Steven S Isono, M.D.

Let me qualify myself. I played basketball for the number 1 team in the country in high school. Division 1 scholarship. Played professionally in Europe. Have been to dozens of doctors over the years. I injured my knee. Went to 2 high profile orthos in bay area. Both got it wrong wanted to cut me. Went to see Dr. Isono. He spent over an hour with me and explained everything down to the detail. No surgery. He spends an inordinate amount of time with his patients.
Same thing happened with my son who goes to kaiser. On multiple occasions we have gone to kaiser and have had him diagnosed, along with xrays or mri’s (so far they have been wrong as far as specific detailed diagnosis with proper rehab treatment.), we then go to Dr. Isono for the proper FULL diagnosis and treatment. He’s always spot on. Kaiser is good for getting xrays, mri’s etc at no or low cost. They have good doctors but when you are injured you want the best for diagnosis and especially for treatment. In all «fairness» to kaiser it’s like having a government worker working on you and having the best highly skilled individual from the private sector working on you. I did have «highly skilled» private sector ortho’s consult me and they were dead wrong. So it’s not just kaiser who’s a mile behind Dr. Isono.
Diane who handles all of Dr. Isono’s patients with scheduling and much much more is extremely helpful in working you into the lineup especially if you have an urgent issue. She’s kind and pleasant to talk and a consummate professional which just add’s to the already high level of professionalism in this office.
If you want a doctor who talks to you, genuinely cares and is the best in this field you need to go see him. If he’s good enough for the Golden State Warriors that says it all.
He does not take insurance but you can submit the receipt to your insurance for credit. Even if you have to come out of pocket it will be the best money you ever spent. I can’t imagine anyone who has gone to see him and doesn’t feel the same way I do… and no were not related.
He is the standard by which all doctors should attempt to emulate.

Good bedside manners. attentive. trustworthy. understands how to work with patients.

Been seeing Dr. Isono off/​on for over twenty years… gasp. He is one of the finest orthopedic surgeons in the Bay Area, or, anywhere. He is straightforward, talented, humble and knows his stuff. He is a gifted physician. Makes every office visit as pleasant and informative as can be. And, yes, he should write a book on «Bedside Manners for Doctors.» Wish there were more doctors like him!

Where do I start other than to say that Dr. Isono is by far the best doctor that I (and my friends) have ever experienced.
A good friend of mine recommended Dr. Isono after he repaired her knee injury. From the first moment I met him, I knew he was a special doctor — one that every doctor should observe and emulate when it comes to listening to and caring for their patients. He spent the first half of my initial app’t genuinely listening to and getting to know me, and then spent the second half examining my shoulder and explaining to me in great detail what was wrong. After my MRI, we met up again to discuss the results. I am a scientist and do a lot of biomedical imaging (though only on mice), thus this appointment was a lot of fun as we reviewed the images together. I had reviewed the images before our visit so he was curious to know if I had found anything and what I thought it was. :-) As many have already stated, his approach is conservative and only recommends surgery if it is truly needed and he believes he can fix it. After a few months of PT, one 5-​day course of prednisone, and one steroid injection, he ultimately performed surgery to repair a classic SLAP tear in my right shoulder. My surgery was done at the Webster Surgery Center and my experience there was also wonderful. I have had a few other outpatient surgeries and this place was by far and away the best experience that I have ever had. All of the staff there, from the nurses to the anesthesiologist, were awesome! If you’ve ever had outpatient surgery, most places rush you out the door when you are still half asleep. Not this place; they truly cared for me and made sure that my vitals were all stable before they released me. One other thing about Dr. Isono that pleasantly surprised me was that he prefers to schedule his surgeries first thing Monday mornings since the rooms have been under UV lights all weekend. That’s the first time I have ever heard a doctor/​surgeon take that type of precaution as their norm and that is just truly awesome!
Following my surgery, the care and amount of time that Dr. Isono has dedicated to me has been by far and away the most special to me. I had a post-​surgical complication that I will stress upfront was NO fault of Dr. Isono’s or his staff. Stuff happens from time to time for no explicable reason, and as my friends can attest to, this sort of thing always seems to happen to me. Dr. Isono was by my side (either in person or on the phone) throughout the whole ordeal, and at times of the day you would never expect it. I do not think any other doctor would have shown this much genuine care and concern the way that he did, and that is what makes him so special, both as a doctor and as a person.
Importantly — how is my shoulder post-​surgery? Well, let’s just say that he did an AMAZING job! I have been his patient for ~9 months now (~5.5 months post-​surgery) and continue to meet with him monthly as my shoulder PT/​rehab continues. I actually look forward to my visits with him because we always have a good discussion & lots of laughs. How many doctor visits can one ever say that about? And as an added bonus, his assistant, Diane, is also a wonderfully kind and caring person.
When you have any thing health-​related, you want to go to the best and that is what you get with Dr. Isono. You want to be seen and listened to as a person; that requires a lot of time on his part and he gladly gives it. Being a private doctor outside of Stanford affords him very unique opportunities and experiences that continually shape him as a doctor and a person. And that translates into a very unique and special doctor/​patient relationship. As professionals, our reputations are critically important to us. Dr. Isono has rightfully garnered his stellar reputation through his technical prowess as well as his kind-​hearted and humble nature. He is a straight shooter that will give you an accurate evaluation, not perform unnecessary procedures, and importantly, never make promises he cannot keep. You may not always like his prognosis, but a truthful one is far better than an empty promise. I am truly grateful to Dr. Isono for all that he has done for me. I whole-​heartedly recommend him if you’re ever in need of an orthopedic surgeon!

