If you want straight answers, Dr. Pete will give them to you. He is very meticulous in his examinations, and if it is only a shoe insert you can buy at Walmart, he will tell you so. Our son is having surgery in May for a hammer toe and we trust him implicily! He wanted the surgery to be over the sumer when he was not in college, so our son would be close by and he could monitor the healing of the toe. I would recommend him to anyone.