Melissa Smith DPM

I’ve been here a few times and so far Dr. Smith is better than other podiatrists I’ve seen, especially other podiatrists in Alexandria. Good with kids too

I just love Dr. Smith! She’s young, compared to many doctors in the DC/​VA area, but don’t be fooled by her youthful appearance — it serves her well in her energy level! She’s smart, unbelievable bedside manner — like few that I’ve ever met. Her staff are friendly and truly look out for the patients!
I am recovering from a 3-​year old stress fracture that never healed right and she performed surgery on it just a little over a week ago. So, while it’s early in the healing process, her self-​confidence, positive attitude and expertise give me the confidence that my foot will be ready for running again soon.
Highly recommend her and look forward to watching her practice grow!

Dr. Smith totally rocks. She has an incredible beside manner (warm, personable, communicates well) and is an incredibly competent provider. I had a surgical procedure for which she did a GREAT job; it was painless and my recovery was simple. She has a standard 3 follow-​up visit procedure, but doesn’t charge extra for them. I hope I don’t need a podiatrist again but will certainly go back to her if i do.

Nice location and good feeling there altogether. Really confident non-​agressive diabetic foot care. The past 4 Podiatrist seen in Western Maryland and Arlington, Va seem to have a sadistic side and 4 month would not go by with out some worrisome issues. Was like being held captive: sounds funny but true. This doctors personality also is a spectacle under the BIG TOP. Wish all medical services could learn from her. The straight up old fashion right in your face «got ya covered» dances right along the canvas. Truly Heaven.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Smith for almost 9 months now — I had an acute episode with plantar fasciitis, and after tying to work through it with conventional, less invasive means (being in a walking boot, cortizone shots, and rehab/​modified activity), nothing was helping and it was getting progressively worse with the nerve, so we had to go for the plantar nerve release surgery. Yes, she has a «GP» office and she is a surgeon, too, and is awesome at both of her jobs! She’s really, really empathetic, wants to take the time to listen to you and your problems, and wants to help you (literally) get back on your feet as quickly and safely as possible. I miss her receptionist, Valerie, but the staff she has on hand (I believe Mary is the newbie– the younger lady who replaced her, and is sweetness, ice cream, blueberry pie, and puppies all wrapped up in one) are all really helpful. She is what a physician should be — caring towards her patients, explaining what is going on, amenable to seeing you quickly if you are having problems. THEY ACTUALLY RETURN PHONE CALLS THE SAME DAY/​NEXT BUSINESS DAY. I SHOULDN’T BE SHOCKED BY THIS, BUT IN THE DC AREA, I AM.
My surgery went well, and even the Inova staff working with her was awesome. After having been so disappointed with other physicians (especially specialists) in the DC area, Dr. Smith was just the bright, shining star I needed to encounter to restore my faith in physicians. I’m grateful to have found her (I even went for a second opinion on my foot, and there is NO comparison to how I was treated at Georgetown Hospital by the doctor vs. how Dr. Smith and her staff treated me.) She is right down the street from me, so I can easily access her by bus/​car; I’d be afraid as to how full her office would be if she were more metro accessible! I’d never be able to see her due to her sheer awesomeness and influx of new patients! Honestly — great staff, great person, great doctor.

