I came here bc of the google reviews that were positive. I have taken a while to review Dr. Waldman since my appt bc I do not believe in negative reviews. However, now that time has passed, I want to save people time from going to Dr. W as I would have liked to know about this myself.
Dr. Daniel L. Waldman (Dr. W going forward). Yes, he is friendly. We spent more time talking about his vacation to CA Joshua tree than my feet. Waited 30 min for my appt both times. We talked about his vacation for a good 10+ minutes, the focus was not on my feet. I was already late for work. He pushes his modalities on you without investigating what is going on or finding the root cause.
In regards to the Xrays- Dr. W said is 'you have high arches'. My reply was that I have never had high arches and have very flat feet. He said 'that is not what the Xray shows.' I told him how had to balance myself standing during the Xray bc the tech has you standing on different levels with your feet so I am not surprised that the Xray is wrong. Instead of doing NEW Xrays- which would be ACCURATE, he says 'Oh well, I don't need them, I'll use my ultrasound machine'. This is lazy and inaccurate information in *my medical chart*. THE WORST the X-rays were part of a $1400 bill to my insurance! The incorrect X-rays are in my chart and Dr. W got money for them. I should at least have accurate X-rays in my chart. Not only is this lazy, this is affecting my health records. Unacceptable.
The orthotic are unusable. They are too short in length and ones bought on amazon offer more support. He declares you get one free pair a year (check w/ your insurance). After the X-rays issue above, the orthotics are another way for Dr W to bill my insurance. The ones I have gotten online are better support and the right fit and much less $.
I asked Dr W if he could recommend exercises and stretches for my plantar fasciitis. He said that exercises and stretches DO NOTHING and that what I need are cortisone shots. Later after my appointment of inaccurate X-rays and not looking at my shoes, or gait I found 100s of peer reviewed science articles on the relationship between tight calves and planter fasciitis, between knee issues and plantar fasciitis and that PT and exercises and stretching can definitely help with plantar fasciitis. It would appear that Dr W just wants to bill for those cortisone shots and his laser therapy machines. If he taught me to take care of my heel with PT and stretching, where would that $1400 bill go to my insurance? I would be cured without the need to keep using his machines and cortisone shots.
I got more help from Joint Chiropractic that Dr W. The Joint looked at me walking (DR W DID NOT), they looked at my shoes (Dr W DID NOT), they looked at my movement of my foot (Dr W DID NOT) and they found it was stuck in a position that was pulling my leg muscles. They gave me a few stretches and exercises and the adjustment they did gave me a lot of pain relief from the plantar fasciitis. Dr. W just decided without looking at my gait, foot etc that he knew what the problem was bc of my swollen heel. It turns out that this is just a symptom of systemic issues, so treating how my knees are tracking, how my calves are too tight etc would get the plantar fascia to heel. He just wants to treat the pain, not address what is causing it.
I did a lot of research on Drs before going to Dr. W in Feb 2023. He is getting by by prescribing catch all treatments without personalized care and being nice! He has lots of older people in his office who are doing his laser treatments. Do not support this type of Doctor. The worst part about our medical care these days is the amount of people who review Dr. W as nice. As if they are so desperate to have a nice Dr that proper medical treatment doesn't matter.
Additionally, the office- it smells moldy. The dark paneling is super dirty and baseboards and floor are FILTHY. I did not even want to take my shoes off to touch that carpet and floor.
If you are proactive about your foot issue and want to do exercises to heal or get to root cause, do not go to Dr Waldman. He is relying on the lazy way out for patients that pays for all his machines he has invested in that you are helping pay off. Don't bother doing anything on your end as a patient (ie lose weight, lower inflammation in your life, do PT exercises, get different shoes), instead just be reliant on cortisone shots and laser treatment. Read about how long you can do cortisone shots before causing tissue damage while you are at it.
I am sure his response will be something mundane and not address these issues, or say he does not 'recognize' me by my handle but you all know how reviews work so please save yourself the time and find a good Dr with a clean office who is interested in helping you with the root cause and actually helping you heal instead of cluelessly bragging about his expensive vacation to Joshua tree. read more
