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 Things happen fast in medicine so whatever you read could well be outdated, especially if it was written many years ago.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


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ACORN September 1993

Back To School Time For Feet

By: Michael Zapf, DPM, MPH, FACFAOM

This September marks both the beginnings of both school and "health care reform." Since my thoughts on reform couldn't possibly be limited to just one column I will spend my time musing about the former. Suffice it to say that I wish President Clinton the best of luck in reform. Great ideas can often result in unworkable programs after they are dissected and reassembled by the legislature. I am sure that when it was first proposed, the Medi-Cal program seemed like a great idea. Now the overwhelming paperwork, lack of coverage for needed tests and procedures and unrealistically low fees make it a program most doctors want to avoid. I pray that this new program is successful. Now to the kids.

I see many high school age patients. Almost 90 per cent of the time they come to my office with three problems: ingrown nails, plantar warts and overuse injuries.

Ingrown nails come in two varieties: acute and chronic. Adults get the chronic kind where the toe looks, at worst, a little red. A chronic nail hurts with pressure of a show on the side of the toe. A sure sign of a chronic ingrown nail is the "sheet test." This is a name I coined to describe a condition where a toe hurts in bed with just the pressure of a bed sheet. A chronic ingrown nail can hurt just a little for years at a time but it never gets red, swollen and infected like an acute ingrown nail. A chronic ingrown nail needs treatment when you either are tired of the pain or when it "passes the sheet test."

For some unknown reason, teenagers usually have an acute ingrown nail for quite sometime before they bring it to their parents attention. By then they have tried a variety of "bathroom surgery" techniques to cure their problem. Sometimes parents notice the evidence on an acute ingrown nail on the child's socks at laundry time. In any event, an acute ingrown nail can be infected and almost always needs professional treatment.

In the office an acute ingrown nail is quickly and nearly painlessly treated. After anesthesia of the toe, the edge of the nail is delicately trimmed away and the toe is allowed to heal. Regular activities can begin immediately in most cases including, to the dismay of many kids, P.E.

Plantar warts are caused by a virus that gets into the crack in the skin and invades a deep layer of the skin. It reproduces in a skin cell. When the cell bursts the virus invades surrounding cells. This continues until there is a little lump on the bottom of the foot. If the wart is on a weight bearing surface it can cause a stinging, burning pain.

Treating a wart is easy. Getting it to go away and stay away is the hard part. Plantar warts can be very resistant and are prone to recur. In my office I, like most doctors, use more than one treatment method to treat warts. They vary from removing the wart on the first visit to using topical acids that take several to many weeks to eliminate the wart. I base the treatment I use on the number and location of the warts, the pain tolerance of the patient and the activities in which the child is involved. The main ingredient in treating warts is patients.

Over use injuries happen when too much stress is placed on the body in too short a time. This is common during the first weeks of practice in a sport or activity the child has not played either ever of for a long time. Muscles, tendons and even bones can fail when placed under this stress. The key to over use injuries is prevention. Activity levels should be increased no more than 10 per cent a week. If a sport begins with a "hell week" where the coaches demand 100 per cent from day one, then preparation for this sport needs to begin weeks earlier. Without that preparation injuries are sure to follow.

 

Dr. Michael Zapf is a podiatrist in private practice in Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks. He specializes in the foot care of adults and children. For more information, please call his office at (818) 707-3668.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

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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