Lawrence M Oloff, DPM

I went to Dr. Oloff with hallux rigidus and severe pain in both feet. I had met with three previous podiatrists. None of them told me:
1. Wear shoes with a stiff sole to minimize stress on the toe joint
2. Rocker soles and cushioning will reduce pain (somewhat)
(How can podiatrist not know to suggest shoes that reduce pain?)
I found Dr. Oloff based on the articles he has written (he is up on current technology). He explained the procedure, answered questions about artificial joints, and reduced the pain in my feet after surgery. The first one went well so I went back to have the second foot done 6 months later.
My advice: Don’t wait! Do your research and know what questions to ask: what is the procedure, how long will I be off my feet, when can I drive, when can I fly, when can I swim.

Dr. Oloff is a great podiatrist — empathetic and concerned — and with a good sense of humor. He took my poor, battered feet and made them as good as they’ll ever be after a famous doctor, Dr. Dale Austin, almost destroyed them using experimental methods. Dr. Oloff is well known through medical textbooks and his lectures but he will always be special to me for the professional care received. I totally recommend him!

Dr. Oloff deserves significant credit for my continuing basketball competitiveness at 48 — which is a big deal to me given how much happiness I get from my hoops.
Treatment #1.
After a poorly conceived and executed toe surgery at PAMF (a clinic I generally praise), I visited Dr. Oloff to see if he could address the my significant toe pain and help me play basketball again. His diagnosis made sense and was honest «only a 60−70% chance of success if we put this pin in». He also required that I get two other opinions before proceeding with his recommended surgery. I did, and these other doctors (who I chose) agreed with Dr. Oloff’s diagnosis of the first surgery’s mistake and agreed with his recommended course. I proceeded with the surgery and, almost 8 years later, am still playing basketball twice a week with a pin in my right big toe.
Treatment #2
I had achilles pain in my my heels. Given my first successful experience, I consulted Dr. Oloff who quickly diagnosed and recommend a few courses of action (Night splints, stretching, anti-​inflammatory, ice). The situation resolved itself within a week and I repeat the same treatment every 1 – 2 years with the same effective result.
Treatment #3
I recently visited Dr. Oloff again for a different achilles condition before I took a long trip to Europe. I was hoping Dr. Oloff would prescribe Prednisone (a steriod) which has done wonders for me twice previously with inflammation conditions. I gently requested this course and Dr. Oloff suggested I try 2 – 3 other courses first before taking a serious drug. I am currently following these courses. While I may end up taking the steroid, I respect Dr. Oloff’s cautious approach (pursuing less aggressive treatments first).
In sum, I find Dr. Oloff a gifted diagnostician and appreciate his intellect greatly. I owe some part of my well-​being to his expertise and hope other patients can benefit from him as I have.

Bucket list
I have wanted to finish the Ironman triathlon (140.6 miles) since May of 2005. Lets not talk about my first attempt, a total disaster. I got the bug again in 2008 and signed up for Ironman Brazil. After six months of training I was in tremendous condition. The only problem, a big problem, was that I developed severe tendinitis in my right achilles. I traveled to Brazil but ultimately decided not to start as I might irreversibly injure my achilles. This being a bucket list priority I had to keep trying until I got it right. The big question how do I get my achilles in condition to train and race? I tried physical therapy, stretching, rest, icing, strengthening exercises and even bought an ultra sound machine no luck. I began to believe that this dream was going to be out of reach. Subsequently, I was referred to Dr. Oloff at SOAR. He suggested shock wave therapy to break up scar tissue and PRP where your blood is reinjected into the injured area and this would help in healing. After that and a second PRP injection I finished Ironman Brazil 2013 with absolutely no pain in training or racing (unthinkable). It is my understanding that Dr. Oloff did the surgery for SF Giants catcher Buster Posey. It is fantastic that the Giants have so much confidence in Dr. Oloff however I always felt that Dr. Oloff cared as much for me as he did for any pro athlete. I would strongly recommend Dr. Oloff to any weekend warrior who needs his or her dreams to come true. Scott Stevenson Carmel Ca.

Dr Oloff and the broader SOAR organization has been a huge disappointment. As a former Division 1 track athlete and weekend warrior, I have had a number of running-​related injuries over the years and have seen a variety of doctors.
To begin with, Dr. Oloff has a gruff, impersonal persona with very poor bedside manner. He takes the minimum amount of time with each patient and quickly demonstrates that he has little patience for clarifying questions or patient concerns. He misdiagnosed my injury 2x before I went for a second opinion — 4mo without training /​racing that I will never get back. To add insult to injury, he gave me a variety of expensive braces /​pneumatic walkers with a mark-​up of 4−5x what other providers charged. I am ok with a bit of a mark up in a doctors office, but that is just absurd — and good luck getting in touch with him to resolve the issue.
I would not recommend Oloff to my worst enemy — if you are looking for a good podiatrist /​orthopedist, then there a plenty out there with the skill set to properly treat your condition. But for the sake of your health and your wallet, run (no pun intended) from Oloff.

