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CNN Live Today
If the Shoe Does Not Fit, Have Surgery on Your Feet
Aired September 08, 2003 - 10:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) lobotomy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She owes you for those shoes.
PARKER: No, its not about the money. I don't care about the money. I'm talking about a woman's right to shoes. Why did she have to shame me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, for the women of "Sex and the City" -- excuse me -- and a lot of other women, it is all about the shoes. But fitting into those (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shoes can be a tight squeeze. And now, some women are actually turning to surgery, and that's the focus of our daily dose.
Dr. Suzanne Levine is a podiatric surgeon.
What's the proper pronunciation on that, Dr. Levine?
DR. SUZANNE LEVINE, PODIATRIC SURGEON: Podiatric surgery.
KAGAN: Podiatric surgeon, thank you. And an author, and she's joining us not only to help us on our vocabulary and pronunciation, but on our feet as well.
Dr. Levine, thanks for being here with us.
LEVINE: Well, thank you.
KAGAN: We're all talking about how to get into these pointy shoes, which we wear a lot of.
Now, you're not actually on the soapbox of telling women they shouldn't wear these shoes.
LEVINE: No, I'm not. In fact, we do lots of procedures to actually shorten patient's toes to make them fit into shoes. But at the same time, a lot of these people have foot problems that are so painful that it makes it difficult to even wear flat shoes. I think...
KAGAN: I want to talk about this surgery a little bit, because I know we have before and after pictures.
LEVINE: Sure.
KAGAN: So, I think have you a monitor there with us in the New York bureau. Let's see the before picture of what some toes would look like. Do we have -- OK. And then, we actually have it all together -- before and after.
Now, what's been done to the foot, besides a pedicure?
LEVINE: OK. You see the unsightly corns. They were actually removed. You can see those little bony bumps on the tops of the toes.
KAGAN: Right.
LEVINE: They are actually erased, almost, if you will, in the shortening of the toes. Not only is a certain portion of bone removed, but at the same time certain lasers are used, the same lasers that are used in dermatology, a cool touch laser, an Indiag (ph), a leo-laser (ph), to actually even out the skin tone. And we particularly chose a woman of color so that you don't see the discoloration and the scarring that you used to see in the past.
KAGAN: OK. Now, let me just ask you a kind of chicken or the egg question.
LEVINE: OK.
KAGAN: Which came first? Now, people are born with the toe being longer.
LEVINE: Yes.
KAGAN: But do the bad feet come from the bad shoes, or is it the other way around?
LEVINE: It's the other way. Actually, there is a genetic predisposition. Women are lighter boned, hormonal changes, lots of influences. Generally, if your mom or dad had a bunion or unsightly corns and calluses, you'll probably develop the same problem.
I think shoes aggravate the condition, but now with all of the lasers and all of the different treatments that are available particularly now. I've developed a foot facial kit that is similar to actually giving your face a facial, but instead you can actually go out and purchase one of these foot facial kits. And you can actually...
KAGAN: Like a foot-cial (ph).
LEVINE: Yes. These are available now, obviously, in Macy 's and in many department stores. I think people have to pay more attention to their feet. There is emphasis on stylish shoes. And I give women the ability to wear these beautiful shoes and have their feet look better and feel better at the same time.
KAGAN: Right. And, you know, I mean, there are people who just kind of have a thing about their feet. Me, I have a size issue, but that's a thing for another show. There are people who just don't like how their feet look.
LEVINE: Right.
KAGAN: The idea of altering your toes, especially taking off bone, just for cosmetic reasons.
LEVINE: Well, it's not just for cosmetic reasons. The majority of patients that come in, not only are the toes unsightly, but they're having pain. The majority of my patients do have pain. And at the same time, they're concerned about scarring.
So, I'm able to get rid of and shorten the toes appropriately, and at the same time, get rid of the scarring and make them feel more comfortable.
KAGAN: How much does that cost?
LEVINE: Each toe might vary from 1,500 to 2,500, depending on what part of the country.
KAGAN: Per toe?
LEVINE: Right. Now, this might be covered also by insurance if you have a biomechanical problem and you are having pain that accompanies, you know, the unsightly corns or calluses.
KAGAN: Got it. And do you wear shoes like this? Do you wear pointy shoes?
LEVINE: Oh, of course.
KAGAN: Yes.
LEVINE: Did you see the shoes I'm wearing now?
KAGAN: No. Can we see them?
LEVINE: Sure. I'm sure you can.
KAGAN: Yes, can you just take them off?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVINE: OK. I'll take one shoe off.
KAGAN: We're not that high tech. We dont have a foot cam.
LEVINE: OK.
KAGAN: Oh! Lovely and pointy.
LEVINE: Yes, absolutely.
KAGAN: Thanks for sharing.
LEVINE: And you can see -- OK, no problem. KAGAN: Don't hurt yourself on those things.
LEVINE: OK, I won't.
KAGAN: Dr. Levine, thank you so much.
