Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1305937
The Best Foot Forward at Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists FEET ARE SOMETHING most of us take for granted once we learn to walk — until the pain starts. If patients stand all day at their jobs, run dozens of miles every week or wear too-high heels for long periods of time, foot or ankle pain eventually creeps up on them. While many minor injuries can be fixed with time and rest, more serious injuries require expert help. That's where the foot and ankle team at Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists (SOS) comes in. The team of surgeons, podiatrists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists and a pedorthist offer comprehensive foot and ankle care at the SOS Heritage Commons office in North Syracuse, providing patients with the ability to have comprehensive foot and ankle in the same building. "SOS is a one-stop location for everything," says Frederick R. Lemley, MD, foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon at SOS. "Patients can have their feet and ankle needs, operative and nonoperative, taken care of here." SURGICAL SPECIALTIES Dr. Lemley is one of two board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons at SOS, along with Naven Duggal, MD. A Long Island native, Dr. Lemley started his surgical practice at SOS 14 years ago, after attending SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Dr. Duggal moved to Syracuse in 2013 after eight years at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School to be closer to his family in Canada. "The region is great from the standpoint of what I do, because there's a lot of athletes, sports and activities," Dr. Duggal says. "Not only do I like to participate in those activities — and my family does as well — but, I get to take care of athletes who experience injuries to ligaments and tendons, as well as fractures." Of course, Dr. Duggal's expertise is much broader than treating athletes. "I perform reconstructions and tendon repairs, and I fix fractures," Dr. Duggal says. "I'll also do fusions for correcting deformities of the ankle and foot, as well as replacements of the ankle." " I think people tend to underestimate that foot and ankle surgery can improve patients' quality of life. For patients who have end-stage arthritis or a tendon that's been chronically torn, getting it taken care of can help their symptoms." — NAVEN DUGGAL, MD, ORTHOPEDIC FOOT AND ANKLE SURGEON AND PARTNER AT SYRACUSE ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALISTS BY CARI WADE GERVIN THE FOOT AND ANKlE TE AM AT SYR ACUSE ORTHOPEDIC SPECIAlISTS PROVIDES QUAlIT Y CARE FOR PATIENTS. 1 6