The Hand Center of San Francisco

I broke my ulna falling in my garden in July 2015. I originally saw another top SF Orthopedist MD and PA who tried conservative casting first which didn’t solve the problem and it further displaced. I was referred by them to Dr. Bickel who performed surgery. He explained everything very well, was patient and kind and his office staff are just so terrific, warm, efficient and professional. I am in medical offices all the time and his staff are among the best. There was an issue during surgery with the hospital not having the right screws, yet Dr. Bickel improvised and corrected my fracture. I went to Golden Gate Hand Therapists (also terrific) next door and they commented all the time about how little my scar showed and how well it healed. I believe this is due to Dr. Bickel’s plastic surgery training in addition to ortho/​hand training. I just graduated from therapy and my last visit with Dr. Bickel. I am almost back to full functioning. When other doctors and nurses refer to him, you know he is the best!

Broke my wrist due to bike accident in May 2007 (a car drove at me at high speed, I braked hard to avoid and went over handlebars. Car took off.) Emergency room said broken wrist. They said to go find a hand surgeon. I guess it was too complicated to fix there. Four days later Dr. Bickel operated — put stainless steel plate on radial (wrist) and a compression screw on scaphoid (thumb). Results were excellent. It is now 9 years later and there have been no problems all this time. Dr. BIckel was very professional during office exams and very reassuring during pre-​surgery talk in the hospital. I’m very grateful and highly recommend him.
The only issue I think about is the metal plate. I believe he said it was stainless steel. After the surgery, people have told me titanium is better. I haven’t researched it since it is fait accompli, but if I had known titanium was an option, I would have paid extra (if the cost were more). That said, I don’t know if titanium was a viable option for my situation or not. But if I ever need another plate, I’ll inquire.

The first time I saw Dr. Bickel was in 2014, and I was made to wait well over an hour before getting in to see him. He apologized, so I decided to give him another try.
Mistake. At the 45 minute mark, I still hadn’t been seen, so I walked out.
Dr. Bickel may be a fine hand surgeon, but no one deserves to be treated like this. Many doctors seem to think that they can push you to the back of the line if you walk in a few minutes late, but that you surely have nothing better to do than to wait indefinitely for the privilege of seeing them. At best, this behavior is evidence of terrible office management. At worst, it’s just plain rude.
There are plenty of other fine hand doctors in this city.

AVOID — AVOID — AVOID! Dr’s are inconsiderate, disorganized, and rude. Too many good hand Dr’s out there. Long story short, they will make you wait in their run-​down waiting room while they squeeze in extra appointments just to make a buck, and make folks wait 60 – 90 minutes. Office was also unclean.

If you have a whole day to waste this is maybe the place for you. In most offices if the dr is running late the staff advises of that when you come to your appointment. In this case they did not say a word. An hour a half later I just left because I got tired of waiting. Can’t really review the dr., but the staff is horrible. If you have a real job where you need to be during business hours this is not the right doctor for you!!!

Okay, look. If you’re auditioning for a best friend, Dr. Bickel may not be for you — although I personally really liked him a lot. He can be abrupt, even condescending, but this guy totally knows what he’s doing, and he does it right.
I’ve had some really bad surgery over the last couple of years, so I was a little antsy, but Dr. Bickel was what a surgeon is supposed to be. When i went in, my hand was so borked I couldn’t even write a check. After the surgery, the hand is totally functional and pain-​free.
Among other things, his needlework is superb. There is absolutely no visible scar at all. More importantly, I can write entirely without pain, and I don’t even think about it anymore.
Note — you HAVE to do the post-​surgical therapy, which is a pain in the ass. But if you don’t, the problem is on you, not Dr. Bickel. I recommend him absolutely without reservation.

