Curalta Foot + Ankle - Piscataway — Local services in Piscataway Township

Giving one star since they “tried” to go out of their way to help with number of issues I had which in the end was never resolved. Took total of 4 separate instances for me to write this review.

1. I had pain in my left foot where I couldn’t walk. Decided to go to Dr. K in Hillsboro office. Got the treatment and bed rest for 6 to 8 weeks. On the follow up visit in the piscataway office I was advised to get new orthotics. Placed order for two pairs. They billed the insurance and got paid for them upfront. When I went to pick them up, received one full size pair for my sneakers. The other pair of orthotics was for my dress shoes which was half the size and wasn’t wide enough to stay stable in multiple dress shoes I own. On the next follow up I raised this as a concern of mine and Dr. Schafer decided to take an off the shelf pair of Scholes and gave them to me and told me to keep the smaller pair (as if i was going to be able to use it and if it was a favor to me). At the time I didn’t make a issue of it and left.

2. foot pain started again after some time (multiple months). Went again and saw Dr. Shafer for treatment. Same deal again with bed rest. By now my original orthotics (the pair for sneakers) has a tear in them and based on the communications from the office they were supposed to last 4 to 5 years. During the time of these visits, I was given laser treatments and advised to order new orthotics which were supposed to be better. I caved in, even with high cost of over $400 (didn’t pay full amount though - more about it below). I was supposed to pick them up in a few weeks which leads to 3rd incident.

3. I went to my appointment to try out the new orthotics. Since I worked in NYC at the time, I took a day off and used a PTO day. When I arrived at the office, the staff couldn’t find my pair. This is after them calling me to confirm my appointment as well as texting me about it and also asking me to bring the shoes I current wear. Extremely disappointed at this point that I had to cough up this much money and had to take a day off to not be able to have what I paid for. They finally had my orthotics in the office after about a month later. And again another PTO day. I could have used two PTO days for a nice long weekend. Only positive from this visit was Amanda, who kindly took off the remainder of about $250 (approximately 200 for the scholes and $50 or so for the appointment after insurance payment) which was part of the final payment for this new pair of orthotics.

4). Finally my original orthotics (with a tear in them), were fixed and in the office around July 2019. Unfortunately I was away on business trip and couldn’t picks them up. I asked them if they can ship them and I was willing to pay for the shipping. I was informed that I would have to come in to try them out. I agreed and made an appointment for 11/8/2019 when My schedule first permitted. I went to piscataway office to pick them up, and instead of them taking me in to try them on or ask about how my other pair was, the front desk handed me a paper and asked me to sing and I was good to go. Mind boggled at this point.

Considering two PTO days and all of the headache, it wasn’t worth it at all. Here is the bigger kicker. I asked Dr. shafer what shoes he would recommend (during the third instance above) and I was advised to buy pair of brooks. Switched out number of shoes I owned and found out that the reoccurring foot issue was the narrow tip dress shoes I had owned. Very fortunate that I have’t had pain with or without orthotics this office provided after switching out several pairs of shoes I owned. Only if this was sooner

I am also uploading two pictures of the original pair of orthotics that this office fixed for me. The edges where the softer cushion is affixed to the harder scholes were not even glued properly.

Extremely disappointed. I would ask that you...

Before I go into talking about my experience with Dr. Schaeffer I first want to acknowledge two employees of his because I saw them first when I walked in as a new patient. I went into the Piscataway office in Nj on a Saturday morning and I spoke with the receptionist Ashley. She was such a doll, very caring, understanding and just an absolute pleasant person to talk too. Mike was the other employee that lead me into the room I’d be in to meet Dr. Schaeffer along with taking the x-rays and all of both my feet. He too was very pleasant and funny. Seeing these two employees enjoying the fact that they work there is very important to me because it shows this to be an awesome place to go as a patient with concerns, they both made me feel at ease and I loved that. If you both are reading this I just wanted to thank you for an awesome first impression of the place itself.

