Welcome to the personal website of

Dr. Michael A. Zapf, DPM, MPH, FACFAS, FACFAOM

Thank you for visiting the web site of Dr. Michael Zapf. He is a member of the Agoura-Los Robles Podiatry Centers

The "real" practice web site, the one that contains registration forms, doctor information for all the office and directions to the office is located at:

www.conejofeet.com   ç Click here

I am Dr. Michael Zapf. I have been offering a full range of podiatric medical services, from ingrown nails to heel pain and foot surgery, to my friends and neighbors in the Las Virgenes, Conejo and Simi Valleys since 1985. This is my personal web site. It has been up since 1990 and has received more than 2 million visits. The entire site is my responsibility only and nearly everything on the site was written by me. You are welcome to peruse this site and learn what you can about me, your feet and the problems your feet can develop. Things happen fast in medicine so whatever you read could well be outdated, especially if it was written many years ago. On this site you will read historic articles that I wrote for a lay audience as long as 25 years ago, so please do not take anything on this site as definitive or as applying directly to your condition. You may wonder why I have my own site even though there is also an official practice site. Well, my partners are of a younger generation raised on tweets, e-mails and iPhones. They want a professional site that they believe better represents the professional nature of our practice. They also believe that people no longer take the time to read anything of length. I, on the other foot, think there is still a world out there full of people who still read lengthy descriptions of problems and solutions. if you are one of those old fashioned readers, then this site if for you. Let me know what you think. Let me know you are out there.

Please note that all information and photographs on this site are copyrighted by me, Michael Zapf, DPM, and cannot be used for any private or commercial purposes. I work with two other podiatrists in my practice who may or may not share any of my ideas and philosophy. Do not expect them to practice the way I do or even believe in any of the speculation I present here. If you appreciate what I have written and want me to be your treating doctor, you will have to ask for me specifically. Even if my office says at first, " He is booked until next month",  I still want to see you as long as you are a little flexible with your schedule. If your visit is an emergency, I know that  you will be happy with either of my associates, Dr. Darren Payne or Dr. Steve Benson. They are exceedingly well trained and capable in any foot emergency.

 

Michael Zapf, DPM, MPH, FACFAS, FACFAOM     (If you want to know what all those initials mean, click here   è  

Our office phone number is (818) 707-3668 and my e-mail address is zfootdoc [at] doctor [dot] com

Agoura Hills Office: 28240 Agoura Road, Suite 101, Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Thousand Oaks Office: 555 Marin Street, Suite 290, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

For the address, hours and registration forms please see the practice web site: www.conejofeet.com


07/24/2010HomeNews+FAQShock Wave

 

To Order Foot Supplies è ç click

For Information about Laser Treatment for Fungal Nails Click hereè
 

For information about Shockwave Therapy for heel pain          click here è

Exciting news!!! New Thousand Oaks Location  è

 

 

 

New Surgery for Heel Pain

By: Michael Zapf, D.P.M., M.P.H., F.A.C.F.A.S., F.A.C.F.O.

                                                         

An actual letter:

Dear Dr. Zapf,

I cannot believe how my right foot feels now. After my fall I started to feel a terrible pain in my right heel area. This fall was in 1996 and I have had to live with this everyday until Dr. Zapf operated on it [with the in-office plantar fasciotomy October 2000]. I now can walk without pain in my right foot. This operation consisted of a small incision to the right heel area and I was able to walk within days.

I would recommend Dr. Zapf to anyone who needs this kind of foot surgery.

I cannot believe it! It's so great now.

                                                                                Diane S. Camarillo, CA

 

Another letter:

I don't know why you wouldn't tell everybody to just have the surgery instead of "dinking" around with all those shots and orthotics. I had the surgery 2 years ago and I have not had any pain since. It was like you went in and took out the pain away. I wanted to smack you ;-) for not doing the other one. You said to wait the other one out and the pain did go away. It was just a little hole in the foot - almost no hole at all. The worst part was hearing the ligament being cut. If anyone ever questions me about  it I would tell them not to put it off for any reason. I was able to go back to work (as a supermarket checker) in just 2 weeks. I could have gone back sooner but Dr. Zapf suggested 2 weeks.

                                                                                    Deanna, Thousand Oaks, 

Q. What are they talking about?

A. The in-office plantar fasciotomy surgery. It takes just a few minutes and is done with just a local injection of anesthetic. Below is a copy of my office brochure on the procedure:

From The Doctor's Desk

It is a rare person who has heel pain that I cannot control without surgery: less than 3 in a hundred would be my guess.