Wish we could give him 500 stars. Amazing person, amazing surgeon. The best. Great staff in his office too. Couldn’t have been more personable or helpful.

Dr. Isono is top notch! I friendly and personable guy who really takes his time to explain your injury in detail so you can understand what is going on. I can confirm what others said is that he treats conservatively. Recommended physical therapy for my shoulder injury and over the counter NSAID before considering other treatments (i.e. cortisone injections, surgery).
I gladly pay out of pocket for this level of care which compared to the impersonal, extremely rushed and sometimes incompetent care I’ve received in one of the large group orthopedic practices with multiple offices is night and day!

My husband has been a patient of Dr. Isono’s for a very long time. He was recommended by a friend of mine after knee surgery. Though my husband’s issues are his shoulders, the out come is just as favorable. Both men are happy they found the doctor.
Dr. Isono, as so many have written, is a great doctor, but more importantly he is a great person. His ability to care for his patient’s both surgically and none surgically is amazing. That and his caring for those who otherwise wouldn’t get the quality of care he offers puts him above the rest.
I would strongly recommend him to anyone who needs his type of specialties. Any age from the young person to us older adults. He has a bed side manner that puts at ease and explains everything. Then follows up with the best care possible.
All I can say is Thank You Dr. Isono!

Dr. Isono is a team orthopaedist for the Oakland Warriors (aka Golden State Warriors). I know nothing about basketball, but I figure if he’s good enough for million dollar players, an active person like me must be as easy as making a slam dunk on an elementary school hoop when it’s on the ground… with a tennis ball.
When I hear «surgeon», I think knives. «Surgeons love to cut» is something I hear over and over when dealing with family medical issues, and it’s largely true (I’ve never been to s surgeon’s home for Thanksgiving, but I bet it’s impressive what they can do to a turkey). From what I’ve read online from podiatry websites, I was prepared to be inactive for months due to foot pain from track workouts I’ve been experiencing. I was very pleased when Dr. Isono explained all the possible solutions, even what was done in the past and why certain methods are no longer practiced. He took the time to write down all my activities (there are a lot), he jotted down how fast I run 800 meters, 5k, what direction I run, the brands/​model of shoes I wear, how often I replace them, and when I do what and for how long; he even measured my leg muscles to make sure they were balanced. Dr. Isono understands sports and active people – in the past I’ve been disappointed by doctors who listen to me with one hand on their prescription pad. His pad was a sheet of blank paper where he diagrammed why I have pain and how to overcome it – no blades, no pain killers, no deep sighs of why I must exercise so much (it’s because I like french fries and doughnuts, but that’s just between you and me).
I was pleased that my treatment plan did not require me to stop all activity, that would just make me rusty and bring more pain in the future. I was asked to do 25% less of a certain activity, cross train with that extra time, return to shoes I’m familiar with, and do more yoga. Who the heck prescribes more yoga? Dr. Awesome Isono is who.
I really like the spacious waiting room too, lots of comfy furniture, tropical fish in a big tank, sports memorabilia, and magazine clippings displaying the doctor’s accolades.