I am an active person. I run, I play tennis, I play racquetball, I play softball, I swim, and now that we are in the Winter season, I also ski. There is something common with all of these activities. My feet! So you can imagine my frustration when I suffered a foot injury about three months ago.
I first saw an orthopedic surgeon who suggested a surgical procedure. One which would be a lengthy recovery, high cost, and I would more than likely miss this ski season. With such «great» news I still wasn’t quite eager to go rush into surgery. Naturally I sought a second opinion.
A good family friend was recently treated by Dr. Oloff and she highly recommended him. I was able to get squeezed in that week and man am I’m happy for that.
I can tell Dr. Oloff’s practice is quite busy. Some people seemed disgruntled by this buy hey, with my doctor, I’m trying to get healed, not tell my life story. Besides, I wouldn’t eat at an empty restaurant just like I wouldn’t go to an abandoned clinic.
Dr. Oloff reviewed my MRI’s and gave me two options. Surgery was an option but he also presented me with a conservative treatment plan. The fact that I was given two options instead of someone telling me that surgery was the only route was a huge relief. The conservative treatment plan is what Dr. Oloff recommended to try first as past patients have had success with it.
No surgery? Less out of pocket money from me? No brainer!
It has been three months since I injured my foot and I can happily say I’ll be back on the mountains in no time. I owe my recovery entirely to Dr. Oloff and the fact that the cheaper, easier route was a success, makes this a very happy new year.

Dr. Oloff saved my daughter’s gymnastics career! My daughter completely trusts Dr. Oloff who was exceptionally sensitive and compassionate from the very first moment she met him, just after her injury, through the surgery and the many months of recovery afterward. No matter how busy the office was, both in San Jose and in Redwood City, at no time did we feel Dr. Oloff was rushed or less than 100% attentive. Subsequent visits for other, less severe injuries, were equally positive-​from the cast room to MRI to X-​ray.

You can’t find better bedside manner, a more knowledgeable and helpful doctor. I saw Oloff after 2 other doctors couldn’t figure out my problem. Oloff is THE foot and ankle doc in the bay!

I have no doubt that Dr. Oloff is knowledgeable, but what he and a lot of the staff members at SOAR lack is good bedside manner. You can tell from the moment you pass the administrative desks that everyone there is too busy to really care. When I go to a doctors office, I want to feel like they really do care about helping you. After three visits with Dr. O, it became more and more clear that I was spending a lot of $$ and not seeing any results. I don’t blame him for this, but once brought this up he turned the whole conversation into a money issue. As I told him, I’m willing to pay whatever it costs, as long as my foot starts to feel better. After prescribed anti-​inflammatories, an x-​ray, MRI, and $ 130 compound cream, my foot only felt worse. But what really turned me off to him was that he got angry/​defensive when I told him I did not want a cortisone shot. Immediately his tone changed, and when I explained that I had heard that 1. it wasn’t the healthiest way to go 2. it might only be a temporary fix, he told me that I was miss informed (when really it’s common knowlege. although I didn’t say so at the time) and that I should not heed advice from online sources or other physicians who give poor advice. He then went on to tell me that he had been practicing medicine for 35 years and treated numerous patients from the 49ers etc. Wow talk about having a complex! All I said was that I didn’t care to have a cortisone shot even before he listed his recommendations and the pros/​cons. RED FLAG. i think so. I think he knew he had gone overboard so he tried to tone it down towards the end and tried to come up with an agreeable treatment method and then relate to me through mentioning his daughters, but sorry, the damage was already done.
I may not be a professional athlete, but I am a real patient who is coming for treatment for foot issues just like anyone else. I think many of us can agree that patients shouldn’t be subjected to that type of treatment by any type of doctor.
Mostly I’m disappointed because he came recommended by someone who usually is on point for great doctors recommendations, but this one was definitely a miss.

Love him!!! My foot is better than ever!

Unbelievably great. Had a better analysis after watching me walk on the carpet in my socks than the other guys did with MRI’s. Saved me a surgery and got my big toe working again. Great staff too. Thanks, Dr. Oloff!

I wanted to like Dr Oloff. I really did. When I first saw him, I was very impressed. He was able to quickly & accurately diagnose the problems I’m having with both my feet, and we quickly discussed & began to implement some courses of action.
That’s when it started to fall apart. It became obvious after 2 – 3 visits he was not reviewing my charts in between. That wouldn’t be an issue, if it wasn’t for the fact that I have other complicating factors (bad back) that was made almost disastrously worse by the course of action he wanted me to take.
Now, I should have stood up to him (metaphorically speaking) and let him know that one element of this course was not going to work. And we did talk about it. However, without him reviewing my chart to see what didn’t work in the past, he seemed to think I was being stubborn about not taking the particular course of action. And then my stubborn streak kicked in and I did just a little too much for my health to prove to him that this was the wrong course of action. I should have just changed podiatrists at the point it was obvious he didn’t remember my case, and wasn’t reviewing my charts to refresh himself on my case.
I’ve finally managed to beat my problem into temporary submission. Once it starts acting up again, I’ll be seeing Louis Caputo at El Camino instead.