Daniel Lahr, MD

I have had several on-​going issues with Dr. Lahr. I first was referred to him by my Family Doctor who did a orthopedic rotation with him in her training.
While, I base my review on his actual skill and care and I do not base my reviews on if he was super sweet to me or not as many of these other reviewers do. At the same time, I never had anything but professional treatment from Dr. Lahr. This Dr is a very busy Dr who squeezes in emergency appts everyday due to the nature of the type of care he provides. Dr. Lahr actually was quite freindly to me, but not what I expect in a medical professional. He happens to have Celiac Disease as I do as well. I began seeing Dr. Lahr due to many issues as a side effect of Celiac Disease malnutrition before diagnosis. We both were diagnosed be
I had a broken foot when I was first referred to Dr. Lahr. I had 2 surgeries that failed by a different Dr. Dr. Lahr saw me quickly, he did a 3^rd surgery which worked perfectly! I had also fallen after I first met with Dr. Lahr and I broke my leg at the ankle the same foot as I had the long standing broken foot before he was able to schedule my foot surgery. He treated the broken leg after ER confirmed break. he tried to cast it, but my bones did not heal due to the past undiagnosed Celiac Disease, malabsorption and osteopenia. In the end, he did surgery on my ankle and foot all at once. He had to put a pin in my ankle and had to move the tendon to get my foot to finally heal. He also did a then new procedure of taking my blood from my body, running it through a special device that pulled out my plasma and put that into the leg and foot to help the bone heal.
I had a previous rotator cuff tear when I first went to see Dr. Lahr. I later tried a second time for to get my shoulder range of motion back with a second round of physical therapy. It is did not work. I finally gave in and let Dr. Lahr do the repair surgery. I was very glad that i did and sorry I put it off for so many years.
Dr. Lahr has also treated:
–a sprained wrist
–second foot fracture without the need for surgery
–torn meniscus without need for surgery
I have made several recommendations to other people who have used him and loved him as well. I am getting ready to call him for an appt for my young adult child in need of an orthopedic Dr. I was just looking for the phone number and saw the bad reviews and had to add my own experience.

Pain Free
I’ve seen Dr. Lahr for the past five years. First time was for my right ankle. Broke during a soccer match. When I first met him he did seem a little cold but he’s a surgeon who repairs an his professional does come threw. I asked him a simple question. If he has done these type of repair before, he responses «That’s what I do for a living». That’s all I want is for my ankle to be fixed right the first time an for the pain to go away so I can play again. Two years ago my left ankle was also injured. Once again playing soccer. This time I asked Dr Lahr to repair an old broken leg which didn’t heal properly which occur 20 yrs ago. He not only repaired my left ankle perfectly but also repair my left leg.
I am now Pain Free an playing soccer again without loosing a step. Following his instructions was key to my recovery.
I highly recommend Dr. Lahr. Make him smile an tell him a joke. It’ll make his day.
Rafael
Bethesda

My husband saw Dr. Lahr for the first time and this physician is extremely rude and has a terrible bedside manner. I’m sure that he’s knowledgable but lacks skill when it comes to communicating respectfully with patients and caregivers. We will NOT be returning to that office. That’s for sure!

Rude AF and I feel so stupid for not reading these reviews about this guy earlier he is a very rude doctor who does not take the time to really find out what is wrong. He looks at you like you are a low life. And my mother was with me and yes I’m Hispanic anyone can see that. But never in my life have I heard a doctor just ask someone in the most disgusted manner if they speak English or not! Before they even say hello. I mean honestly it’s not a bad question but seriously in that rude manner and tone. Well the only good thing was the staff because they were very sweet. And to be honest I was looking forward to seeing the doctor because I was in horrible pain. I’m sorry I can’t ever type correctly because I’m just beyond upset and angry I will not be returning and I will seek another doctor and even if they give me the same answer I know for sure I’ll be treated better. Because this is the first time I have ever come in contact with such an unpleasant doctor and this guy should not be caring for people because he obviously doesn’t!