Almost half of the patients I see for heel pain are better with orthotic therapy alone. The rest need a combination of injections of cortisone, oral anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy and some times a night splint.

Only when these methods fail is heel surgery warranted.

The new method that I introduced into the Conejo Valley is every bit as effective as traditional methods. Its advantage over the new Endoscopic Plantar Fasciotomy techniques is the ease of performance, quicker recovery for the patient and it saves money because it is done right in the office.

                                                                Dr. Michael Zapf

 

One Patient’s Words

...nothing helped my heel pain until I had the surgery. Recovery was very quick. I was very surprised at how quick the recovery time was. Within a couple of months I could walk without pain. I had not been painless in years. That surgery was definitely the best decision I made.

R. L .Westlake Village

 

 

Mickey came back. Actually his name was not Mickey, but he always wore a shirt emblazoned with a picture of the world’s most famous rodent. He seemed to have an endless supply of such shirts. For the purposes of this column it seems like an appropriate name. Mickey said he wanted the same micro surgery for his left heel that worked so well for his right one a year before.

I first saw Mickey in the office two years ago. He complained of pain in his right heel especially during the first few steps in the morning or after periods of non-weight bearing. As a podiatrist I see many such patients. Fortunately almost everyone responds to conservative treatment. Not Mickey. I tried strapping his foot with tape; I made orthotics for his shoes; I injected the heels with cortisone on a number of occasions; and I even tried a cast and a night splint but his pain persisted. After six months of trying everything I could think of, Mickey became a surgical candidate. This happens in fewer than 5% of heel pain patients.

Heel pain is caused by a tight pull of a ligament that extends from the toes, across the bottom of the foot to the heel. When the foot lands on the ground, it elongates. The elongation results in a tight pull of the ligament on the heel bone. The ligament is called the plantar fascia and its inflammation is known as plantar fasciitis.

Surgery for heel pain used to be inconvenient and expensive. Heel surgery was usually done in the hospital or surgery center and usually involved anesthesia. A three inch incision was made on the side of the heel. Through this incision the plantar fascia was cut or removed. If a heel spur was present, it was removed at the same time. Recovery was best done in a non-weight bearing cast for a few weeks. It was not unusual for the total cost to exceed $5,000 not including lost income or schooling. That is no longer the case.

I performed Mickey’s heel surgery in the office using just local anesthesia. It took less than a half hour. I made a tiny incision on the bottom of the heel. Through this incision I used a tiny scalpel blade to nick the plantar fascia. It required just one stitch and Mickey left the office wearing the same pair of tennis shoes he walked in with. No cast, no crutches, no anesthesia and little discomfort. He required only four pain pills and was back to work within a week. And the total cost was under $1000. His heel pain was gone immediately and has not returned.

I call my procedure non-endoscopic plantar fasciotomy (NEPF). This is opposed to one you will begin to see advertised called endoscopic plantar fasciotomy (EPF). A group in Texas has found a way to use instruments normally used by hand surgeons to look inside the foot with a camera. Under video control they use a knife and cut the plantar fascia. Use of this high tech instrumentation is being marketed as the newest answer to heel pain. Doctors that take the very expensive training course seem to be performing many, many EPF procedures. Be aware that just because your doctor has a new tool, doesn’t mean there are that many more people who need the treatment. And high tech instrumentation does not come cheap. The average costs for EPF are expected to be well above $5000. This is progress? Mickey had the exact same surgical result for less than one fifth of the cost.

Mickey had his second surgery two weeks ago and is experiencing the same excellent progress. He said he went grocery shopping three days after the procedure. You might have seen him. He was that happy guy over by the cheese counter.

 

Dr. Zapf’s heel surgery technique is performed in the office using just local anesthesia. It takes less than a half hour using a tiny incision on the bottom of the heel. Patients leave the office walking in their regular shoes.

Beware of advertisements for “Endoscopic Plantar Fasciotomy”. This is an expensive way to perform the same procedure Dr. Zapf does in the office at a fraction of the cost.

   

 

 

 

 

 

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Copyright © 2000 Michael A. Zapf, D.P.M., F.A.C.F.A.S., F.A.C.F.AOA.M.
Last modified: July 24, 2010