Dr. Patrick Lang mistreated me. He should not be practicing medicine. His blatant, flagrant negligence caused damage to me and put me at risk for even more damage.
I went to the SF Hand Clinic to see Dr. Patrick O. Lang for two injuries. The first was an injury on my left arm. For that, he had an x-​ray taken and noticed two bits of debris in the arm. I explained the issues and problems with that wrist, and how it impeded me. Despite showing it to him up close, Patrick didn’t acknowledge the problems that I showed to him with my wrist. The problems seem readily apparent to me, and to everyone who has seen them, including the other doctor who positively addressed them and performed surgery on me. Despite not seeing these problems, Patrick had me do physical therapy. The physical therapist he sent me to see also noticed the problems that Patrick couldn’t see.
Doing physical therapy while there was glass embedded in my arm hurt. It caused more pain and damage to my arm during the two or three weeks or so that I participated in it.
During the period of time that I was doing physical therapy for my left wrist, I had physical imbalance and increased difficulty using my left hand. Then, I broke my other arm (the radius of the right arm).
When I broke my radius, I went in again to SF Hand Clinic to get an exam. Dr. Patrick Lang said that I had not broken my arm, but sprained my wrist. He didn’t seem to really examine it. I told him that he was wrong and I asked for an X-​Ray. I was very persistent about getting an X-​Ray for it. But he refused. I asked again and again and he would not do it. I was pretty sure Dr. Lang was wrong: I did not sprain my wrist. I’ve suffered many sprains, and this was no sprain! Based on the injury, I thought it was likely fractured.
I saw another doctor and got proper diagnosis of the fractured radius that Pat refused to get an X-​Ray of. I stopped doing the physical therapy and the other doctor removed the glass in surgery. Just a week after glass has been removed, and some of the worst problems with that wrist are gone. Because of the other doctor, I am no longer causing myself damage by using the wrist with those big pieces of glass in it.
Patrick failed to perform proper examination of my broken arm. Because of his failure to diagnose my broken arm, Pat put me at risk to have a displaced fracture. If I’d had a proper treatment for the left wrist, I might not have broken the right radius at all. I can’t say for sure…
Pat also failed to assess the issue with the glass impeding my normal activity.
I was mistreated and misdiagnosed, either on purpose or out of incompetence. Dr. Patrick Lang is negligent, unethical and unprofessional. He should not be practicing medicine.

I had a great experience with Dr. Lang and the staff at the Hand Center of San Francisco. Very accommodating and caring. I would recommend them in a heart beat!

Had an awesome first appointment here today. Urgent Care recommended I see them in a few weeks if my symptoms continued, and I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lang. Everyone in the office, from reception, to the medical assistants, to Dr. Lang himself were super friendly, helpful, and very kind. Overall a really great experience. Glad I chose to come here!

I had this unusual bump on my palm opposite my thumb. It grew slowly, and eventually became painful. My regular doc referred me to Dr. Bickel and gave him a strong recommendation, which turned out to be exactly right. After seeing my MRI, Dr. Bickel explained that it was one of two things, but that it was impossible to tell in advance of surgery, though one was more common and less severe. He described both to me, along with the differences in the procedure and outcome depending on what he found. This type of surgery is very delicate, since there are lots of nerves, tendons, and muscles in that area that could be affected by an error or slip. Everything went well, and I am in the process of healing toward what appears to be a complete recovery. Fortunately, I had the more common type of growth.
Dr. Bickel was extremely professional, completely knowledgeable, and did a first-​rate job of the surgery. I recommend him without qualification for anyone who needs hand surgery. Yes, he was running late on one visit, and my surgical procedure didn’t start on the stroke of 9 AM, but these are very minor quibbles compared to finding someone whom you can trust to give you the best possible treatment for something as vital as your hand.

Dr. Patrick O. Lang is a skilled hand surgeon with such a calm demeanor and excellent bedside manners. I was glad I was referred to him by my doctor.

I went to Dr. Bickel for my second attempt at fixing a Scaphoid Non-​Union wrist fracture from an injury that occurred back in 2008. The first surgery I received for my broken wrist was done by a different surgeon back in Maryland, where I am from in 2010. That surgery was unsuccessful and I went on for 5 years with a broken scaphoid trying to avoid the pain (I know, I’m dumb to not doing anything sooner). Dr. Bickel was extremely professional and realistic during our initial consultation letting me know that my first surgery was an epic fail (he of course indicated this in all scientific terms) and the chances of this attempt to fix my wrist is pretty low at less than 50% but the alternatives of not having surgery and living my life with a broken wrist were not great either. This type of break does not heal on it’s own.
Long story short, I went along with the surgery and am 100% healed. I took a big chance as it was a financial struggle for me at the time to make this decision even with insurance. In my eyes he is a miracle worker and I know he is proud of the work he does. I think the not so positive reviews here are surprising as I only experienced care and the love for his work/​profession during my visits.
Thank you Dr. Bickel!

