Frequently Asked Questions

Most of our procedures last anywhere from 15 minutes to 90 minutes. However, by the time you arrive at our office and by the time you leave, it might take a couple of hours.

Your insurance may cover the procedure if there is an underlying medical problem. Filling out the insurance verification form will enable us to estimate what insurance will pay for.

Most of our patients are able to walk right after surgery; however, we may advise reduced activity for a few days.

Most of our patients do not get casted. We will likely ask you to wear a special shoe that we provide to speed up healing time.

We recommend at least three days, to avoid the strain of going through transit.

We recommend that someone accompany you, especially if you are undergoing anesthesia.

Most of our procedures are either done under local anesthesia, the same one you get when you go to the dentist to get your teeth filled, or light sedation — twilight sleep, where the anesthesiologist makes you sleepy while we perform the procedure. We rarely use general anesthesia or full anesthesia.

Some foot conditions are hereditary; however, your daily activity and the type of shoes you wear can worsen a condition or slow down the progression of a deformity.

There is a small chance that it might return in twenty years or less.

Even the best surgeons in the world cannot guarantee their work — no one can. We do the best we can to fix the problem, and most of the time we are successful.

This depends on many factors, including how healthy you are, how old you are, if you smoke, and the specific procedure.

This depends on many factors, including the type of work you do. For example, a waitress or a police officer needs to return to work much later than someone with a desk job. The other factors are age and health — the younger a patient and the healthier they are, the faster they can return to work.

Yes, Dr. Ravaei is the only one who performs the procedures, and he will also follow you up after the procedure.

Some procedures can be, not all of them.

We do have out-of-town patients and we do the best we can to accommodate them. Make sure you give us a few weeks of advance notice.

No referral is required. You can call our office or use the contact form on this page to schedule directly. Same-day appointments are available at all five of our Southern California locations.

We accept most major insurance plans including Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Aetna PPO, Medicare, CIGNA PPO, United Healthcare, Healthnet PPO, SAG Insurance, Tricare/TriWest, and several others. Please note we do not accept Kaiser. Visit our Insurance page for the full list or call us to verify your coverage.

Yes. Dr. Ravaei treats patients of all ages, including children and adolescents. Certain conditions such as brachymetatarsia and tarsal coalition are often first identified during childhood or the teenage years. Pediatric patients receive the same thorough, individualized care as adult patients.

Please bring your insurance card, a photo ID, and any completed patient forms (available for download on our Resources page). If you have prior X-rays or imaging related to your foot condition, bringing those copies is helpful. Wear or bring the shoes you typically wear so Dr. Ravaei can assess any gait or fit issues.