Santa Monica Podiatry Clinic Patient Testimonials

I knew two years ago when I met Dr. Baravarian he was the surgeon who had the abilities to help me, but I was too afraid to have surgery at that time. Even after two more years passing and my causing even more damage to my foot, my surgery was successful and I finally have the faith I will get my life back. I am very grateful for such a caring and meticulous surgeon. As well as the kindness and helpfulness of the staff I've been working with throughout this process as well.

Had an MRI on Monday 8-20. After several phone calls I was able to get the results. (I think Dr Baravarian was out of town)
I did not receive he MRI report until Thur 8-30. This is way too long.
I have an appt with Dr B. for Thursday Sept 6.

I appreciate the honest feedback on what can be done to treat my condition. The exercise's that were recommended seem to help a bit. But I think I might need to address my condition with another surgery.

I have horrible feet. Bad DNA. My aunt and my mother have both had multiple surgeries. I had hallux rigidis in both feet and neuromas in both feet. I met with surgeons at Cedars, Kerlan Jobe, UCLA, DISC, and other places. Then I asked my primary care physician (with St. John's which has Santa Monica Orthopedic Group / SMOG) who he would pick and he said his daughter is having bunion surgery and he is going to Dr. Baravarian. My brother in law and a high school friend who are both orthopedic surgeons most-agreed with Dr. Baravarian's diagnosis and treatment advice. It is a luxury in LA to have many good surgeons to choose from but I have now had three surgeries with Dr. Baravarian and am 100% happy I chose to go with University Foot and Ankle.Quick rundown: Playing sports means more to me than almost anything. I am in the gym playing basketball, out playing tennis, skiing, running with my dog, or at least lifting weights 6-7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. I'm 6'3" and 200lbs so I am tough on my feet. When I play basketball I play in a game with a number of people who used to play professionally in Europe and the NBA. It is a high level game and it was very important to me that after foot surgery I wasn't just going to be "walking pain free" again but playing at the highest level I could.Neuromas in both feet were handled wonderfully. I was suffering from a lot of irritation. The bottoms of my feet had pockets of fluid where my body was trying to protect myself from the rubbing on the nerve and anything athletic was painful. The feet were swollen slightly afterwards but I basically was walking right away. Over time the feet were a bit sore and it took a little while to heal but after a few months I could not tell the surgeries were ever done. Perfect. In my left foot I had a cheilectomy for the hallux rigidis. 6 years after the surgery it feels great. One day I may need to go to a full fusion here but not yet. The cheilectomy felt easy. It was a while ago but I think I was walking that day. It healed great. In my right foot I had a cheilectomy done knowing that eventually I might have to have a full fusion because that foot was in much worse shape than my left foot. 6 years later I had the fusion done (March of 2018). By the end of June I was playing tennis again, playing basketball, running and squatting in the gym. I can explode off my right foot (my plant foot) and get above the rim in basketball with ZERO felt difference between my toe pre and post-fusion. Actually post-fusion it only feels better because it is pain free (and range of motion is indistinguishable). If I had any regret at all it is that I didn't get both toes fused just because the fusion went SO WELL on the right foot that why not take the risk of ever having to get the left foot cheilectomy redone off the table for the rest of my life? So that is it - I have had numerous surgeries with Dr. Baravarian. He consistently recommended a thoughtful and conservative treatment approach, every single surgery has led to a great outcome I am very happy with, his office is always accommodating if I need to get in for something small like a new pair of orthotics or something more important like seeing Dr. Baravarian about new foot pain. As a surgeon, Dr. Baravarian listened to my athletic goals and customized the plate that fixed my fusion in place. Also Dr. Baravarian listened to my reasonable concerns about wanting to travel for work and not wanting to be in a cast for 3 straight months, switching me to a boot after a reasonable period of time. This let me start walking earlier, didn't atrophy my muscles as much, was able to stay more connected at work and was psychologically relieving. Other surgeons were more conservative about keeping you in a cast forever. I appreciate a surgeon who is willing to listen to the patient and be reasonable and thoughtful based on the individual. 10 stars.

I just got back from playing tennis, my favorite activity and I have Dr. Baravarian to thank!

I have a long back story. I fractured my left ankle in an accident when I was about 30 years old.  I had surgery with insert plates and screws inserted, and had them removed a couple years later.  I healed up fine from that injury, but then, seemingly out of the blue I developed osteoarthritis in my other ankle, my right ankle about 5 years later.   It had never even occurred to me that something like that was possible for a younger person to develop.  Needless to say I was devastated since I had led a very active life playing tennis and enjoying other activities.  

My ankle went downhill fast which kept me off the tennis court and eventually, my previous doctor performed an osteotomy (a surgery to realign the ankle and leg by breaking the bones) because of the arthritic changes developed.  It took a long time to heal, many months on crutches and did help, but I never really did heal up to a place where I could be active again.  Any kind of exercise ended up hurting.  My best bet for exercise was using the arm bike at the Y or swimming without using my legs.    

I was grateful that my previous doctor realigned the leg, but I felt that I was not given any options for managing my condition other than staying off it or fusing the joint.  I was taking pain meds regularly and my range of motion was very limited.  I felt like there was no real hope, but decided to look around and see what other options might be out there.  That is when I came across Dr. Baravarian at University Foot and Ankle Clinic from a google search.  

Dr. Baravarian suggested performing an arthroscopy to increase range of motion and a bone marrow stem cell procedure to aid in healing the joint.  I was intrigued because I had never had those options suggested to me before.  I had some PRP injections previously that did help, but they became very expensive to keep up.  

So Dr. Baravarian performed the arthroscopy, bone marrow stem cell procedure and removed the hardware from my previous surgery.  The surgery went well and I was able to walk again unassisted after a few weeks.  I had a good range of motion and reduced inflammation very soon after!  Dr. Baravarian also gave me a follow up PRP procedure a couple months later.  

To give myself the best chances of improving my condition, I made a commitment to myself to lose as much excess weight as possible and make lifestyle changes.  I eliminated alcohol, sugar and wheat except for special occasions.  I looked into what exercise could be done with minimal impact on my joints.  I found Pilates and The Egoscue Method which have both been extremely extremely helpful.

It has now been 2 years since I had my arthroscopy and bone marrow stem cell procedure from Dr. Baravarian.  Before I met Dr. Baravarian, I felt the chances of regaining my fitness were not very good, but with the surgery he preformed, along with my lifestyle changes, eventually I began to heal and have a life again.  I could actually walk for exercise again!  Then I could ride a bike again!  And just recently I have been able to pick up a tennis racquet again and do some hitting!  I can't thank Dr. Baravarian and UFAI enough for helping me get to a place that is manageable as a patient with osteoarthritis. Now, my range of motion is good.  I am off pain meds and I am able to enjoy moderate exercise.   I would say that my situation improved by at least 75% which is fantastic.  If I experience ankle pain now it is more of a minor annoyance instead of an uncontrollable, debilitating situation.

If you have any foot or ankle issues I would definitely suggest a visit to University Foot and Ankle Institute to see what other options might be available to you.  Dr. Baravarian and his staff are also very caring and supportive.  I highly recommend UFAI!

I have been treated by Dr. Baravarian and the UFAI team for about 6 years. He has used laser therapy to treat my toenail fungus, provided inserts to prevent bunion progression, and treated other foot conditions such as plantar fasciitis. I still go back there for any foot problems and trust his care.