Often overlooked, usually mistreated and rarely pampered, your feet are the unsung workhorses of your body.
But, undetected problems with your feet can often lead to larger problems that can affect your back, your gait, your lifestyle, and your general health. In the Wesley Chapel offices of New Tampa Foot & Ankle, longtime New Tampa resident Stephen Levin, D.P.M., helps anyone from age 0 to 100 fix those issues before they get out of control. And, with the latest in laser technology and a new shock wave therapy (see below), he is able to treat some of the most common and painful conditions with noninvasive, highly effective in-office methods.
A native of Baltimore, MD, Dr. Levin got his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Urban Studies from the University of Maryland in College Park in 1992. He then obtained his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (D.P.M.) degree from the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1996. He completed a two-year medical and surgical residency at Montgomery Hospital Medical Center in Norristown, PA, in 1998, and then moved to Tampa, working in private practice until he opened New Tampa Foot & Ankle in 2002.
Dr. Levin moved his New Tampa location to its current location off of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel in 2007, then opened a South Tampa location in 2012.
Dr. Levin is Board-certified in foot surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery and also is on staff at both Florida Hospital Tampa and Wesley Chapel, St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s North, Tampa General Hospital, the New Tampa Surgery Center and the Ambulatory Surgery Center on E. Fletcher Ave. He has operating room privileges at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, St. Joseph’s North and the New Tampa Surgery Center.
Until recently, Dr. Levin was the president of the Hillsborough County Podiatric Medical Association for 10 years, and in 2005, was selected as the Young Practitioner of the Year by the Florida Podiatric Medical Association.
At his Wesley Chapel office, Dr. Levin uses state-of-the-art technology to fix some of the most common foot problems, including heel pain and fungal infections.
A Wide Variety Of Services
Among the many services offered at New Tampa Foot & Ankle is Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Technology (EPAT), the method by which Dr. Levin treats heel pain. Developed in Europe and FDA-approved in the U.S., the technology consists of a console and a wand-like attachment that emits shockwaves on the area of pain.
Heel pain (such as plantar fasciitis) can be caused when certain ligaments are irritated, causing thickening, swelling and subsequently, pain. Traditional treatments have called for anti-inflammatory injections or home therapy, such as physical therapy, ice and wearing orthotic inserts. EPAT uses acoustic shock waves to stimulate or signal the body to increase circulation, says Dr. Levin, allowing the area to heal itself more quickly and effectively. While he says some patients feel sensitivity after their initial treatments, they usually acclimate to the feeling (which he describes as a rapid pulsing) as the treatments continue, generally weekly for three to five months.
“The technology has been around for one or two decades, but it has become more amenable to an office setting,” says Dr. Levin. “There’s no downtime, no medications and no infections.”
In addition to heel pain, toenail fungus is a major concern of Dr. Levin’s patients. “It’s unsightly; it’s embarrassing,” he says, adding that the fungus can be caused by trauma and even by pedicures in unsanitary conditions.
To treat toenail fungus without oral medications or topical creams, Dr. Levin uses a treatment called NovoNail, a laser that works painlessly by running over the infected nail. This creates enough heat to kill the fungus that causes the infection. Dr. Levin says three or four 20-minute treatments over the course of a year is enough to cure most cases.
In severe cases, Dr. Levin can use the laser to remove the toenail, make a tiny incision for the laser to clean and resurface the nail bed and file down any underlying bone spur, and then stitch up the incision. Within a year, he says the new toenail has usually grown in over a clean nailbed.
Heel pain and fungal infections affect a large number of patients. However, Dr. Levin handles many other issues affecting your feet and ankles, such as Achilles tendon problems, ankle instability, flat feet, arthritic foot and ankle care, bunions and corns, geriatric foot care, and warts. He also treats feet when crushed by injury and the feet of diabetics, who have poor circulation and nerve damage so they cannot feel blisters or sores and need special shoes with more room and protection. He also treats children for problems such as Severs Disease, a growth pain-related irritation of the heel, as well as ingrown toenails, warts and flat feet.
Some problems can be solved by wearing the right kind of shoes and to this end, Dr. Levin carries a plethora of foot-related products for patients to buy at reasonable prices. You can be sure they work well, because Dr. Levin says that either he, a staff member or a member of their families have tested or tried them out, such as Vionic flip-flops (Dr. Levin says those flat flip-flops Floridians tend to wear everywhere don’t do our feet any favors) and custom and semi-custom orthotic shoe inserts. Also available is a line of hypoallergenic creams and lotions, as well as tools such as pumice stones, plus compression hose and shoes for diabetic patients.
The office accepts many forms of insurance and also offers in-house financing options.
Clearly, Dr. Levin’s services are in high demand. Since he started his own practice, it has grown to include a staff of seven, and he says he will add a new doctor at the end of this summer. He also says he currently sees an average of 150-200 patients a week in his Wesley Chapel office, while his colleague, Dr. Martin Port, sees patients in the South Tampa location at 3704 Euclid Ave.
Dr. Levin knew that Wesley Chapel would be the ideal place for his practice, as he had been keeping an eye on the projected growth of this area since moving to Florida 18 years ago. He met his wife, Diane Pellegrino Levin, when he was at the (then) University Community Hospital (now Florida Hospital Tampa) and she was an Emergency Room nurse there. The couple and their three children, David, 18; Sam, 11; and Sarah, 9, are active in the community, gymnastics and soccer.
New Tampa Foot & Ankle is open Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and is located at 26827 Foggy Creek Rd., Suite 104, off S.R. 56. For more information, call 973-3535 or visit NewTampaFootandAnkle.com.
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