This guy is a class A jerk. I had been seeing him for years (not often) for various tendinitis, etc. He was always very rough with me, and I’d have to remind him every appointment to please be gentle when pushing and prodding me. He’s literally made me cry for pushing so hard on my joints. I knew he wasn’t very friendly, but he was my ortho, so who else would I have do the surgery?
He performed my meniscus surgery (after 4 months of trying PT to see if I could avoid surgery). For whatever reason, my knee did not respond well to the surgery. I did PT for five full months after surgery and I still couldn’t walk w/​out a cane. My last appointment with him, nearly a year after surgery when I was in severe pain, he was rushing me through my appointment. I was trying to say I had a friend who ran 4 miles a day within a few months of surgery and I just wanted to be able to walk around the block. He interrupted me half way through my sentence and said, very rudely, «When was the last time YOU ran four miles?!» I was in tears. I was in so much pain, so frustrated, and then he insulted me. He offered to give me a cortisone shot, which I refused.
A couple weeks later I took my pre– and post-​surgery MRIs to a new ortho who said I had severe bruising and internal swelling and wouldn’t have benefited in any way from a cortisone shot, Instead, he gave me Synvisc shots, which helped tremendously.
I later learned Dr. Lahr can only do surgery at the medical center and a random hospital in DC b/​c he’s been banned from others for anger management issues. He’s just not a nice person.

Seriously, eff this guy. He is so condescending and rude it’s unbelievable. His sarcasm is off-​putting and he’s very impatient when I’d ask questions about my upcoming surgery. He’d also answer them in a way that made me feel stupid for even asking. Why should I have to ask about my surgery and the recovery process? Shouldn’t he be responsible for explaining it to me as my surgeon and doctor? He’d also race through his explanation so it was hard to understand him and I felt like a burden. I worked with him for months. I once walked out of the office after an appointment practically in tears because I felt so frustrated and unheard (this was after my surgery). I figured whatever bedside manner he lacked, he’d probably make up for it as a good surgeon (because I was referred to him by a trusted family pediatrist). Nope. He messed up my bunionectomy. The nail he put in broke so I had to get a second surgery to remove it.

I met DR Lahr in 2011 when my primary care doctor referred me. I was very upset about unsuccessful treatment of wound on my toe. Nobody’s fault. It just did not heal. I went to him because a podiatrist told me I would loose my whole toe and I wanted a second opinion.
DR Lahrs staff is kind and efficient. On the day of my visit he came in and patiently talked with me before ordering an office X-​ray. The technician was very patient and good at handling a patient with severe physical limitations.
DR Lahr returned to the exam room with the X-​ray within 10 minutes. He said I did not gave to loose the entire toe but Hal instead. He was so nice to be and told me what to expect. He knew I was upset ands wanted it to be over with. He had it scheduled in only 3 days at Provident Hospital.
I saw him 2 times post op and again was very kind and patient
I was in the waiting room ONLY 15 minutes and no more than 5 – 8 minutes in the exam room, before he came in to see me. That’s no different than any other of the doctors I see.
I have since been back to see him for my ankle and shoulder. I am very pleased with him. I have had none of the negative experiences others talk about.

