Meet Dr. Daniela Matijevich, a podiatrist at Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute, as she shares her compassionate, collaborative approach to foot and ankle care. She discusses the conditions she treats, including sports injuries, Achilles tendon problems, arthritis, and diabetic foot wounds, and explains why early evaluation matters.
Dr. Matijevich also shares her commitment to helping patients understand their treatment options, exploring nonsurgical care whenever possible, and caring for the community she calls home.
Video Transcript:
Dr. Daniela Matijevich: Podiatry used to be ingrown toenails and bunions. Now we really focus on Achilles tendon injuries, ankle fractures, sports injuries regarding the hindfoot, limb salvage procedures. There’s a lot that podiatry has become over the last few years.
My approach to patient care is patient-centered, collaborative, and compassionate. It’s really important to understand how this affects the patient’s day-to-day life, and I want to make sure that the patient leaves with all their questions answered and a clear understanding of what they’re going through.
Most commonly, I see tendon pathology. I see a lot of arthritic joints relating to the foot and the ankle. I see a lot of sports injuries and I see a lot of diabetic foot wounds. It’s really important to get ahead of these injuries when you have a sports-related injury, including an ankle sprain, Achilles tendon sprain.
The old saying it’s better to break your ankle than to sprain your ankle is because when you break your ankle, that’s a typical six to eight week healing process. Whereas a sprain, some patients don’t take that as seriously and we miss out on that early care. Getting a patient offloaded, getting the patient in the right hands right after an immediate injury is the best time and will give us the best outcomes long term.
Achilles tendon injuries are very common and they can go from something very small like Achilles tendonitis to an Achilles tendon rupture very quickly. And it’s really important to see a specialist right off the bat in order to avoid more serious injuries that can lead to a surgery.
Diabetic wound care is a large part of my practice. These wounds can become bigger issues very quickly, which can lead to infections, infections in the bone, which can ultimately lead to amputations. There are always traumatic injuries that a patient will present with that do typically need to go straight to surgery. However, if there is any ailment that a patient comes in with that can avoid surgery, I will exhaust all conservative options in order to get the patient back to a pain-free life.
It’s more personal coming back home and treating the patients that I grew up around. I understand the circumstances that they’re going under. I understand more of their background. It’s not just a patient that I’m treating. I’m treating a neighbor, a family member, an old friend.