Any ST’ers able to recommend a great sports podiatrist in or near Orange County? I’m in San Clemente.
Thanks in advance…
call this husband and wife combo–. David Bartis DPM *Rebecca Bartis *Norwalk, CA 90650 (562) 651-1050. They are excellent. Its what you want in a podiatrist-- runners and triathletes. Not some fat man with a pack of camels in his white coat who will tell you to stop all activity.
In college, they used to send us to Dr Doug Richie in Seal Beach. He’s used to working with elite (professional/Olympic) athletes.
http://www.sealbeachpodiatry.com/index.html
Jay - didn’t know Doug Richie was near you. I know him and would recommend.
Jay, Doug Richie is popular up here lots of people use him…kinda far from SC. Anyway what’s up?
Thanks Rod. He’s about an hour away. I’ve done some research on him too. Maybe I’ll give him a try. Again, much-appreciated.
Jay,
I know it’s far for you, but I’ll second the recommendation for Dr. Richie. I live in north OC and he helped me with different foot issues during training for IM’s in 2000 and 2007.
Hi,
Just as a question: why would you choose a podiatrist over an orthopedic doctor?
I’m not in the medical field, nor are my feet hurt at this time. I’ve been to podiatrists and I’ve been to orthopedic specialists. My experience is that the resolution for my issue was much better with the orthopedic doctor.
Mark
Really never thought of it. I just figured I have a problem with my foot, go to a guy who specializes in feet- a podiatrist. You’re saying this is flawed thinking? I really have no idea!
Hi,
Not flawed thinking. Podiatrists go to a completely different school than medical doctors. In looking at the internet’s sole source authority,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podiatrist, it shows that the schooling/education/residency are similar. I would PM the MD that posts a lot on the site (John?). I’ve seen his posts about knees.
Personally, I have been to both. My experience is that podiatrists are very good for basic foot concerns (I don’t have experience with advanced concerns). When I had an injury to my feet, ankle and achilles, I went to an orthopedic doctor and I had great results.
If you google Seinfeld and podiatrists, you’ll see some comedy gold!
I used to live in Los Angeles and I know there are many Very qualified podiatrists and orthopedic doctors. Possibly one difference is that orthopedists have easier access to MRIs than the typical podiatrists office.
I respect podiatrists. I have had great success with orthopedic doctors for complex issues of the foot and ankle.
(I’m very concerned about offending the ST PC police. I don’t want to seem that I’m saying that podiatrists are a lesser form of doctor. They do come from a different training perspective than an orthopedic doctor).
Good luck!
Mark
Well, there’s a great orthopaedic surgeon named Edward Bestard here in San Clemente that I saw years ago when I broke my collarbone. Wonder if he’s someone I should be seeking out…
Anyone else care to weigh in on whether you should see a podiatrist or ortho for foot problems?
I saw a podiatrist several years ago when I had foot/ankle/achilles issues. He set me up with orthotics. Been running fairly pain free ever since. However, I have also lost weight and shortened my stride.
Someone once told me that an Ortho’s first inclination is to operate to fix things vs recommend therapy. Any truth to this?
Another thread also talked about the foot/ankle/leg/arse relationship and that pain in one area can be caused by another. Because of this - is it better to see an Ortho?
The orthopedist I saw said that surgery is always the last option and that once surgery is done on an area, it’s never as good as it was when it was healthy. He told me that I may never run again. As a tri-guy, that got my attention. I did the plan that he recommended and it worked.
Johnpostmd is the ST doctor that has posted about medical issues. I’ll pm him to see if he has an opinion.
Thanks,
Mark
Mark - I appreciate you looking for my thoughts. I saw the thread and initially thought best to leave it alone. In my town, there’s significant competition between those two groups and a good bit of angst on occasion. A who is capable of doing what sort of thing. Here’s my take: I use both professionally and personally as Kevin is my Podiatrist and Mark is my Ortho foot and ankle guy. For the more routine stuff - broken toe at Eagleman, PF, avulsed toe nail, and the like I go to Kevin. But, for the weird stuff I go to Mark. I like them both and respect them both. I’m sure others may have a different bias and this is mine.
John
Thanks again for the tips everyone. Right now, the pain in the metatarsal seems to be decreasing (don’t want to jinx it!), so I may give it another week and then make a decision.