A friend of mine recommended me Dr. Lahr. I called his office and left a message because I had a few questions. He called me back the same day which sounded like a good sign. I told him my mom was in severe pain, needed prescription for her pain, and referral to osteopath or chiropractor. One of her vertebra was dislocated, so the hope was these guys could help. I also asked him if he took her insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, he said he did. I asked if he needed a referral from her main doc. He said no. Then he switched me to his secretary and I made an appointment. When we came in it was a nightmare.
First off, his receptionist gave me a warning notice to sign, that «other charges apart from insurance may apply». Nothing like that was said on the phone. All the docs she visited never charged anything on top of her insurance, not even co-​payment. I thought, at least they should warn you over the phone, before you make an appointment. I signed, but did not like it.
After a long while an aid brought us to another room where we supposed to wait for the doctor. That room had very uncomfortable chairs, so I brought the chair for mom from the main waiting room. The aid asked if we had MRI. I said nobody told us to bring one. The he asked where did we do it. I said — right here on Medical Center drive in Shady Grove Radiology. Ahh ok, he said I will call them. 30 minutes later we were still waiting. Mom was close to fainting from pain.
Then the doc came in. No hi, no smile. He looked at me and asked: «Who you?»
«I am the son,» — I said. He looked at mom. «So, what did Dr. M say about her condition?» He was referring to her other physician. I thought i came to him to get his opinion, not to repeat the opinion of an another doctor. On top of it, i already told him on the phone what i needed. Nevertheless I informed him about the procedures of the other doc. He said, excuse me, I will be right back and left. 15 min later he was back. «So, he said, what did Dr. M say about her?» I tried my best to hold my irritation and repeated what i said already. Then he looked at mom. «So where do you have your pain?» He grabbed her by her thigh after which she jumped up feeling tremendous pain. «Ahh he said, she needs an X-​ray.» And left again.
I remembered Dr. M said that X-​ray was useless in her case. Only MRI could show something. Mom said: «I don’t know how I could do this. I can’t stand the pain any more. Why doesn’t he give us what we need? Did you tell him over the phone?» I said, yes i did, and he had no problem with it. But i guess he needed to charge an insurance company for X-​ray.
An aid came again and said that mom should go to X-​ray room. Fortunately it was next door. After 20 min he left to see if his shots worked. Mom called me. She said «The guy does not know what he is doing. He did it all wrong.» Mon is a retired Russian doc herself, does not speak much English though. Sure enough he came back and said he needed to «repeat». Mom said she had enough. I took her back to her waiting room. An hour later i told the aid we were leaving. He said, the doc will be right with you, relax. We relaxed and 20 more minutes later the doc re-​emerged.
He said: «By the way, do you have MRI?» I told him in disbelief that I already informed his aid where it was made. «Ahh ok, he said, we call them.» He showed the x-​rays. «Your mom has osteoporosis», said he. His tone made it sound like a scientific discovery was just made. Well i told him my mom new about it for the last 30 years. Then he said: «By the way, do you know that you needed a referral before coming to me?» I said: «Do you remember we talked on the phone? You said you did not need a referral.» «I don’t remember that, he said., then added…“So, what did Dr. M say about your mom’s condition?». I had enough. I was not going to repeat the same thing for the 3d time. I said, «I think we should go…» «And we left.
In closing I want to say that I’ve been to many docs in Maryland and DC area, but never in my life I have seen an asshole like that!

The 1 star = I got orthotics from Dr. Lahr’s office and for some reason there was a very large indentation under the toe. The indentation wasn’t measured properly (if at all) and it’s not in the right place, making them unusable. I also did not want the indentation, so there is some miscommunication w/​in the office. I was taking care of my father for years so unfortunately I didn’t get back to the office about the orthotics for about a year. Apparently, like a coupon, my orthotic adjustment had expired. Adjustments come w/​a new pair of orthos. They are new and they are unwearable, they don’t fit. I was told that they’d guess for $ 50 – 100 they could be fixed?! (Warning: Dr. Lahr’s office doesn’t care how much $$$ you spend… see other reviews…) I said that I could get brand new orthos for $ 40 w/​my co insurance! They said to bring them back, they would fix them, then let me know how much it cost?! (No! You don’t go to a restaurant and eat and THEN they tell you what your bill will be?! Who operates like that?) I tried many calls to get the orthos fixed. It could have been so simple to take off the cover and put a new one on w/​o the indentation. But I never got a straight answer on costs.
Jeff was very nice and helpful. The receptionist didn’t really care and was annoyed that I’d want the costs. Dr. Lahr was always a bit awkward when I had appts w/​him, but he’s certainly a good Dr. Just an awkward bedside manner. Very disappointed that I paid for orthotics that don’t fit me at all because of the error in making them.
*** I had BC BS Care 1^st Insurance which Dr. Lahr DID take, but no longer does for some reason? That’s OK, I’m not going back and I now see Dr. Michael Leibow in Rockville. Dr. Leibow saw my father AT his home, so I have great things to say about Dr. Leibow. His orthos were perfect day 1.

