We went to the last shoe outing. It was eye opening and so incredibly helpful.
I incidentally blogged about our experience.

This past Saturday, Mishy, Babba, and I went to see one of Santa Monica’s foot doctors, Dr. Noah. He hosts monthly Kid’ Shoe Outings where he gives an informal and highly informative talk about which shoes to buy for your children to help their feet grow and develop. He is an extremely enthusiastic man and passionate about the care of children’s feet. He does say wearing used shoes is like giving someone your prescription glasses and it can have detrimental effects, especially on children’s feet since they are developing. He also mentioned the main function of children’s shoes until they are 8 years old, since a foot arch is usually not developed until they are eight, is to provide protection when they run and walk outside. Inside, it is best to have them barefoot or with socks so their feet are not encumbered. (Plus, having them shoeless does limit the dirt that gets in from outside.)

Read the full story here...

Date of Posting: 05 February 2010
Posted By: M. J.

We took our son to Dr. Noah's free shoe fitting service last Sunday. We couldn't go to the previous one last month. Since our son's shoe was getting small, we had already bought a pair for him at SHOE STORE just 2 weeks before going to Dr. Noah's shoe fitting. We got his feet measured at SHOE STORE, where an employee asked me to hold his foot down on the scale and then said to get size 5. We had already tried sizes 5 and 5 1/2 and felt that with socks 5 1/2 would have been better fit for him. So we ended up getting 5 1/2, that is,1/2 size bigger than what the SHOE STORE employee suggested. Two weeks later, Dr. Noah measured our son's foot and said that his size is 6! When he measured the foot, he made sure to uncurl our son's toes (he had pulled his toes in) to get the correct size. The SHOE store employee didn't bother do to this or ask me to do it when I has holding my son's foot on the scale. Dr. Noah also showed how the shoe our son was wearing was small, from the foot impression that had been left on the inner sole of the shoe. Besides measuring and checking fit he also explained how to select shoes for kids and how to fit it. It was very informative. He also found that one of the parents was wearing a small shoe. He does it at his office close to UCLA Santa Monica hospital. If you are not sure about the fit of your kids shoes then I highly recommend this free service. A.

Date of Posting: 04 January 2010
Posted By: A P

I had Plantar Fascitis in one foot earlier this year and BOY does it hurt! I saw Dr. Blumofe and he was great. R.M.

Date of Posting: 04 January 2010
Posted By: R. M.

If you find the idea of properly fitting shoes for your toddler as daunting as I did, worry no more!!!
Dr. Noah Blumofe is a podiatrist in Santa Monica. (In fact, he treated a minor foot injury that I had. That experience was also great - he was kind, to the point, and treated my injury without severe damage to my wallet! I am no longer in pain.)
Once a month, Dr. Noah holds a "Shoe Outing" in his office in Santa Monica and gives the key points to fitting shoes for your toddler or child. He makes it very clear what to look for and what to avoid, and that children's shoes do not have to be expensive! He shops for his children's shoes at places like Payless and Target!
In addition, he also measures each child's foot and gives you the proper size that they are at the outing.
This service that he provides is FREE.
I am no longer stressing when my daughter outgrows a pair of shoes. I know that I'll be able to properly find her a new pair that fits and I have the option of less expensive shoes.

Thank you to Dr. Noah!!

Date of Posting: 29 October 2009
Posted By: Reyna Z
Los Angeles

I second the recommendation. We went last month and turns out my daughter may need some special attention. But I'm glad Dr. Noah was kind enough to take out his personal time to do this seminar for us parents. We learned a lot.

Date of Posting: 14 August 2009
Posted By: Amy M.
Los Angeles

I finally went to Dr. Noah's shoe outing today! (I've been wanting to do this for months!) It was a great workshops- definately worth the time. Dr. Noah does this as a service to our community once a month. He teaches parents how to shop for shoes for their kids. He shows how to look out for things that salespeople at the shoe stores wont!
And to top it all off- he promotes buying $10 - $20 shoes for your kids instead of $50+.
I highly recommend his service!

Date of Posting: 26 July 2009
Posted By: Chaya Z
Los Angeles

Same thing happened with us. We saw Dr. Blumofe after going to [redacted]. Noah noticed that my daughter has a significant leg-length discrepancy. Their orthopedist did not - not even with all the x-rays they took.

Date of Posting: 17 August 2008
Posted By: Rima R.
Los Angeles

Noah Blumofe helped save my family!!!
Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. My husband is a runs marathons and running is his major stress reliever and his brings him incredible happiness. But he broke his big toe (through that joint where you get bunions) way back in January. It healed and then he ran again and rebroke it even worse than the first time. So basically for 6 months my husband has been unable to even walk without a really bad limp, and totally unable to run. So, he has been really fed-up and miserable, and hence our whole family has been miserable.

We saw all sorts of doctors at UCLA and Kerlan-Jobe, and I told Paul about Noah Blumofe's posts on Peachhead. Paul went to him and Dr. Blumofe said that Paul had been given some bad advice from the other doctors. After following Dr. Blumofe's advice, the healing of Paul's foot has been nothing short of miraculous. And my husband is back to running! And our family is back to normal again. Phew!!!!!!

So, I just wanted to sing Dr. Blumofe's praises so if any of you ever find yourselves with a sore foot or a cranky husband who can't go running, you'd know where to turn!!!

Date of Posting: 16 August 2008
Posted By: Lynn X.

Appointment 3/9/06. No surgery on foot, took off callouses
Appointment 3/17/06. Infection - heal of foot
Appointment 3/23/06. Open Wound - No Pool
Appointments 4/6/06; 5/11/06; 5/18/06; 5/25/06; 6/1/06; 6/8/06; 6/22/06; 7/6/06.
Three (3) awful sores on feet - On heal since orthotics in 2005. The first sore came on the left foot on pad behind left big toe in August 2002. Later one came on right foot same place. Started wearing orthotics in January 2002.
Open sores on bottom of both feet for almost 5 years.
Two (2) other DPMs could NOT get rid of them.

Dr Noah Blumofe, DPM got them to heal in a little over 3 months !!!!

Date of Posting: 30 November 2005
Posted By: Mary Ann H.