St. Luke’s podiatric surgeon, Elizabeth Lindvig, DPM, planned to be a horse trainer. She rode in international competitions and trained the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team’s horses left at home when their riders competed abroad.

However, her career direction changed in her senior year of college when several of the horse owners with whom she worked encouraged her to become a doctor. She eventually took that advice and turned her attention to podiatry and went on to complete extensive postgraduate training in foot surgery.

Dr. Lindvig recently joined St. Luke’s Podiatry in Tamaqua, where she sees patients for all types of foot conditions, from the routine to the complex. She provides care for ingrown toenails, administers joint injections for arthritis and performs surgical treatments, such as reconstructive foot and ankle surgeries (hammertoe and bunion corrections), flatfoot corrections and joint fusions.

She also performs soft tissue surgeries, including nerve decompression, tendon repairs and lengthening, and manages operative and non-operative fractures.

Dr. Lindvig credits growing up on a small horse farm near West Chester in Chester County for her a strong work ethic and love of working with her hands, essential in her surgical role. Her upbringing almost led her down a different career path.

From Horses to Humans

Dr. Lindvig, an identical twin, is the youngest of four daughters.

Growing up, she and her sisters rescued horses off the racetrack, retrained them and sold them as sport horses to help sustain their little farm. All four girls took riding lessons and rode competitively.

Dr. Lindvig competed internationally in eventing, sort of a triathlon for horse sports involving dressage, show jumping and cross country.

“I grew up taking care of animals,” she said. “I was in tune with their care and very familiar with veterinarian medicine. However, I wanted to do more and help my fellow man, so that led me down the path of human medicine,” she said.

Through the equestrian world, she met a lot of excellent mentors, including different specialists whom she was able to shadow.

As a young adult, Dr. Lindvig volunteered at Thorncroft Therapeutic Riding Center in Chester County, one of the nation’s premier therapeutic equestrian centers.

Thorncroft specializes in adaptive/therapeutic and recreational horseback riding lessons for children and adults with mental, emotional and physical disabilities. That experience also influenced her decision to enter medicine.

“Enriching and helping people maintain a quality of life and seeing the cause and effect from working in a therapeutic environment, made me realize if I’m going to study and help, I should probably help people.”

A Focus on Feet and Ankles

In medical school, she found that she enjoyed podiatry, describing it as a wonderful surgical specialty that keeps people moving on their feet, enriching their quality of life.

“People don’t appreciate their feet and ankles until they have a problem, and then they realize it impacts every aspect of their life,” she said. “Even waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Foot and ankle problems can affect people’s jobs, what they like to do for fun, spending time with the family and exercising. You need two good feet to stand on.”

Dr. Lindvig said people can significantly reduce their risk of foot and ankle problems in several ways.

Good hygiene and wearing shoes in public places can prevent nail fungus and athlete’s foot. Wearing supportive shoes and avoiding high heels, flip-flops and crocs can reduce the risk of developing foot conditions and injuries.

By stretching, people can reduce their risk of tendonitis and plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the fibrous tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes.

“It’s not just the foot and ankle, it’s the entire lower extremity,” she said. “So, stretching the calves, hamstrings and quads is important. It’s all the same kinetic chain. Everything’s connected. People don’t realize how stretching, in and of itself, is vital in keeping all the structures moving properly so you don’t have a displacement of the force of a joint that can then become injured or cause a problem.”

Dr. Lindvig spent much of her life keeping prized horses in tiptop shape. Now, she is happy helping people stay on their feet.