Skin & Nail Conditions

Ingrown Toenails

When one corner or edge of a toenail starts to dig into the soft surrounding skin, significant pain frequently follows. (Bad infections do, too, and that’s especially worrisome if you have diabetes or are immunocompromised.)

Mild ingrown toenails can sometimes be managed at home, but we always recommend you bypass the hassle and discomfort entirely and make an appointment with our office. It only takes a quick, simple, same-day procedure for us to numb the toe, trim out the ingrown part of the nail, and—if you wish—destroy the corresponding portion of the nail bed for permanent relief.

Most people can return to school and work right away, and full recovery only takes about a week. (The pain relief, however, is immediate.)

Fungal Toenails

Fungal toenails can be an extremely frustrating problem. Number one, the sight of thickened, yellowish or grayish, and even warped or damaged nails is highly distressing to most people who have them. And number two, they are extremely difficult to treat successfully.

… at least, that second part used to be true. But with our advanced combination therapy using laser treatment, it’s now become much faster, safer, easier, and more convenient to treat fungal nails. The laser is painless and thoroughly kills the fungi (without damaging healthy tissue) in just three to four 30-minute sessions. We combine this with more conventional debridement and topical medications to maximize effectiveness.

Plantar Warts

Foot warts are another frustrating obstacle to deal with for many patients, especially if they’re located in a spot where either pressure or friction can lead to pain. They can easily spread and multiply across other parts of the foot (or even to the hands), increasing your frustration and embarrassment. And because they only infect the outermost layers of skin, your immune system typically ignores them. An untreated wart can remain on your foot for years.

Traditional wart treatments like laser, cryotherapy, salicylic acid, or surgical excision have plenty of downsides too. All of them can damage healthy skin, and many often require several follow-up appointments to finally do the trick. And the risk of return of the wart is rather high.

Not so with Swift Microwave Therapy—a revolutionary wart treatment that we’re proud to be one of the first clinics in Michigan to offer. Swift works by heating up water molecules in the skin, “activating” an immune system response and directing it to the exact location of your wart. Your body can then build an immunity to the specific viral strain that caused the wart and flush it out of your system naturally.

The application of this therapy takes 5 pulses that literally last only 2 seconds each, with no damage to healthy tissue and no downtime after the procedure. Most people need 3 -4 treatments spaced 1 month apart. Children often need even less treatments.

Athlete’s Foot

Athlete’s foot is an uncomfortable, scaly, itchy red rash that forms on the skin of your feet, most often along the bottom and side of the foot or between the toes.

Most of us have had it at least once or twice in our lives. But did you know that it’s caused by the same types of fungi that also cause ringworm, jock itch, and fungal toenails? And that it can easily spread to

those other areas? (Or to others?) That’s one more reason you should always take athlete’s foot seriously and treat it as soon as you can.

Most cases of athlete’s foot do not respond well to over-the-counter topical antifungal creams and sprays because they aren’t strong enough to kill the fungus.  We have fungicidal (they kill!)products at the office and provide the guidance how to rid yourself and your home of this tenacious infection.

Corns & Calluses

These related conditions are what happens when your skin tries to protect itself from a source of either extreme or repetitive pressure and friction. Calluses are wide, flat areas of hardened skin that typically build up in weight-bearing spots, while corns are simply cone-shaped calluses, and are more likely to be painful, and more likely to show up in places like the toes (including between the toes).

The best way to deal with corns and calluses over the long term is to identify the source of pressure or friction that caused them in the first place, then eliminate it. Often that means a better pair of shoes and even orthotics to help alleviate pressures.

However, corns or calluses that won’t go away or are causing discomfort should get checked out. We can help you thin and manage them in a safe environment, and show you how to keep them from coming back.