Dr. Isono is fabulous. A few years ago, he found a small tear in my shoulder MRI that the other doctors had missed, and prescribed some exercises that got it under control without surgery. He also spends real time in the office with you when you visit — not 10 – 15 minutes like most doctors. He’s justifiably famous, too, being a doctor for the US Olympic teams, the A’s, and local schools.
More recently, I went back after overdoing it during swimming practice. Due to my stupidity I arrived on the wrong date for my appointment, and he was willing to see me anyway. A great guy!

My 15-​year old son and I both saw Dr. Isono for shoulder pain, after about 8 months of pain for me and perhaps 6 weeks for my son.
We do Brazilian jiu jitsu and I was worried that an orthopedist would ask us to stop, though the pain had already significantly curtailed our practice. I was very relieved to see that Dr. Isono’s office was decorated with judogis. It turned out that Dr. Isono is not just a former judoka, but also the orthopedist for USA Judo, for national teams in a few other sports, and for some world-​class individual athletes.
He had a great bed-​side manner, explained what he was doing and why, and was very conservative in his treatment. He was not inclined toward surgery or even cortisone injections until we had tried a course of physical therapy. His office was also extraordinarily professional; they followed up with us and with the PT to whom they referred us, and helped me with the insurance forms (Dr. Isono is not in any network, so we had to apply for reimbursement).
By the way, my son’s pediatrician gave Dr. Isono her highest recommendation. She said that many otherwise qualified orthopedists don’t understand the differences among children, teens, and adults.
By the way, his office is now in downtown Oakland, not in Emeryville.

Dr. Isono is outstanding. I recommend him without reservation.

If I could rate Dr. Isono higher, I would. I was recommended to Dr. Isono by a professional dancer who said he repaired her chronically torn shoulder. Six months earlier I had an ice skating accident that had been misdiagnosed (and thus I had been given the wrong PT) by three other orthopedic surgeons (yes, I will mention them by name, tell how they misdiagnosed me and dismissed my pain, and aggravated all symptoms and healing by their malpractice). I had been living with the pain when this friend insisted I see Dr. Isono; I declined, saying I had already been to three doctors, including the emergency room doc. She said Dr. Isono saved her life and he would change mine, too, and that if he didn’t, she would pay for my appointment.
I went to see Dr. Isono and at the first appointment he looked at my x-​rays and told me exactly what happened, what my symptoms were, and what I needed to do within 10 minutes. In addition to dislocating my shoulder, he pointed out that my shoulder bone BROKE; three prior orthopedic surgeons caught the fracture and it was now healing incorrectly (and thus the pain), so Dr. Isono gave me a course of action to heal, gym time, PT. Had I gone to see Dr. Isono immediately after my accident, he would have operated on my shoulder to pin it correctly into place. As it has healed now, this shoulder is shorter than the socket should be, thanks to the other doctors’ missed diagnoses.
Yes, he doesn’t take insurance off the bat, but if you have a good PPO, the reimbursement is worth it. Your health, body, and mind will thank you. Just as an aside, Dr. Isono has the finest bedside manner of any doctor I have ever met. Kind, personable, humorous; it may be because he deals with a lot of famous athletes (I had to get that info from his front office; he’s too discreet).

I had an acl reconstruction 2 years ago with Dr. Isono and it feels like I never had surgery. I am now recovering from a meniscus repair on my other knee and expect another great recovery. As stated in other reviews, Dr. Isono is the warmest, compassionate doctor one could have and spends a good half hour on his visits with you. With this last surgery, he told me 5 things he did to make the procedure as low impact as possible. Yes, initial consults are charged as $ 300 but it’s still useful to discuss your insurance with his billing department. They are very understanding and willing to work with you. Bring your MRI in for a second opinion. Dr. Isono will never push surgery and will recommend physical therapists he trusts to aid in your rehab.

Doc Isono has been helping me out with my football injuries for the last three years. Thanks to doc I’ve avoided surgery for both a dislocated shoulder and kneecap, he’s a great guy he’s made special trips to Laney College where I play just to see me. He’s a highly knowledgeable doctor who cares about his patients and their wallets, he won’t recommend anything you don’t absolutely need, he’s saved me thousands of dollars and months of recovery time. If you’re a bay area athlete you have to see this guy. I’ve heard horror stories about how painful it is to get your knee drained, I got my knee drained by him and it was painless. Why you ask? Because he took the time to do it right. Great guy, great doctor.