My husband and I have both been treated by Dr. Lahr over the past few years for various orthopedic needs. He is personable, intelligent, and is held in high regard in the medical community – not just locally.
I have seen many orthopedics throughout my life and have to say he is the top ortho I my book. He doesn’t order unnecessary tests, xrays, etc. nor does he prolong treatment – confident and direct. His confidence, experience, knowledge, and ability to practice enables him to diagnose properly and not run up unnecessary visits, treatments, etc. He is informed and quite knowledgeable about more than just ortho and shares his knowledge with his patients.
He doesn’t limit his advice to just one issue. He asks questions, and makes recommendations and treats his patients as a whole person – not just bones and xrays.
I highly recommend him and have heard nothing but comments of high regard about his ability and expertise as a top orthopedic surgeon from the medical community.
His office staff are responsive, friendly, and polite, and I have never had an issue getting an appointment in a timely manner. For an orthopedic practice this is definitely a plus.
Top Doc in my opinion. Definitely as good as it gets.

First of all the only reason that they get 2 stars instead of 1 is due to the material of the orthotics which is soft but yet firm.
I come to Dr Daniel Lahr randomly throughout the years for my orthotics and few muscular problems I’ve accumulated from weight lifting. So every year to two years I would come in and spend around $ 700 pre-​health insurance. Around 300 for the visit and 400 for the orthotics. I was fine with this cause the material of the orthotics were the most comfortable ones I’ve run into in my own experiences. These orthotics weren’t as rough and leaving blisters on my feet. I mean someone who you see for like 5 minutes and you make 700. I’d say that’s great money.
But this visit was worse than all of the others. I ran into problems while wearing them for the first two weeks. I’ve been putting up with the long wait times in the lobby combined with the waiting room wait which can be minimum of 30 minutes in each area (it’s why I like early morning appointments). I’ve been putting up with his bad demeanor towards medical questions that can be dumb. Humor us. Don’t get me wrong he is sociable but not when it comes to medical questions. So I go back after two weeks of using my new orthotics and tell him that I have ankle, knee, hip pains along with muscle tightness. He tells me it’s just an adjustment period. So that’s a wasted doctors visit of 200 something dollars when I obviously had problems and this isn’t my first pair. So within the next few days I wear it and the pain in my knee gets so bad I have problems walking up the stairs and my knee buckles under the pain. I call again and try to have something done. So I talked to Jeff on the phone telling him of the knee pain and he said well if the doctor said it was adjustment I need to talk to him. «I’ll call you back.» Nope, I had to hunt them down every time to see how this is progressing. They clearly don’t want to fix this for me. So I go back again for an appointment with the old orthotics that I brought the first time and he goes oh so your having a problem with how high these new ones are. I’ll have them grinded down for you. That’s it? No other questions, nothing about what I was having problems with. His own assumptions. Now I have adjusted orthotics that are still messed up. Left one isn’t bad but the right one hurts my knee within 5 – 10 minutes of use. I’m tired of dealing with their crap and I don’t care if its another visit or two to fix them. Enough is enough. I’ll just have to use my old ones for an extra year to two longer to get my health insurance to help with another unless I can’t wait any longer.
edit: The adjusted orthotics didn’t change a thing they still hurt everything in my legs.

I have taken my mother to Dr. Lahr office in Rockville three times. The actual examination took about 5 minutes or less each time, but we had to wait for one hour to one hour and 45 minutes. So, this is an isolated event. We waited in the lobby for 30 – 45 minutes and then taken to another room to wait for another 30 minutes to an hour without any explanation. If a doctor really cares about his patients, this should not have happened.

