Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Associates PC

Summary — Don’t see this guy, you will be lucky to get 5 – 10 minutes of consultation time, many questions left unanswered, and questionable treatment protocols. I visited him 4 times in the past month, each time with more and more questions unanswered.
I tweaked my lower back and saw Dr. G. on short notice. He gave me steroids, muscle relaxants, and an appointment for a follow-​up visit in 10 days. I still had some pain so we did an x-​ray, then an MRI. The imaging showed disc herniations. The treatment plan was three epidural shots over 45 days then 9 sessions of PT. The doctor mentioned very briefly that I wouldn’t be able to train during treatment. I called back to clarify exactly my restrictions, and the receptionist intercepted my inquiries and advised no weight training. According to her, basically the only thing I could do is geriatric «exercise», like walking laps in a mall. I’m a male in my late twenties, btw.
After a month of being sedentary, I was anxious and sad without having an idea of when I would be able to return to training. The last straw with Dr. G. was on my last visit, when I came with a pad and pen to write down all my questions beforehand to ensure that he answered them. During this visit he gave me 4 daily exercises w/​reps of 30. All four seemed totally bogus, with one of them being clearly a bad idea, as «knees to chest» causes lumbar flexion, resulting in compressive force on my herniated discs in the direction of the protrusion. One of his receptionists popped her head into the exam room to inform that another doctor had called him. I told him to answer it as I would just stay and read over my notes. Dr. G left the room, answered the phone, then started with another patient, meanwhile I still had some big questions left about my condition that I would then have to deal with getting answered by his receptionist.
Receptionists are not medical professionals. I am paying to to get consultation with Dr. G, not the receptionists.
I tried his exercises at home just to confirm the silly BS. I stopped after 15 reps of each exercise as clenching my butt, forcing my knees to my chest, turning my feet outside and in, and raising my leg against a wall for hamstring stretch did NOT do anything to alleviate sciatica, much less heal my discs.
I paid a $ 15 ($ 10 «search and retrieval» fee + $ 0.50/page) for my medical records, which comprised of 10 pages and excluded my x-​ray, which they were going to charge me $ 30 per page because they want to keep copies of it for themselves. Dr. G indicated that he saw me for 30+ and 40+ minutes on the during the last two visits. Total lies, unless he was counting the time from which my car entered the building’s parking lot.
I took my MRI and Dr G’s records to another orthopedist who specializes in spine surgery. The doctor reviewed the MRI images for a few minutes while I explained to him my past treatment w/​Dr. G. Before this new doc even performed a physical examination, he told me that I will be able to leave his office without any physical restrictions. Confused, surprised, and elated, I asked him if I needed to worry about compressive loads on my discs in a 250 – 300 lb barbell squat, and assured me that I will be fine. He said one of 3000 patients in my condition will have a worsened condition due to activity, and that my disc issues are due to genetics and not activity. He said I won’t need the next two epidural shots that Dr. G prescribed me, that he regrets that I saw the MRI because it causes people to focus too much on it, that I definitely won’t need surgery, that I don’t need to continue taking the muscle relaxant previously prescribed to me. He even gave me a physican’s order indicating «patient is able to exercise regularly». The patient experience was night and day in comparison to Dr. G. My list of 11 questions were answered fully within the first 5 minutes of consultation.
I tested his advice the next day with an 8-​mile hike in Shenandoah, and then a regular barbell training session the day after w/​heavy squats and deadlifts. Zero issues, no sciatica. Goes to show how much your mental state can affect how you feel physically. I hope I never rum into another doctor like Dr. G again.

Dr Gaertner is a fast talker but he is pretty thorough. Just slow him down and make sure he takes the time you need. He did my knee and shoulder, so far so good

I’ve been reading a lot of the posts on here, and don’t see anything positive. That’s just flat out stupid. I’m going to offer some kind words here, to show people that will review the other posts, that some people may be too mean to function.
I’ve been a patient of Dr. Gaertner’s since about two years ago. Torn MCL, and he drained my knee. More recently, I went to him for some chronic pain in my lower back and neck, and after he diagnosed me with some disk herniation and bone spurs, he started treating me for it, with some muscle relaxers, steroids, and pain killers for when it’s really bad. Dr. Gaertner knew that I wanted to avoid surgery, so he’s been approaching my treatments, accordingly. I’ve started physical therapy, and some steroid injections. I’m already feeling better.
So, that covers his professional abilities… at least touches on them… Additionally, he wouldn’t be such an accredited physician, if he wasn’t capable. I think, that the scathing reviews are just from patients who, maybe, didn’t take the right steps after surgery, or maybe were looking for something to complain about, because they just plain suck!
And finally, for those of the folks who decided that it was okay to make rude comments, about the office staff: These ladies are the sweetest, most considerate, and caring people of any office staff I’ve ever encountered. Penny, the lovely lady that she is, called my cell one day, just to check and see how I was doing. She, also, took the time to ask about my sister, as she wasn’t doing well. Yeah, that’s the typical mean office staff for you.
Meghan is awesome, and always gentle. Jessica is amazingly sweet and always makes you feel, as with the rest of the staff, that you’re a valued patient. No exceptions, they are all very lovely people, and those who have complained, should really regroup, and ask for forgiveness for writing such horrible things about a great group of people.
In closing, I hope that this helps future patients (as everyone should go to Dr. Gaertner for treatment), realize that it take two to tango and heal… You can’t have surgery, and then avoid healing and pain management. Doctor’s aren’t mind readers, although Dr. Gaertner is damned close. Consultation can’t be guesswork; you HAVE TO talk to your doctor and let them know what’s going on, at all times. I hope that this helps some folks out. I also hope that Dr. Gaertner, and his wonderful staff, get more, positive comments posted, from now on. God knows, they truly deserve them. Otherwise, I’m going to stand outside of their front door, as a bouncer for the bad ones out there. You’re gonna have to get through me first…
Respectfully,
Rooney

