Abstract
Patients with a variety of nail disorders were treated with diode low reactive-level laser therapy (LLLT). Three representative cases are presented. Case 1 was a 28-year-old Japanese female with idiopathic twenty nail dystrophy. She was treated over one year with 79 days of LLLT. After LLLT, the rough nail surface on all the fingers improved remarkably. Case 2 was a 53-year-old Japanese female with green nails. She was treated over four months with 22 days of LLLT. The greenish color of the nail plates completely disappeared following LLLT. Case 3 was a 51-year-old Japanese male with longitudinal ridges, distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint arthritis and non-allergic drug eruptions. He was treated over about nineteen months with 94 LLLT sessions. After treatment with LLLT, the nail plate with longitudinal ridges became firm and longitudinal ridges slightly improved but his DIP arthritis improved remarkably. In all three representative cases, conventional treatments had failed to resolve the problems, which all responded well to LLLT. To date, a total of 22 patients with a variety of nail disorders have been successfully treated with GaAlAs diode LLLT. It is suggested that 830 nm GaAlAs diode LLLT should thus be added to the armamentarium of dermatologists and other appropriate specialists who see abnormal pathologies of the nails and associated conditions in the course of their practice.
