Skills and Expertise | Stanley S. Newell, DPM, PS

Skills and Expertise

Sports Medicine

Dr. Newell can probably be considered one of the grandfathers of Podiatric Sports Medicine. While attending the California College of Podiatric Medicine, he not only completed four years of medical training but also four years of biomechanical training. He studied directly under the pioneers in biomechanics, Dr. Merton Root, Dr.John Weed, and Dr. Thomas Scarlato. He was in the right place at the right time, as this was when the running boom hit and the running public began to experience overuse injuries to the feet, legs, knees, etc. A Biomechanical solution, instead of a surgical solution was a wonderful alternative. He was the medical illustrator for 3 of the early books on sports medicine.

Biomechanics

For 12 years Dr. Newell did research with a high speed camera that went 300 frames a second. By evaluating athletes while walking and running barefoot, with and without Orthotics, with just shoes and then with Orthotics in the shoes, he proved many of his theories about what did and didn’t work in relationship to controlling the foot and leg to correct poor alignment and prevent injury.

Dr. Newell was also the director of the Olympic Orthotic Lab for 25 years. With the use of his own private lab, Dr. Newell experimented extensively in modifying Orthotics and shoes and then used the high speed camera to see if the modifications functioned as hypothesized. This led to a very comprehensive understanding of biomechanics, alignment, Orthotics and shoes. This in turn has led to the very successful treatment of many foot, ankle, knee and back complaints.

The motion of the foot begins a chain reaction which also affects the ankle, knee, and back. All of the bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons should work together in harmony. If thy do not, it leads to disharmony and injury.

Orthotic Therapy

During Dr. Newell’s senior year at the California College of Podiatric Medicine he became the Director of the Orthotic Lab at the college. When he first went into practice, he established his own lab in the office. He worked with a high speed camera, doing gait analysis, evaluating what pathology Orthotics could help and learning what Orthotics wouldn’t help. That knowledge has served him well over the years. He has spent hours experimenting and designing, not only Orthotics but shoes as well.

Children

We believe that treating children and adolescents can be even more rewarding than treating professional athletes. Typically, children don’t complain unless they are really hurting. It is our goal to keep children active and healthy. We understand the importance of a young person participating in their sport by playing each season. We appreciate the fact that when a young person is active and healthy it affects their self esteem, their social life, and their family life along with their sports life.

A number of years ago, we did a retrospective study on 142 children who were diagnosed with “growing pains”. We believe that there is a biomechanical reason for foot, leg, knee, and low back, pain that children experience. We have been very successful in treating these symptoms with a custom Orthotic.

Our interaction with children and their families is one of the joys of our practice .

Video Gait Analysis

A picture is worth a thousand words and so is a video gait analysis.

We live our whole lives and rarely see how our gait looks from the back. The view from the back shows our gait, alignment and structural pathology.

The connection between the forefoot, rear foot, ankle, leg, knee, and back can readily be seen. A patient can gain a good perspective on biomechanics and visually see how poor alignment can cause problems with the foot, arch, heel, Achilles, knee, and back. We can also use the video to evaluate shoes with and without Orthotics.

Backs

Back are becoming the second most frequent foot related problem seen in our office. Our success rate with backs has created a steady stream of patient referrals from physicians and others dealing with back pain.

There are many reasons for back pain and anyone who has back pain should be screened by a physician for arthritis, disk problems, tumors, etc. We have had much success treating low back pain with proper alignment. We believe that chronic low back pain is aggravated by rotation of the pelvis and spine on all three body planes,. This abnormal motion is created when the legs internally rotate forcing the femur into an internal rotation and the pelvis tilting to unload the hips, resulting in the malposition of the spine. This puts the vertebrae in an unhealthy position. By insuring that the foot, knees, and legs are in their proper position, it takes strain off the lower back.

Second Opinions

Second opinion is good medicine and good physicians do not mind getting another opinion on the condition or progress of their patients. It is our practice to recommend second opinion when we feel it is warranted. We also offer second opinion services to patients who would like another evaluation of their condition and progress. Our surgeons’ collective experience is very deep in the area of foot and ankle injury, poor surgical outcomes, primary intervention opinion and difficult case opinion. Please call to establish an appointment specifically for a capable second opinion should you find that you are in need of this service.

Acute Injury/Trauma

YES! We do treat acute injuries. Whether you have stepped on a nail, sprained an ankle, or ruptured your Achilles tendon, we will help get you back on your feet as soon as possible.