Dr Bickel was arrogant and dismissive of my case and not at all helpful The guy is a jerk. I don’t recommend.

I should have read the Unilocal reviews before my experience — duh me!
Waited 1 month for an open appointment. They do promise to notify you if any cancellations open up but that is just placebo script.
Show up for said appointment only to be told that they are running at least 45 minutes behind schedule. I complained that they could have called/​emailed with this information to warn me.
I end up rescheduling for the following week as it became clearer and clearer that I was not going to make another appointment I had that day TWO HOURS LATER!
On the morning of my rescheduled appointment they called (!!!) ahead of time and told me they were running at least 30 mins late. Appreciating the notice I squeeze a couple of other tasks into the newly available time and call at the «T + 30» time to check in and say I would be there in 10. BIG MISTAKE!
Apparently, it is perfectly fine for them to expect me to wait for 30, 45, 60 minutes for them but TEN minutes for me means I need to reschedule.
The next opening they have is nearly another month ahead.
Go elsewhere!

After waiting five weeks to see Dr. Bickel I was very disappointed in the outcome. He was extremely arrogant, dismissive and basically questioned whether my pain was really there. Unbelievable. Basically, unless you need a hand surgery Dr. Bickel doesn’t want to give you a time a day and almost implies that you might be lying about your pain. I could not believe the treatment I just had and would never recommend him to any of my family or friends.

I met Dr. Bickel after I conducted an extensive search to find a surgeon to repair what amounted to a botched surgery on my wrist by a doctor in Marin several months prior. Initially, I was extremely impressed by Dr. Bickel’s credentials, and now, following a successful (if not difficult) surgery with him, I can congratulate myself for trusting my instincts in my choice of Dr. Bickel for the job.
I believe other patients who labeled him as «arrogant» and «uncommunicative» mistook what I found to be a high degree of confidence and a tremendous sense of self-​worth that Dr. Bickel has in his own abilities as a surgeon. After all, isn’t what we, as the patients, all want, is a state of physical well-​being; what I now call ‘Return to Normal’?
If someone is looking for a crash-​course in surgical technique and have it all explained to you, take a night class. If you want a surgeon of the highest caliber in his field, then I recommend Dr. Kyle Bickel. I myself, couldn’t be happier with the results.

I’ve been to Dr. Bickel for two surgeries to date: one on a trigger thumb and the other for carpal tunnel… and am very pleased with his work, his office staff (especially Teresa), and the results that I am enjoying. My GP recommended him as an excellent hand specialist, and I’d like to confirm his suggestion as superb.
I’ll continue seeing Dr. Bickel, as I have a trigger thumb on my other hand, and have successfully received steroid injections for that (2 of these to date). I’m sure that, at some point, I’ll need surgery to resolve that issue, and will work with him on that, as well.
He is extremely competent, professional, and answered any and all questions that I had… he is very communicative.

Maybe he cares about you if he senses that you need imminent $urgery. I went to his office during the early stages of what became severe nerve damage in my arms, and was brushed off with some movement tests of my wrists, a referral for a blood test, and during a follow up call from me to his office (b/​c I’d heard nothing for over a week), an apathetic observation from his receptionist that he would «probably get back to me» («Probably??» SILENCE «When?» «I don’t know…») I eventually got my test results in the mail with a scribble of «normal.» And… done.
Appalling.

See my review under Dr. Bickel

I am so grateful that my primary care physician referred me to Dr. Bickel. I had a decimated finger and he and his team put me back together with a better-​than-​expected outcome which, given my injury, is amazing.
When I saw that Dr. Bickel had an award or recognition for work he’d performed in Maryland, I asked him about it and pulled out of the humble surgeon that he was the former chief of hand surgery at Johns Hopkins. Wow.
For follow-​up PT, I thought his therapists were terrific and his staff very courteous and accommodating. I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 5 minutes for either Dr. Bickel or any one of his physical therapists. And, they’ve graciously accommodated me when I’ve run late or needed to change an appointment last-​minute.
Frankly, I’m a picky health consumer and not easily knocked out so I’m mystified by a couple of these negative reviews on Unilocal!My experience with Dr. Bickel and all of his staff was amazing and I’m grateful to them for their talent and expertise.