Like others here, I am a little weirded out by the fact that I’m writing a review for a podiatrist. Right?!
Dr. Smith is phenomenal. I am a beginning runner and developed severe foot pain after a 5k in the beginning of December. I waited a week or two and finally called for an appointment with Dr. Smith. I was initially told that she was seeing new patients starting at the end of January — I was in severe pain and asked if there was any way that I could be seen sooner. The receptionist scheduled me for January 4^th!
The office is in an older medical office park, and is pretty basic — but don’t be fooled! She’s the only doctor in the office, and has pictures of her family out front on display. I was taken into the exam room right when I was scheduled, and Dr. Smith came in just a few minutes later. I feel like she took her time with me (no rushing!), and even took the time to chat about my running, and my goals to be able to still run in the near future. I suppose more importantly, she used some of her diagrams and models to explain where she thought I was having issues and why. Diagnosis — plantar fasciitis.
While in the office, she took a look at the inserts in my shoes and made some recommendations about other inserts to consider, but in the mean time, she added some support where she felt I needed it (with little cushy pads). She gave exercises to do at home and instructions for ice and taking an anti-​inflammatory. She also advised me to wear shoes EVERYWHERE. When I told her how much I hate wearing shoes, she told me that it’s OK to wear Crocs at home and on my quick walks with the dog — as long as I’ve got something with arch support,.
When the initial «prescriptions» didn’t work, I returned a month later. Dr. Smith took some time to review some of the options she was considering with me — and why. She ultimately prescribed physical therapy and gave me a recommendation based on where I live and work.
I just went back for my 3^rd visit. Physical therapy has identified the root of my pain, but I’m still experiencing significant pain. Dr. Smith decided that she wanted to prescribe an oral steroid to try and knock out the overall inflammation. I’ve taken oral steroids before, and hate the psychological side effects that they cause. She spent time explaining why she wants me to take them, and what results she expects to come from them. When I was still hesitant, she suggested that she write the prescription for me in case I decide to take them, but also made a change in my inserts and recommended I see how those do before taking the steroid.
My favorite thing about my last visit, though, was when I complained about having to wear my sneakers everywhere — especially with summer coming up. Dr. Smith recommended two brands of shoes that make flip flops and sandals that provide good arch support. I left before she wrote the brands down for me. I didn’t even realize it until the next day when I got a voicemail from her (yes, her!) asking me to give her a call because she had forgotten to give me some information during my visit. I called back and told the receptionist that she had called, and I was transferred directly to her. Crazy! She said she had forgotten to write down the shoe brands for me, and thought of it later in the day — so she wanted to call while she was thinking about it. Not only did she give me the names of the brands, she also gave me some recommendations as to where I might find them cheaper.
In case my review has not supported my initial statement, let me reiterate: DR. SMITH IS PHENOMENAL! I can’t recommend her enough — she’s young, energetic, fun, and has an amazing bedside manner.

I found Dr. Smith on
and am happy that I did!
I wish all physicians were as great as Dr. Smith! I managed to smoosh one of my toes and needed see a podiatrist for help with getting the nail bed to heal properly. I am a big baby about seeing doctors. But my standard is this: explain all the options and let me know what YOU (as the doctor) would do. That is what you can expect from Dr. Smith. She is frank, straight forward, funny, practical in her care, and she really does everything she can to get you better again. I felt like I knew all my options and was able to work on a treatment regimen that would be the best for me. What more can you ask for?
Dr. Smith’s office is located in a little office park. I was able to get an appointment in about 3 weeks after I called. Understandably, Dr. Smith is in pretty high demand.
I should mention that Dr. Smith is a surgeon as well. I must admit my own ignorance, but I thought that repairing major damage to, for example, an achilles tendon was the province of the orthopedic surgeon. However, I *believe* that Dr. Smith can do many different procedures that involve the feet and ankle area. So I would think of her as more of a surgical specialist.
Parking is offstreet in a tight parking lot that is across from a soft drink manufacturer’s offices (on the opposite side of the street).

I visited Dr. Smith based on reviews off of Unilocal and I was thrilled to have an actual positive interaction with a medical professional. I was fitted in same-​day for my appt, the front desk person is lovely, wait time was 5 minutes, and Dr. Smith was personable, knowledgable, and had me out the door in 15 minutes. They even gave me a coupon for my prescription (which I lost, but that was my fault). I am actually looking forward to my follow up, and this is coming from a person who reschedules her dr appointments about 5 times and the eventually cancels them out of nervousness/​dread. Highly recommended.

