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What Is Toenail Fungus And How Is It Treated? - Dr. Jacoby (VIDEO)

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More Videos from Dr. Richard Jacoby 30 videos in this series

What Is Toenail Fungus And How Is It Treated?  - Dr. Jacoby (VIDEO)
What Is Toenail Fungus And How Is It Treated? - Dr. Jacoby (VIDEO)
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Dr. Jacoby introduces himself and describes toenail fungus and its treatment.

Dr. Jacoby:
Hi. I am Dr. Richard Jacoby. I am a practicing podiatrist here in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have recently been appointed the President of the Peripheral Nerve Society, which we call the Extremity Nerve Association. I have been in practice over 35 years. My specialty interest is in neuropathy, which is the treatment of nerve-related problems.

Well, toenail fungus is a organism, basically, that invades the base of the toenail, and it invades the nail bed. It’s part of the fungal world, so to speak, and it destroys the nail plate. And there’s a lot of new treatment programs for toenail fungus, most recent of which is laser.

There are several different lasers on the market. The one I use is PathoLase PinPointe™ Laser. It’s kind of unique. It’s non-painful modality. In other words, there’s no pain when we use this. The laser light beam goes through the nail plate and kills the organism, the fungus, that’s underneath the nail plate.

There’s lots of medical treatments as well, but they all have their own issues that we should talk about. The medical treatments are pills for the systemic treatment of the disease itself, most popular of which is Terbinafine which is, the commercial name is Lamisil®. And toenail fungus, although is not a dramatic disease, it is very concerning to a lot of people. So to me, you want to take the safest approach.

Other treatments are topical. Topical medications, there are many, many over-the-counter medications. They are all effective in killing the organism, but they don’t penetrate the nail bed. So in the initial stages, I think it’s good to use over-the-counter medication at least to keep it under control, but if you really want to get rid of the problem, I think the newest technology, which is the laser, is the best technology.

About Dr. Jacoby, D.P.M.:
Dr. Richard Jacoby, D.P.M., graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his residency at Parkview Hospital, Philadelphia, specializing in foot and ankle surgery. Board certified by the American Board of Podiatric Foot and Ankle Surgeons, he is currently president of Valley Foot Surgeons in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition, Dr. Jacoby is chairman of the board of Healthcare Networks of America.

Dr. Jacoby has been named the 2010 President of The Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons.

Visit Dr. Jacoby at Valley Foot Surgeons

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Nail Fungus

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