Pick a Ponseti Doctor
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"How do we pick a (Ponseti) doctor?" is one of the very
first questions a new parent will have after having heard
the news that their child has, or will be born with,
clubfoot.
So how do you pick a Ponseti doctor? The same way
you would pick a home to buy, a car to drive, a school
to attend, a vacation package, or if you're like me, a loaf
of bread to eat.... Research, research, research. And
don't panic - you have time!
Take your time. There is no huge rush to pick a
Ponseti doctor immediately after the birth of your
child. If you find out about the clubfoot diagnosis
via ultrasound, then you have time during your
pregnancy to learn, interview and decide ahead of time.
However, if you do not discover the clubfoot condition
until the actual birth, you still don't have to panic.
You have two to four weeks - and often as long as two
months - to find a doctor whom you trust and believe
will follow the Ponseti Method to a T. I'm sure that
surprises many of you - mainstream doctors will say
casting must begin with in the first few days of life, but
that is not true.
Bad / Improper Casting will do more harm than no
casting whatsoever during those first days, weeks
or months of an infant's life. Read Serial Casting.
So take your time - enjoy the child, cuddle the baby,
tickle those little curled up feet and love them just the
way the are until you find a Ponseti doctor you can
completely trust to correct them painlessly and perfectly.
Often, the specialist chosen to treat your child's clubfoot
condition is chosen by default - meaning that the
physician attending your child's birth will refer the child
to a resident ortho at the same hospital and thus
treatment is likely to begin before you ever take the
baby home (bad idea).
Also, it may be the child's pediatrician who refers you to
an orthopaedic specialist.
It may be that another parent, family member or friend
recommends a certain doctor.
Whatever the case, chances are you will take your child
to see the "Specialist", you will trust that specialist, and
you will agree to and follow his/her treatment plan with
out question.
Big Mistake.
first questions a new parent will have after having heard
the news that their child has, or will be born with,
clubfoot.
So how do you pick a Ponseti doctor? The same way
you would pick a home to buy, a car to drive, a school
to attend, a vacation package, or if you're like me, a loaf
of bread to eat.... Research, research, research. And
don't panic - you have time!
Take your time. There is no huge rush to pick a
Ponseti doctor immediately after the birth of your
child. If you find out about the clubfoot diagnosis
via ultrasound, then you have time during your
pregnancy to learn, interview and decide ahead of time.
However, if you do not discover the clubfoot condition
until the actual birth, you still don't have to panic.
You have two to four weeks - and often as long as two
months - to find a doctor whom you trust and believe
will follow the Ponseti Method to a T. I'm sure that
surprises many of you - mainstream doctors will say
casting must begin with in the first few days of life, but
that is not true.
Bad / Improper Casting will do more harm than no
casting whatsoever during those first days, weeks
or months of an infant's life. Read Serial Casting.
So take your time - enjoy the child, cuddle the baby,
tickle those little curled up feet and love them just the
way the are until you find a Ponseti doctor you can
completely trust to correct them painlessly and perfectly.
Often, the specialist chosen to treat your child's clubfoot
condition is chosen by default - meaning that the
physician attending your child's birth will refer the child
to a resident ortho at the same hospital and thus
treatment is likely to begin before you ever take the
baby home (bad idea).
Also, it may be the child's pediatrician who refers you to
an orthopaedic specialist.
It may be that another parent, family member or friend
recommends a certain doctor.
Whatever the case, chances are you will take your child
to see the "Specialist", you will trust that specialist, and
you will agree to and follow his/her treatment plan with
out question.
Big Mistake.
You as the parent, and usually it is the mother, have to do your own
research, learn about the clubfoot condition, learn about the treatment
options available, learn about the treatment plan your proposed doctor
has in mind... You have to know about this stuff before you can
make an intelligent decision and pick a Ponseti doctor who is
truely a Ponseti doctor.
Then all you dads out there get on board and understand your
wife isn't an idiot and she's done her home work - so trust her
and go to the doctor she researched and approves of!
"But...I thought doctors were intelligent!" You say. "I thought doctors
made all those important decisions!"
They are intelligent - but they are still only human - and mostly arrogant
humans at that. But no - doctors do not make all the decisions.
Doctor's only do what you - the parent - give them
permission to do.
Repeat that fifty times.
By that, I mean if you fail to do your own research to pick a Ponseti
doctor and instead blindly believe this random doctor knows it all and
knows it best allowing him to treat your child as he sees fit with out
question, then you cannot blame that doctor for any ill
consequences involved in your child's clubfoot treatment when all
goes wrong. And trust me, it's very likely to go wrong.
