New technology helping patients with foot pain

Lewandowski has introduced a new laser treatment recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Erchonia FX 635 is a non-thermal laser treatment for conditions such as fibromyalgia and the chronic heel pain known as plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis affects nearly 1 million people annually in the United States. Chronic plantar fasciitis develops in about 10 percent of patients.

The FX 635 can reduce inflammation and eliminate pain in the plantar fascia in a matter of weeks, according to its manufacturers. The low-level laser technology promotes cellular regeneration through painless bio-stimulation.

Lewandowski said cells respond to the wavelength of the laser, which reduces inflammation, helps eliminate pain, increases local blood flow and promotes beneficial enzymatic reactions.

It’s a non-invasive solution to improve patients’ walking comfort.

“We were getting excellent results with heel pain and other problems,” Lewandowski said. “I have developed a treatment regimen, along with the laser, and we are getting excellent results with neuropathy.”

Neuropathy occurs when peripheral nerves become damaged or disrupted. Neuropathy affects about 2.4 percent of the general population and about 8 percent of people over age 55.

Lewandowski said he learned about the FX 635 at an International Foot and Ankle Society meeting in September.

“I spoke with some colleagues in my industry who have been using it, and I trusted their word, and they were right,” he said. “I feel we are offering people some true metabolic healing instead of putting them on a bunch of anti-inflammatory medications, which can be harmful to us.”

Lewandowski said he began using the new technology at the end of October.

“Neuropathy is a difficult problem to treat,” he said. “Sometimes there is no relief. … I’m very excited with the results we are seeing. The patients are very happy.”

Lewandowski said neuropathy has “potentially hundreds of different causes.”

“It is very difficult for a physician to pinpoint that,” he said. “Thankfully, we are getting results from what I’m doing in a lot of cases.”

Lewandowski said his patients have been “very open” to the new technology.

“I think it is what brings them in,” he said. “They are looking for solutions, and I’m trying to offer some true metabolic healing instead of just a bunch of medications.

“It’s indicated for heel pain, but there are probably 30 different uses for it,” Lewandowski said. “We use it for tendinitis, neuropathy and even fibromyalgia. We are offering a unique approach, especially neuropathy and for chronic heel pain and other painful things that can happen to people’s feet.”

Lewandowski is a Grand Island native and has operated the clinic since 1993. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and earned his doctor of podiatric medicine from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Monies, Iowa.

Dr. James E. Lewandowski, podiatrist and owner of the Mid-Nebraska Foot Clinic, makes an adjustment to the Erchonia 635 non-thermal laser treatment a patient receives for neuropathy at the clinic on West Division Street. The Erchonia FX 635 is a non-thermal laser treatment for conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic heel pain known as plantar fasciitis.

Mid-Nebraska Foot Clinic:
Location: 820 W. Division St., Grand Island
Phone: (308) 381-7262
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays (closed from noon to 1 p.m.)
Website: www.midnebraskafootclinic.com

Article Originally Published by The Independent