LEVINE: OK. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired September 8, 2003 - 10:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) lobotomy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She owes you for those shoes.
PARKER: No, its not about the money. I don't care about the money. I'm talking about a woman's right to shoes. Why did she have to shame me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, for the women of "Sex and the City" -- excuse me -- and a lot of other women, it is all about the shoes. But fitting into those (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shoes can be a tight squeeze. And now, some women are actually turning to surgery, and that's the focus of our daily dose.
Dr. Suzanne Levine is a podiatric surgeon.
What's the proper pronunciation on that, Dr. Levine?
DR. SUZANNE LEVINE, PODIATRIC SURGEON: Podiatric surgery.
KAGAN: Podiatric surgeon, thank you. And an author, and she's joining us not only to help us on our vocabulary and pronunciation, but on our feet as well.
Dr. Levine, thanks for being here with us.
LEVINE: Well, thank you.
KAGAN: We're all talking about how to get into these pointy shoes, which we wear a lot of.
Now, you're not actually on the soapbox of telling women they shouldn't wear these shoes.
LEVINE: No, I'm not. In fact, we do lots of procedures to actually shorten patient's toes to make them fit into shoes. But at the same time, a lot of these people have foot problems that are so painful that it makes it difficult to even wear flat shoes. I think...
KAGAN: I want to talk about this surgery a little bit, because I know we have before and after pictures.
LEVINE: Sure.
KAGAN: So, I think have you a monitor there with us in the New York bureau. Let's see the before picture of what some toes would look like. Do we have -- OK. And then, we actually have it all together -- before and after.
Now, what's been done to the foot, besides a pedicure?
LEVINE: OK. You see the unsightly corns. They were actually removed. You can see those little bony bumps on the tops of the toes.
KAGAN: Right.
LEVINE: They are actually erased, almost, if you will, in the shortening of the toes. Not only is a certain portion of bone removed, but at the same time certain lasers are used, the same lasers that are used in dermatology, a cool touch laser, an Indiag (ph), a leo-laser (ph), to actually even out the skin tone. And we particularly chose a woman of color so that you don't see the discoloration and the scarring that you used to see in the past.
KAGAN: OK. Now, let me just ask you a kind of chicken or the egg question.
LEVINE: OK.
KAGAN: Which came first? Now, people are born with the toe being longer.
LEVINE: Yes.
KAGAN: But do the bad feet come from the bad shoes, or is it the other way around?
LEVINE: It's the other way. Actually, there is a genetic predisposition. Women are lighter boned, hormonal changes, lots of influences. Generally, if your mom or dad had a bunion or unsightly corns and calluses, you'll probably develop the same problem.
I think shoes aggravate the condition, but now with all of the lasers and all of the different treatments that are available particularly now. I've developed a foot facial kit that is similar to actually giving your face a facial, but instead you can actually go out and purchase one of these foot facial kits. And you can actually...
KAGAN: Like a foot-cial (ph).
LEVINE: Yes. These are available now, obviously, in Macy 's and in many department stores. I think people have to pay more attention to their feet. There is emphasis on stylish shoes. And I give women the ability to wear these beautiful shoes and have their feet look better and feel better at the same time.
KAGAN: Right. And, you know, I mean, there are people who just kind of have a thing about their feet. Me, I have a size issue, but that's a thing for another show. There are people who just don't like how their feet look.
LEVINE: Right.
KAGAN: The idea of altering your toes, especially taking off bone, just for cosmetic reasons.
LEVINE: Well, it's not just for cosmetic reasons. The majority of patients that come in, not only are the toes unsightly, but they're having pain. The majority of my patients do have pain. And at the same time, they're concerned about scarring.
So, I'm able to get rid of and shorten the toes appropriately, and at the same time, get rid of the scarring and make them feel more comfortable.
KAGAN: How much does that cost?
LEVINE: Each toe might vary from 1,500 to 2,500, depending on what part of the country.
KAGAN: Per toe?
LEVINE: Right. Now, this might be covered also by insurance if you have a biomechanical problem and you are having pain that accompanies, you know, the unsightly corns or calluses.
KAGAN: Got it. And do you wear shoes like this? Do you wear pointy shoes?
LEVINE: Oh, of course.
KAGAN: Yes.
LEVINE: Did you see the shoes I'm wearing now?
KAGAN: No. Can we see them?
LEVINE: Sure. I'm sure you can.
KAGAN: Yes, can you just take them off?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVINE: OK. I'll take one shoe off.
KAGAN: We're not that high tech. We dont have a foot cam.
LEVINE: OK.
KAGAN: Oh! Lovely and pointy.
LEVINE: Yes, absolutely.
KAGAN: Thanks for sharing.
LEVINE: And you can see -- OK, no problem. KAGAN: Don't hurt yourself on those things.
LEVINE: OK, I won't.
KAGAN: Dr. Levine, thank you so much.
LEVINE: OK. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