"But I'm just a stay at home mom." You say. "I'm just a carpenter,
plumber, accountant, librarian....what could I know about technical
medical practice stuff?"
Oh you'd be surprised!
Take for example the many styles of FAB's, DBB's and AFO's
available. Do you know one from another?
"Why would I need to?" You ask. "I assume my doctor will prescribe the
style that works best."
Will he? Are you sure?
The AFO typically has no place in clubfoot treatment whatsoever except
in rare and extreme cases, and then only under certain conditions. The
AFO is not part of the typical Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment.
OK, so you get the right style of brace, you get the cute little "boots on a
bar". Are they adjusted correctly to fit your child so they will complete
the treatment process? If not, they are going to do harm, causing injury,
pain and relapse of the condition. Most of the time, doctors are fairly
uneducated about FAB wear and FAB set up per the Ponseti
Protocol. And with out following the Ponseti Protocol how is your
clubfooted child going to realize that 95% success rate?
Your child won't.
So you see, these are only two small examples of why you, the parent,
need to be informed before you pick a Ponseti doctor (because most
are not Ponseti doctors!~) - and then you need to have the guts to
speak up to your doctor if you discover that he/she is not following the
Ponseti Method.
Short casts vs. Long leg casts? Plaster vs. Fiberglass? Who applies
the cast, a doctor or the cast-tech? How long are the casts worn
between changes? Who removes the cast when it's time to apply a new
one, you at home, or someone at the clinic? When is it removed? The
night before or only moments prior to the new cast being applied? What
kind of tenotomy will be performed if one is necessary?
All these are crucial questions you need to ask and know the answer
to before you ask.
Don't let the doctor intimidate you just because he has that big
PhD at the end of his name.
Consider this: A doctor is a busy man (or woman). He doesn't have the
same time or energy that you have to learn new methods. He doesn't
have a vested interest in your child's care. He gets paid the same either
way, yes? It's not his kid growing up potentially disabled, right? He's
not the one holding that infant at night as it cries in pain. So who really
needs to care more about the treatment plan and who is responsible for
making sure it is effective, non-surgical, quick and complete - you as the
parent, or the doctor?
The parent.
Become a fanatic, someday your child will thank you.
I understand it is a gray area, and a real fine line, to either recommend
or not recommend a doctor. I fully expect that certain doctors will
become offended to find their name under the "Don't Recommend List",
as this happened in the recent past when one parent did not
recommend a certain doctor. That doctor began stalking that parent
with threatening phone calls and letters.
I say, "This is America" and I exercise my First Amendment Right
to say or print what I want. If a doctor finds his or her name on the
"Don't Recommend" list, then that doctor should read the patient-given
comments to get a better understanding of how they might have failed
that parent - thus becoming a better doctor and person in the process.
I doubt many will consider that point of view...but anyway....
Based purely on parent submissions and comments, I will post a list of
doctors who claim to treat the Clubfoot Condition along with "Parent
Recommended" or "Not Parent Recommended" beside each.
The most important thing I can advise is that you understand
what the Ponseti Method is - what makes it tick, what makes it
different, and most of all, what makes it work beautifully 95% of
the time. My page titled Serial Casting will help you understand all this.
By knowing that, you can easily beware that many doctors will claim
to use the Ponseti Method, but the lion's share of them do not.
Other will falsely claim to be trained by Dr. Ponseti, and a larger lion's
share of them have not been.
With the popularity of the Internet in the past few years, the popularity of
the Ponseti Method has grown and doctors are latching on to the
coat tails of Dr. Ponseti to hitch a free ride by using his name and
by stating or implying that they use the Method created and perfected
by Dr. Ponseti.
Most do not.
The surest way to find out is to contact Dr. Ponseti's clinic directly to ask.
I also recommend you take a look at a page from the University of Iowa
web site regarding Ponseti-Recommended clubfoot doctors.
research, learn about the clubfoot condition, learn about the treatment
options available, learn about the treatment plan your proposed doctor
has in mind... You have to know about this stuff before you can
make an intelligent decision and pick a Ponseti doctor who is
truely a Ponseti doctor.
Then all you dads out there get on board and understand your
wife isn't an idiot and she's done her home work - so trust her
and go to the doctor she researched and approves of!
"But...I thought doctors were intelligent!" You say. "I thought doctors
made all those important decisions!"
They are intelligent - but they are still only human - and mostly arrogant
humans at that. But no - doctors do not make all the decisions.
Doctor's only do what you - the parent - give them
permission to do.
Repeat that fifty times.
