A Da Vinci and DiMaggio-Inspired Podiatry Career
A Nationally Recognized Podiatrist Solves Painful and Complex Foot and Ankle Issues Without Surgery
To his legions of patients, including fellow physicians, Dr. Rock Positano is a muscly combo of rockstar and The Rock in a white coat. Dr. Positano treats patients in his offices in the prestigious Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.
A recognized innovator in non-surgical treatment for complex foot and ankle issues, Dr. Positano has been on staff at HSS since 1991 and is founder and director of Non-Surgical Foot and Ankle Service and the Joe DiMaggio Heel Pain Center.
Dr. Positano, a 1989 graduate of what is now Touro University’s New York College of Podiatric Medicine (NYCPM), has served as the editor of 12 medical textbooks ranging from foot and ankle orthopedics and heel disorders to sports medicine. His thesis on foot health was approved “with Honors” and “with Distinction” by the faculty of the Yale School of Medicine. He’s also a contributing writer to U.S. News & World Report.
“The foot is the most ignored part of the body,” says Dr. Positano, 66. “Foot and ankle problems may not be life threatening, but when they occur, they are certainly lifestyle threatening.”
The foot is a complex work of 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles that support more than 100,000 pound of pressure for every mile walked. “Feet,” says Dr. Positano, “are a miracle of anatomical form and function.”
He became interested in the foot through what he calls, “the two Ds”—da Vinci and DiMaggio. Dr. Positano discovered that he and Leonardo da Vinci shared a fascination with the foot. The great artist produced meticulous anatomical studies of the foot and ankle. “They were da Vinci’s favorite parts of the human body,” says Dr. Positano. As for baseball icon DiMaggio, his career was cut short after undergoing unnecessary surgery for bone spurs in his heels that made the pain and debilitating effects worse. As a newbie podiatrist, Dr. Positano was 32 when he met his hero, and the two became lifelong friends until DiMaggio’s death. Dr. Positano wrote a well-received memoir about his friendship with his baseball idol.
For decades, Dr. Positano has specialized in musculoskeletal podiatry, the non-surgical diagnosis and treatment of muscle, tendon, ligament, and bone disorders of the foot and ankle using physical therapy protocols/modalities and prescription foot orthoses. In addition, musculoskeletal podiatry involves evaluating and treating biomechanical relationships of how the foot affects knee, hip, and back function and pathology. The majority of foot and ankle problems often can be treated successfully without surgery.
“We’re known as the no-cut guys,” says Dr. Positano, who lives in Manhattan and fittingly walks to work on feet that do not hurt. Among those in his practice is his son, Rock Jr., fellow podiatrist and a 2018 NYCPM graduate, who enjoys clinical work, but also loves the lab where he focuses on research. Adds proud dad: “Let’s just say he has had good training.”