Dr. Lahr is truly one of the best in his field, this also goes for the staff that work with him. Dr. Lahr has a very busy office, you will notice that by reading the reviews; however, he listens, answers your questions and will address all your concerns. I have never needed surgery; however, Dr. Lahr and his team have squeezed me in during emergencies and gave me 100%.
Dr. Lahr has been honest, addressed my issues and worked with me to resolve the problems.
I highly recommend Dr. Lahr, he runs a busy practice, but he’s worth the time!

My review would be 5 stars if it wasn’t for the consistent, interminable wait. 15 minute appointments usually last about 2 hours, 1 of which is in the waiting room, 45 of which is waiting for the doctor in the examination room. I’ve personally been to him twice, my wife once. She injured her knee, needed mris to determine the extent of the damage. Fortunately she did not require surgery, but he treated her well, diagnosed her accurately and suggested since she knew her way around a gym that she could do physical therapy exercises on her own, which she did just fine and made a full recovery. Me on the other hand, I popped a hamstring and am not as physically active, so he sent me to a great group of physical therapists. I used him and them again for a neck problem I had been having and I was well to do. I also had a conversation with him about what can be done about the health care system.
Interesting guy. No-​nonsense. Good doctor. Way too busy for his own good. I wish the wait wasn’t so long, but I’d use him again.

It was recommended that I see an Orthopedic Surgeon after not recovering fully from an automobile accident (back injury) so I made an appointment with Dr. Lahr. Prior to seeing him I had back x-​rays but while the x-​rays showed a slight abnormality, it is hard to tell what is actually wrong from them alone.
First of all, it took an hour past my appointment time to see the doctor. I was told to sit in an uncomfortable examination chair in a small room and would be seen «shortly». After about 10 minutes, I had to get up due to the excruciating pain. 50 minutes later, Dr. Lahr came into the room.
He told me (without opening my x-​rays in front of me to look like many of the doctors I had seen prior did) that my back was fine. The x-​rays were normal and I needed to lose weight and get in shape. And as I left his office, he said I should carry a smaller bag.
He begrudgingly wrote me a script for an MRI but didn’t seem to think it was actually necessary.
I asked if I would need to get preauthorization for the MRI and he said he didn’t know and that wasn’t part of his job.
I left the office in tears. I could barely walk, had been forced to stay most of the time in bed and was in a severe amount of pain daily and his explanation was I needed to exercise?!
The MRI results showed 2 herniated discs, impingement on 2 nerve roots (which would explain the shooting pains down my legs and my inability to walk) and degenerative disc disease.
I would NOT recommend Dr. Lahr as a doctor. I don’t care how many qualifications he has, but he ignored my concerns and dismissed them even after there was evidence to suggest something could have been wrong. I don’t need someone to coddle me but at least listen to me!

Dr. Lahr is a fantastic surgeon, and really does a great job. However, he is NOT real warm and fuzzy. If you need a surgeon who will hold your hand and coddle you then Dr. Lahr is not for you. He also tends to be busy, so your office visits with him will be short and sweet, and he does not seem to enjoy answering questions. Because his practice is successful he seems to take a one-​size-​fits-​all approach to medicine. If you are the type of patient who is that one in a million who has the strange reactions or side effects, Dr. Lahr can be dismissive of your concerns. His staff is friendly and helpful though, and are great about answering any lingering questions that you didn’t manage to squeeze in during your short time with the good doctor.

Since I wrote my review, I broke my other collarbone, as well as a few ribs. Yes, really.
Dr. Lahr took a look, recommended surgery, and did his magic that same day. There’s a pin inside me, and I’m still in a sling, but look, the clavicle is straighter than my magic-​permed hair! You should see the before and after pics. If you’re accident-​prone, unlucky, or the target of a sociopath, take down his number right now.