By that, I mean if you fail to do your own research to pick a Ponseti
doctor and instead blindly believe this random doctor knows it all and
knows it best allowing him to treat your child as he sees fit with out
question, then you cannot blame that doctor for any ill
consequences involved in your child's clubfoot treatment when all
goes wrong. And trust me, it's very likely to go wrong.
"But I'm just a stay at home mom." You say. "I'm just a carpenter,
plumber, accountant, librarian....what could I know about technical
medical practice stuff?"
Oh you'd be surprised!
Take for example the many styles of FAB's, DBB's and AFO's
available. Do you know one from another?
"Why would I need to?" You ask. "I assume my doctor will prescribe the
style that works best."
Will he? Are you sure?
The AFO typically has no place in clubfoot treatment whatsoever except
in rare and extreme cases, and then only under certain conditions. The
AFO is not part of the typical Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment.
OK, so you get the right style of brace, you get the cute little "boots on a
bar". Are they adjusted correctly to fit your child so they will complete
the treatment process? If not, they are going to do harm, causing injury,
pain and relapse of the condition. Most of the time, doctors are fairly
uneducated about FAB wear and FAB set up per the Ponseti
Protocol. And with out following the Ponseti Protocol how is your
clubfooted child going to realize that 95% success rate?
Your child won't.
So you see, these are only two small examples of why you, the parent,
need to be informed before you pick a Ponseti doctor (because most
are not Ponseti doctors!~) - and then you need to have the guts to
speak up to your doctor if you discover that he/she is not following the
Ponseti Method.
Short casts vs. Long leg casts? Plaster vs. Fiberglass? Who applies
the cast, a doctor or the cast-tech? How long are the casts worn
between changes? Who removes the cast when it's time to apply a new
one, you at home, or someone at the clinic? When is it removed? The
night before or only moments prior to the new cast being applied? What
kind of tenotomy will be performed if one is necessary?
All these are crucial questions you need to ask and know the answer
to before you ask.
Don't let the doctor intimidate you just because he has that big
PhD at the end of his name.
Consider this: A doctor is a busy man (or woman). He doesn't have the
same time or energy that you have to learn new methods. He doesn't
have a vested interest in your child's care. He gets paid the same either
way, yes? It's not his kid growing up potentially disabled, right? He's
not the one holding that infant at night as it cries in pain. So who really
needs to care more about the treatment plan and who is responsible for
making sure it is effective, non-surgical, quick and complete - you as the
parent, or the doctor?
The parent.
Become a fanatic, someday your child will thank you.
I understand it is a gray area, and a real fine line, to either recommend
or not recommend a doctor. I fully expect that certain doctors will
become offended to find their name under the "Don't Recommend List",
as this happened in the recent past when one parent did not
recommend a certain doctor. That doctor began stalking that parent
with threatening phone calls and letters.
I say, "This is America" and I exercise my First Amendment Right
to say or print what I want. If a doctor finds his or her name on the
"Don't Recommend" list, then that doctor should read the patient-given
comments to get a better understanding of how they might have failed
that parent - thus becoming a better doctor and person in the process.
I doubt many will consider that point of view...but anyway....
Based purely on parent submissions and comments, I will post a list of
doctors who claim to treat the Clubfoot Condition along with "Parent
Recommended" or "Not Parent Recommended" beside each.
The most important thing I can advise is that you understand
what the Ponseti Method is - what makes it tick, what makes it
different, and most of all, what makes it work beautifully 95% of
the time. My page titled Serial Casting will help you understand all this.
By knowing that, you can easily beware that many doctors will claim
to use the Ponseti Method, but the lion's share of them do not.
Other will falsely claim to be trained by Dr. Ponseti, and a larger lion's
share of them have not been.
With the popularity of the Internet in the past few years, the popularity of
the Ponseti Method has grown and doctors are latching on to the
coat tails of Dr. Ponseti to hitch a free ride by using his name and
by stating or implying that they use the Method created and perfected
by Dr. Ponseti.
Most do not.
The surest way to find out is to contact Dr. Ponseti's clinic directly to ask.
I also recommend you take a look at a page from the University of Iowa
web site regarding Ponseti-Recommended clubfoot doctors.
At 15 months old Garrison has been
walking for a couple weeks and is quite
proud of his little Ponseti feet!
walking for a couple weeks and is quite
proud of his little Ponseti feet!
Learn more about particular Ponseti
Method Doctors on this page:
http://members.tripod.com/ponseti_links
-ivil/id3.html
Method Doctors on this page:
http://members.tripod.com/ponseti_links
-ivil/id3.html