Without violating any HIPAA rules, but because of
my involvement in the orthotic industry, I know
that there were multiple podiatrists (not myself)
who treated Mr. Seinfeld's condition during the
time his TV show was made in Los Angeles. Each
claimed to successfully treat his conditions at
the time, and each was honest. From what I was
told, Mr. Seinfeld loved his podiatrists and they
loved him. One podiatrist can be seen sitting at
a table in the diner in an episode of his TV show.
It is very nice and gratifying that Mr. Seinfeld
has made a meaningful contribution to the NYCPM,
however it is important to understand and
remember that for the most part we as doctors of
podiatric medicine do not cure chronic heel pain,
however we treat and control heel pain,
irrespective of it's many possible causes.
Whether mechanically related, post-traumatic, or
inflammatory, heel pain for many of our patients
is a serious and debilitating condition that
effects their quality of life and often changes
and restricts activities of daily living. As Mr.
Seinfeld has surely found out, chronic heel pain
treatment options can and do vary, and rarely
includes just one miracle treatment, but rather a
menu of modalities, techniques and sometimes even
a team approach to minimize, control or alleviate
the pain.
I hope that Mr. Seinfeld has "finally achieved a
complete resolution of his problem" with the help
of Dr. D'Amico, however it is highly likely that
although his pain may be gone for now, other
factors that are pre-existing continue to be
addressed by his current doctor, including the
need for proper shoes and proper orthotics.
In addition, his life style at the age of 59
(by the way his birthday is Monday so Happy
Birthday Mr. Seinfeld) may now include less
extended periods of time standing on his feet
than 10 and 20 years ago when he was doing his TV
show and he was much younger.
As podiatrist we see and treat heel pain
patients on a daily basis. It is one of the most
common presenting complaints that brings patients
into our offices who often have tried OTC
products and failed. Those patients who improve
with out treatments send us praises (and many
more patients) when their heel pain resolves.
Those who do not improve usually migrate to the
next doctor, eventually finding one that is
either a better doctor or one who has the luxury
of not trying the failed (appropriate)
treatments already tried by the prior doctor or a
doctor who is also just lucky to get the patient
at the right time. Acute heel pain is much
different than chronic heel pain. Like many other
chronic medical conditions the heel pain patient
should be monitored over time and rechecked
periodically and should never be discharged or
thought of as permanently cured.
Keith Gurnick, DPM, Los Angeles, CA,
keithgrnk@aol.com