I had the same experience. Went in with a knee injury, he took an X-​ray, spent 2 minutes with me and rushed out before i could ask questions, gave me pills and sent me on my way. Next appointment, same thing except more pills and wanted to schedule an MRI if it wasn’t healed in 6 days. No one heals from an injury in 6 days. I’m going to another doctor. I’ve been to quite a few doctors and he’s one of the worst. I would give this 0 stars if i could.

I agree with Tom K. completely. Although Dr. Gaertner has a lot of experience he is in too big of a hurry to fully consider your injury and proper procedure. He’s done it so much he just assumes he knows what is going on without actually listening to the patient. In my 15 or so office visits I don’t think I spent more than two minutes in the same room with him at any time.
I went to see him for tendinitis in my elbow. He shot it full of cortisone several times and I took it easy on it for a long time. It wouldn’t heal. Finally decided on surgery. It was good for a bit but I’ve had a lot of inflamation (now 1.5 years later). I’ve recently had it x-​rayed and there is a bunch of surgery related debris in my arm causing all kinds of issues. I have a lot of pain every day… pretty much any activity will make it flare up.
Unfortunately, the doctor is too busy to spend time with patients and now that I see the result of my surgery, I question his abilities as well.
I would seek out a different doctor. Experience doesn’t necessarily equate to professionalism or ability.

I would give this guy 0 stars if I could.
In early July of 2005, I severely hurt my ankle playing basketball. A friend of mine had gone to Gaertner before and liked him, so I decided to use him as my doctor for the ankle injury.
The first time I went in, we got x-​rays and such, and he told me that I had fractured my fibula and tibia. No big deal he said. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for it to completely heal. I asked if that was reasonable or optimistic, because I was planning on a 2 week vacation in September that would require LOTS of walking. He reiterated that it would be 6 – 8 weeks, and said that I should have no problems with my vacation.
My foot was put in a boot, and he told me that there would be no issues with putting regular weight on the foot. Crutches were optional.
After 3 weeks or so, my foot was still swollen like an inflated surgical glove and completely black and blue so I went back to the office. This time, he barely let me speak. He was in and out so fast that I thought he was doing a roadrunner impression, complete with the cloud of dust. Everything was fine, he said, nothing to worry about.
The same thing happened around 6 weeks after the injury. I canceled my vacation because it was obvious to me that I would not be able to walk, but he still claimed everything was fine.
After about 8 weeks, I went back and it was the same roadrunner impression. He was in and out before I had a chance to say a word. I went after him and told him that he was wrong and to take a minute and look at my foot. He came back and spent a minute looking at my foot, which was still severely swollen and bruised. He said something like «ooooh, that doesn’t look right» and said that a cortisone injection would fix everything up.
After another couple of weeks, nothing had changed. This time, he said he didn’t know what was wrong and sent me to his friend who is an ankle specialist at Georgetown University Hospital. Over there, they told me they were not sure that I ever had fractures in my fibula or tibia, but that I had a deep bone bruise. They weren’t sure if the treatment of the past 10 weeks had been correct or not, but told me that a deep bone bruise would take a year to heal. I listened as this doctor called Gaertner on the phone and the two of them argued about the diagnosis.
It’s now been almost 3 years. I’ve been to 4 ankle specialists and had more X-​rays, MRIs, and CT scans than anyone should. Simple walking causes my ankle to severely swell. Flight on an airplane? Giant ankle. Jump up and down even one time? Giant ankle. Forget about any kind of sports. I can no longer play soccer, basketball, or competitive tennis.
I truly believe that all of this could have been prevented if Gaertner spent more than 1 minute with me during each visit, actually examined my ankle in detail, or actually let me tell him what I felt. His rush job has more than likely caused permanent damage (as none of the other specialists I have seen have been able to fix the problem). I regret that I did not sue him for medical malpractice :(
07÷25÷08 Update:
In continuing to try to treat my ankle pain, I’ve seen a couple of pain therapists over the past month. When I mentioned some of the doctors I had seen (Steven Neufeld, Charles Jackson, etc), they both said that that’s the cream of the crop when it comes to ankle problems. When I mentioned Richard Gaertner, both of them cringed. One said that his wife had seen Gaertner many years ago (before they had met) and that Gaertner’s treatment had seriously damaged a shoulder. These two doctors are both considered «alternative», but you can take their words however you like…