Might as well do my first podiatrist review. About a week ago, I detected a splinter or piece of glass in my foot. I run every day, so this started to get annoying. It is so freaking hard to see a specialist on short notice. I saw she had 3 good reviews here on Unilocal,she was convenient and I gave her a ring. She was booked solid for 2 weeks. Luckily she had a cancellation on Tuesday… so I got in there (from when I tried to book the previous Friday).
The paperwork was sent to my house over the weekend to complete early, including directions, if you needed them. The waiting room was clean and relaxing and the big bowl of candy awaited all would-​be patients. I had to fill out one more form and about 10 minutes after my scheduled time I was whisked to the room.
She showed right up… asked me a few questions… and then started scraping at my splinter for about 5 or 6 minutes and chatting it up with me about the perils of flip flops, the dangers of not stretching before a run, and about the forthcoming arrival of her new baby… and by then the splinter was out and foot back to normal. She gave me two free samples of cream to put on the wound for about a week and didn’t write me any unnecessary prescripions. My kind of gal.
Everything went great… if you need your foot examined… take it on in there.

I saw Dr. Smith today because I’d been having persistent pain in my foot that was keeping me from wearing my 4+ inch heels. I was pretty much expecting to be chastised for wearing such high heels, but instead Dr. Smith gave me great, realistic, practical advice about how to take care of my feet so that I can keep wearing the shoes that I love. She took the time to talk to me at length and answer all my questions. I especially appreciated that took an x-​ray and explained to me exactly what she saw happening with my foot and what I could do to best address it. I would definitely recommend her!

I injured my ankle while jogging Tuesday night I was two hours away from home so I waited till the next morning to get it checked out. The school health center said it could possibly be fractured so I decided to go home that day. My parents insisted on getting acupuncture and it was quite painful. I decided to call Dr. Smith because I didn’t think the acupuncture was going to work and as soon as I called, my appointment was scheduled for an hour later! I got there and they did the xray and all that stuff and found that it was broken. I got a boot and need to go back in three weeks.
Overall, she was very nice and the receptionist was very nice! They didn’t just treat me like any other patient! I would definitely recommend her if you have any issues with your feet!

Christmas morning, I missed the last step on the front stairs and thought I just rolled my ankle and had a bad sprain. We were already thirty minutes late, had three in-​laws in Pennsylvania to hit on our way to my family in New Jersey, so I I took some over the counter pain medication and off we went. I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my general practitioner the following Tuesday, so I figured I’d just have them look at it then. They only gave it a cursory look, said to ice it and elevate it and sent me off.
Three weeks later it was still hurting, in some ways worse than before, so I called my doctor’s office for a referral. They wanted me to come back into the office to check it and then they might have referred me for x-​rays, etc. and I figured I’d just cut out the middle man and try to find someone myself. I went on my insurance company’s web page, looked for podiatrists and then started Googling the ones that were closest to home. None had web pages or reviews anywhere, so I took a best guess and gave Dr. Smith’s office a call.
The office was very responsive and accommodating. They didn’t have any appointments that day, but said that if they got a cancellation they might be able to get me in at 6:15PM that day and if not definitely two days later and that they’d give me a call in about an hour. About an hour later they called as promised and we scheduled an appointment for two days later.
Located in what appears to be an old condo complex turned into professional offices, the office was very easy to get to with good parking. One of the things I hate about my regular doctor’s office at Virginia Hospital is the $ 4 parking, which I think is a scam. The office staff was as efficient and polite as they were on the phone, got me started on my paperwork and I waited for Dr. Smith to be ready.
Dr. Smith was obviously finishing up with another patient, but while she had a chance, she came out to the waiting area to find out what my situation was and determined she wanted to get x-​rays before seeing me, which gave her time to finish up with her other patient. I didn’t actually get started on my exam until about thirty minutes after my appointment time, but I could tell that Dr. Smith was working alone with one assistant and was giving her patients her full attention, which is the treatment I got once she was ready.
They took a quick x-​ray, then took me to an exam room to look at my ankle in detail, and by the time she was done with the physical exam the x-​rays were back showing I had a distal oblique/​spiral fibular fracture. Dr. Smith was very thorough about showing me and explaining what that was on the x-​rays and on models, and quickly had me fitted for a boot with two prescriptions for pain medications. All the time she was very professional as well as very personable, taking some time to get to know me and ask questions to make me feel at ease.
While I found her by picking her name off of a list, I got very lucky with finding Dr. Smith and am glad I went to see her. I would definitely recommend her to anyone needing a podiatrist.