By offering the latest medical advancements in a spa-like environment, Dr. Danielle Shaper, of Finesse Footcare, is dramatically improving the health of her patients’ feet

By Patricia Nugent

Finesse Footcare is marking the New Year by opening spacious new office that better reflect the patient experience of high-tech treatments delivered in a pampering, luxurious environment.

“I’m thrilled to move in this week,” says owner Dr. Danielle Shaper. “We worked hard on creating a space to match how we wanted our patients to feel. We modernized every inch, installing luxury vinyl tile flooring in pale gray, adding rich brown cabinetry, painting the walls, moving a wall to allow for wheelchair access, and installing a sparkly gray quartz that is antimicrobial throughout the office and treatment rooms.”

Transforming the office, which are conveniently located on the same floor as her former office, right next to the elevator and staircase, went as far as selecting paintings to complement the uses of the two treatment rooms—a laser room and digital X-ray room. To help patients feel relaxed and pampered in the laser room, they installed a beverage refrigerator and gourmet coffee station.

“The furniture is as beautiful as it is functional, able to accommodate patients of all sizes,” she says. “We also had shields installed on the chairs to offer the highest level of Covid protection.”

New Treatments
In 2019, when Dr. Shaper took over the practice from retired podiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss, who had run the practice for more than 35 years, the first thing she did was invest in state-of-the-art digital X-rays to get a clear picture of the structure of each patient’s feet, and help in pinpointing a diagnosis and course of treatment. After that, she did her research and began introducing other new technologies, including the Lunula Laser for toenail fungus and Radial Shockwave therapy for heel pain.

About two million Americans suffer from burning, stabbing heel pain. Dr. Shaper reports it’s one of the most common ailments she treats.

“So many people have this pain in their everyday life,” she says. “Looking for relief, they try everything from steroid injections to massage and taking anti-inflammatory medications.”

Her patients have been delighted by the dramatic reduction in pain.

“We’ve also found the therapy treats much more than just heel pain, as it addresses inflammation, tendonitis, Achilles conditions and ankle sprains,” she says.

With Shockwave, mechanical energy is transferred to the foot through a hand-held device. Pulsed energy heals inflamed tissue by increasing circulation on a cellular level and boosts the immune system’s natural response.

A successful course of treatment is usually five weekly 10-minute sessions. Patients feel little discomfort and experience no downtime.

Another common and tricky-to-cure ailment is toenail fungus. Dr. Shaper introduced the breakthrough Lunula Laser as the perfect solution.

“This FDA-cleared laser is the only one on the market that’s non-thermal and touchless,” she says. “The patients I’ve treated have seen dramatic improvement, on par or better than with oral medications, which can cause side effects.”

The 12-minute treatment is painless. Patients just place their feet within the unit and laser light goes back and forth over their feet.

She says her next big investment in technology in the coming year will probably be a new soft tissue laser to treat a wider variety of ailments.

An Umbrella of Conservative Care
“Although I do perform surgery, I prefer to take the most conservative path of minimally invasive care first,” she says.

In addition to heel pain and toenail fungus, Dr. Shaper treats most ailments of the foot and ankle, including ingrown toenails, bunions, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis, corns, warts, calluses, sprained ankles, diabetic footcare and spurs. She also fits patients with custom orthotics to realign the biomechanics of the foot, and performs routine footcare for those who need it.

“It’s heartbreaking when I hear that people have gone years suffering from painful feet, when I can almost always heal and improve them,” she says.

A Life-long Fascination with Learning
As a little girl growing up in Chicago, the future podiatrist and foot surgeon Dr. Shaper loved music and dancing, and most of all spending time with her grandmother, who was a diabetic.

“I’ve wanted to be a podiatrist from a young age, as I had to watch her suffer with painful ulcers on her feet,” she says.

Her connection to her grandmother also had an influence on Dr. Shaper’s educational path, as she spent lots of time working with the geriatric population both in her undergrad training at the University of Illinois and as a volunteer at local hospitals. She went on to earn a doctorate degree at the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, and then completed a three-year surgical residency at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston.

Dr. Shaper ended up in Cleveland to be near her husband Jon’s family.

Throughout her lifetime, dance has been a constant, too. (Although her weekly dancing is now limited to virtual classes to protect her and her patients from Covid.) “For a dancer, the health and well-being of your feet is everything,” she says. “So, I appreciate every intricate structure of the foot and how it’s connected to the functioning and performance of the rest of the body.”

Dr. Shaper says both her parents were teachers and that had an influence on her as well.

“I consider myself a constant learner and enjoy doing the research to discover new and emerging treatments,” she says. “Devotion to education and growth were always ingrained in me. If I hadn’t become a doctor, I would probably still be in college, working toward more degrees.”

And as a full-circle next chapter to her story, Dr. Shaper reports that her precious 5-year-old daughter, Danika, also loves dance and is just picking up the violin.

Finesse Footcare is located at 5035 Mayfield Road, Suite 202, in Lyndhurst. The practice accepts a wide variety of insurance plans and financing options are available. Call 216-382-8070, or visit FinesseFootcare.com for more information.