I had a physically demanding job when a double knee injury brought me to a halt. Another orthopedist’s surgery created new problems, and that doctor told me to reduce my expectations.
When I saw Dr. Isono, he listened, then quickly identified the problem and a course of action to give me my life back. In my case, surgery was necessary, and his was perfectly successful.
More recently, after another doctor’s shoulder surgery failed, I knew that I could trust Dr. Isono to tell me what was what. Again, he quickly identified the problem, and suggested the best doctor he knew within my health plan network.
Aside from his surgical excellence, Dr. Isono is frank, respects his patients, their circumstances and what they can tell him. I wish there were more like him.

This is the best orthopedist!
I have been going to Dr. Isono for at least 30 years! He has always managed to diagnose and provide proper treatment for all my injuries. I have been to several other orthopedist throughout the years, but always end up back in Dr. Isono’s office. The others have often misdiagnosed and provided improper treatment. When their treatment has not helped, I have always ended up back at Dr. Isono’s office.
I am a very active person and I feel that he understands the athlete. I was a competitive gymnast in high school and now participate in all different kinds of sports from running, biking (mountain and road), triathlons, rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, etc. Dr. Isono has always been able to keep me active and healthy.
In addition to his skill in medicine. He is wonderful at explaining findings and treatment to his patients. He definitely takes the time to explain all his findings and reasoning. He answers all questions until you are satisfied with the answers. I always expect to spend about 30 minutes in his office. And, that is not sitting in the waiting room or in a treatment room. That is face to face with Dr. Isono.
His staff is friendly and helpful. He has always been on time (within 5 min) of my scheduled appointments.
I have never met a physician that I feel is more deserving of praise and accolades than Dr. Isono. If I could give him more than 5 stars I would. It really pays to have a great orthopedist! A bad one can waste time, money and your health!

Dr. Isono is caring, personable and most of all an excellent surgeon. He repaired my totally torn rotator cuff and then gave me enough physical therapy sessions to bring my shoulder back to 100%.
A few years later, I developed extreme arthritis in my left foot and went to see Dr. Isono for a diagnosis. He referred me to a foot specialist who gave me the specific surgery I needed; it took 2 years to fully recover, but I’m back to normal. The referred surgeon knew his work, but he is no Dr. Isono. Absolutely no bedside manner and could care less about your circumstances.
The last visit I made to Dr. Isono was for a torn miniscus in my left knee. Dr. Isono ordered an MRI and then assessed that I could be cured without surgery! He ordered physical therapy and I am now pain free.
I have the utmost respect for Dr. Isono. He is down to earth, will tell you like it is, but is compassionate and professional. He will fix you up himself if he can, refer you to someone else if needed and will not do surgery unless it is warranted. He’s the best, and I highly recommend him.

I went to see Dr. Isono after having seen two other orthopedic surgeons, both very well respected and highly recommended. The first doctor I saw over two appointments — the total of the time spent with me by him was less than ten minutes, and I waited over an hour for the appointment. Regardless of his credentials, I don’t need to put up with that. The second doctor was very approachable, spent a lot of time with me, but I had some reservations about the surgical procedures she was recommending, so I sought out Dr. Isono.
I have a complete tear of a previously reconstructed ACL along with meniscus and cartilage damage. Dr. Isono reviewed the MRI’s and Xrays that I brought along with me, gave me an exam and spent a long time reviewing both and going over various surgical possibilities. He is extremely intelligent without being either condescending nor arrogant. His reputation is outstanding within the medical community. I was completely impressed with his manner and the way in which he communicated.
I’m definitely middle age (if I live a long long time), and am still very active. I play high level competitive sports, and particpate in relatively demanding recreational sport activities as well. My priority is to be as good after surgery as I was before my injury. Dr. Isono accepted that as a goal and provided me with objective assessments as to what could likely be accomplished as well as what was not possible to attain either surgically or through rehab protocol.
I recommend Dr. Isono unequivocally for orthopedic issues regarding the knee.

Awesome Doc!

I AM a physician, prior collegiate level athlete, and current very active person as well, recently saw Dr Isono on a referral for some knee issues that have been nagging me.
Dr Isono has terrific bedside manner, really takes the time to explain what he’s thinking regarding your diagnosis and is VERY approachable.
I thankfully have a non-​surgical issue but my ortho colleagues and others definitely believe he truly is an excellent surgeon.
Definitely well deserving of 5 stars…