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 Things happen fast in medicine so whatever you read could well be outdated, especially if it was written many years ago.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

 

 

 

 

ACORN July 1995

The Un-Happy Camper

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

Somewhere in the Sierras there is an 13 year old with a needlessly sore toe. His name is Steve and his mother, Ann, is a personal friend of my wife. He had been backpacking for five days with his father and returned home last Thursday. He left for a week at camp the following Sunday. During his backpacking trip he developed a severe ingrown nail. From the reports his mother received before he returned home on Friday, his big toe was red, swollen and very painful. He wanted to have his toe fixed before he left for camp on Sunday. This meant he and his mother had to work fast.

I told his mother on Thursday night that it sounds like one of the hundreds of ingrown nails I see in teenagers every year. It is not so much an infection as the body’s reaction to an invading nail. The problem starts when the edge of the nail cuts into the toe. The body sees the ingrown nail as a "foreign invader" and tries to get rid of it. The body mounts an attack with white blood cells (pus), red blood cells and various fluids. The net result is a toe that is red, swollen and painful - all this without the benefit of an infection.

For the most part an "infected ingrown nail" is not infected. True, bacteria in the neighborhood can take advantage of this compromised situation. They can sometimes turn an ingrown nail into an infection, but he real damage is the ingrowing nail. Until the nail border is removed, the situation does not resolve. I explained that the use of topical antibiotics, or even oral antibiotics, only treats the infection part which is secondary in importance. They do nothing about the ingrown nail itself. I explained to Steve’s mom that removing the edge of the nail resolves the situation almost overnight. I also explained that podiatrists have developed techniques to accomplish this quickly and as painlessly as possible. Using special techniques we numb the toe to sleep right in the office. With special instruments we remove just the thin border of the nail - just the part that is under the skin. The next day only a Band-Aid is needed for the toe. For most acute cases this is all that is needed. If the problem is chronic, we can modify the technique to make sure the problem never happens again.

Ann was very excited to learn all this and looked forward to having me see Steve on Friday. The only thing standing between her son’s toe and a happy experience at camp was a referral from Steve’s primary doctor. Ann made an appointment with Steve’s doctor for Friday morning and I was set to see him in the afternoon. Last Friday came and went without Steve or Ann showing up at my office.

Ann told me on the following Monday that the primary care doctor refused to grant a referral for Steve’s care. "Not cost effective. We need to see if he responds to a topical antibiotic first", he said. With that, and despite her protests, he gave Ann a prescription for a very fine topical antibiotic and will see Steve when he gets back from his camping trip. He can bet on it.

As I write this, it is a Tuesday. Ann has already heard from Steve that his toe is "killing him" and he is staying close to his cabin. Fixing Steve’s toe would have been quite easy had we been given the chance. Steve is only thirteen but he is already learning of the down side of health reform - the hard way. In this case Managed Care is making one very unhappy camper.

Dr. Michael Zapf is a board certified podiatrist with offices in Agoura and Thousand Oaks. For more information, or his brochure on ingrown nails, you can 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