until the paper was folded in May, 2016. A two-time Florida Sports Writer of the Year, Roy has extensive experience covering all Tampa professional sports teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays.

 
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