Future Foot Care Today! – Advanced Treatments at The Kansas Foot Center

It feels like a lot of technology is moving at a much higher pace than we have any way to keep up with.

They’re making phones with foldable screens now! That’s great if you want to pull one out of your pocket and fold it out into a tablet, sure. We’re just happy this means it’s less likely to break when we sit on it.

When it comes to foot care, however, we do not joke around about technology. We have several advanced treatments for various foot and ankle conditions that we are proud to provide our patients, and we keep up to date on potential new treatments and whether they show any promise. Podiatrists have a number of tools at their disposal and we’re proud to be on the cutting edge of technology!

What does this mean for our patients? Increased options and an increased range of effectiveness.

Brand New vs. Tried and True

Just because a new development has come along doesn’t mean that we necessarily throw out the old methods of treating a condition.

Most forms of foot and ankle treatment have stuck around so long for the simple fact that they work. A new technology might provide a different means of treatment or provide a faster way of performing a particular part of treatment, but it doesn’t always make the old treatment wholly obsolete.

There are certain situations where a more traditional form of treatment will be preferred over the high-tech version. This may depend on a patient’s medical history or other outlying circumstances that can make the more advanced treatment less effective or simply not recommended. There are few treatments that are the best option for everyone.

We also want to encourage simpler procedures when we can. We won’t recommend a surgery, for instance, if you only need some rest, RICE therapy and physical therapy.

Unfortunately, there is also the issue of cost. Advanced treatments often incur higher costs than more traditional methods, and insurance companies do not always have these treatments included in plans. We will be sure to review your insurance to determine whether advanced options we are considering may be covered.

A Few of Our Advanced Treatment Options

From fungal nail infections to chronic pain, we have tech that may help! We are proud to provide these options at our offices in Wichita and Newton.  

MLS Laser Therapy for Pain

Whether you have foot or ankle pain that is the result of a recent injury or has been lasting for some time, our Multiwave Locked System (MLS) therapy is an option for relief.

It might seem that a laser is an inspired choice for relieving pain as opposed to causing more, but the light we use is not the burning kind. Instead, it is tuned to specific frequencies to move through the skin and into the site of soft tissue damage.

When the light energy from the MLS laser reaches damaged cells, a few things happen:

• The cells are stimulated to pick up their natural repair processes.
• Blood flow to the area is increased, providing a better flow of oxygen and other nutrients the body needs to conduct repairs. New capillaries (the tiniest blood vessels) can even form around the site.
• Increased circulation can also carry excess fluid away from the site of injury.

These effects often translate to accelerated healing, pain relief, and reduced inflammation. The treatment itself is virtually painless, with some patients reporting only a feeling of warmth in the area being treated.

Conditions such as arthritis, heel spur pain, sports injuries, and neuromas have shown positive results with MLS therapy. A full course of treatment takes at least several sessions, each one lasting about 10 minutes. Effects tend to be felt right after the first session and will cumulatively stack as you have more.

MLS therapy is an excellent use of a laser, but it’s not our only one.

Laser Treatment for Fungal Toenails

While our MLS laser is meant to provide relief and recovery, our fungal nail laser is designed to put the hurt on fungus—still without causing you any pain, however.

Laser therapy for fungal nails has one big benefit over more traditional methods of treatment: it can reach the underlying fungus much more easily. Other forms of treatment such as oral medications and topical ointments often have trouble getting to the fungus itself or come with side effects that make them a no-go for certain patients. Laser therapy has no such drawbacks.

Once again, very specific wavelengths of light are used to attack the fungus, eradicating it from within the nail. A session will usually take about 15-30 minutes, depending on the size and number of toes to be treated. More than one session will be needed, but significant results tend to start being seen in as soon as two or three visits.

While laser treatment is an effective option in most cases, keep in mind that it will still take time for clearer, undamaged nails to grow in. This is not something you want to start right before you set off on a beach vacation. Start now!

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT)

ESWT is one of the “older” advanced treatments we have, but still effective in many cases where laser therapy and other treatments might not be ideal.

ESWT stimulates the recovery processes of damaged cells much like MLS. The difference in this case is that the pulses of energy penetrating into tissue are not light, but percussive shock waves.

Shock wave therapy is also generally painless (some describe it as having a rubber band snapped against your skin). However, in cases where we wish to increase the frequency, we may use a numbing gel to help reduce discomfort.

A Multitude of Foot Care Options

Lasers or shock wave are not the only choices when it comes to your foot and ankle care, of course. No matter your condition, we will be sure to provide our best recommendations that fit both your lifestyle and specific needs.

In the end, we want to provide you the best ways to make you feel better! If you have questions or need to schedule an appointment with us, please call (866) 222-5177 or fill out our online contact form.