Now as far as my personal experience with Dr. Schaeffer, I totally recommend Dr. Schaeffer for multiple reasons, but first I’d like to start by saying why I went to see him in the first place. My family have a history of bunions from mother’s side and I too have them on both of my feet. My mother let hers go and now she has hummer toe so I needed to get them checked out in hopes I can take care of mine before that happens. Thanks to watching the tv show “ My Feet are Killing Me “ I noticed that out of the two Drs Dr. Schaeffer was the closest to me because I live in NJ.

Not only is he very attractive, my age 36, and very successful in full filling his career as a foot and ankle specialist he also has a great personality and I totally felt comfortable that he was being truthful as to what I needed to do in my situation. Turns out he felt surgery was unnecessary for me and that insoles were my best option. When I asked why he felt this way he gave me some knowledge and an excellent example to open my eyes and realize he was correct.

He mentioned that because I’m 36 years old thinking that if hey I get this surgery I can bounce back easier then if I’m much older then I wouldn’t have to worry about my bunions in the future but I didn’t know that as you age bones and things start shifting and I would possibly have to go through that surgery again so if my feet don’t seem that bad and there could be other options to try why not try other things first? I thought that was so awesome that he explained that to me because I never thought about my bones and things shifting as I age. At that point I felt like he was a good friend giving me some great advice.

His example was also excellent. He gave me a scenario where if he was back in school and he was taking an exam with only asking one question referring to my situation as a patient asking to say either a yes or no to me having surgery and he put yes he would fail that exam. That was a brilliant explanation and example as to why I should try other things first.

For these reasons and without hesitation, you bet I’d recommend Dr. Schaeffer as the Dr. to see for any foot or...

I presented to Family Foot and Ankle Specialists with an injury to my left foot and ankle. Never received an x-ray for my injury but instead was given a soft cast, walking boot, anti-inflammatory (two different), compression sleeve and laser therapy ($400 dollar out of pocket charge, not covered by insurance) for Peroneal Tendonitis. When my symptoms worsened, I spoke with Dr. Schaeffer who said, “listen I don’t know but I promise we will get down to the bottom of this” and ordered an MRI (finally after 8 weeks). I went to my appointment to review my MRI results still experiencing 10/10 pain and was told “this is a clean MRI report, so maybe consider seeing a neurologist.” I asked him about the Radiologists findings of a rare accessory muscle, and instead of looking at the images he said “Radiologists find things, and just put whatever in their report sometimes, I never heard of it, so I doubt you have it” He also told me that the reported thinning of the ATFL is normal and its from rolling our ankles when were kids. It is also worth noting that the radiologist reported that the peroneal tendons presented normal and did not show signs of injury past or present (so much for peroneal tendonitis that I paid $400 dollars to “heal” with laser therapy). In a last-ditch effort to make me feel better, and like he wasn’t brushing me off, he put his hand to his chest and said, “I know you will be fine but do me a favor come see me in a month to say hi and let me know what the neurologist said” and left the room. The next day, I called the office and spoke with the office manager, Sarah, and asked for my $400 dollars back that I paid for laser therapy, she said she spoke with Dr. Schaeffer and he said, “Laser therapy was absolutely the best treatment for the diagnosis” WHAT DIAGNOSIS? I never received one! The Peroneal Tendonitis that I didn’t have? I saw an orthopedic surgeon who reviewed my MRI images and I do in fact have the rare accessory muscle (the one Dr. Schaeffer assumed I didn’t have because he’s never heard of it) and I also have a sprain of an unspecified ligament and was shown where there is a visible tear that WAS NOT reported by the radiologist on the MRI report. There is visible swelling and an accumulation of fluid near the joint. I was told that I could very well be facing a lifelong battle with chronic ankle instability due to the prolonged injury. Doctors are human and with that being said, the recourse to such a blatant disregard for your patients’ pain and suffering and misdiagnosis is quite simple… you ...