Health insurance does not cover the laser treatment of fingernail and toenail fungus. For people who have a Medical IRA or HSA (Health Flex Savings Account) funds from these type of accounts can usually be used for the laser treatment of fungal nails. Most doctors offer financing options as well.
It isn’t 100% guaranteed to work? Realistically, no legitimate doctor can guarantee 100% success with any procedure that deals with a contagious condition. The reason is that the laser treatment kills the infection that is present, but if people are not careful they can re-infect themselves. Clinical studies on the laser treatment show success rates between 70%-88%, which is still higher than other treatment options on the market including oral medications and topical. Clinical studies also show less side effects compared with oral medications.
Other things to keep in mind, when sorting through pages of reviews of laser toenail fungus treatments, many laser nail patients seem to forget that toenail fungus is contagious and in order for any treatment to be what most people would consider successful, they need to avoid re-infection. This means people who want they nail fungus to go away would need to throw out or sterilize their shoes. Also, be careful to avoid walking barefoot through public locker rooms, showers, hotel carpets and anywhere else fungal spores like to live.
A good analogy I heard was “if a dentist uses a laser to treat a mouth infection (gum disease) and then the patient goes home and doesn’t brush their teeth regularly, floss and continues to eat sugary food, will the mouth infection come back? Will the laser treatment be a success?” Common sense people…. Talk to your doctor about preventative care.
It is expensive? The laser treatment of fingernail and toenail fungus infections costs are around $500 – $1200 on average, this is similar to price to the oral medication if you don’t have insurance coverage for it, which many insurance companies no longer cover. Blood work for liver enzyme tests are also needed for most patients before doctors will prescribe oral anti-fungal medications as well.
The laser nail fungus treatment is still very new? Laser nail fungus treatments have been available for almost three years now; tens of thousands of Americans have been treated using lasers for fungal nails, so it isn’t that new.
