Reviews of Dr Sara Kaltreider (Plastic Surgery)

Debbie Hickman

Love these people, Dr Kaltreider is AMAZING and her staff is the BEST. LOVE THEM ALL., great work, professional and thorough.

Forrest Rea Marshall

As a 59 year old retired professional man I consulted with Dr. Kaltreider to resolve two issues; : (1) to reduce the extra eyelid tissue which was blocking a large part of my peripheral vision and (2) to reduce the swelling under my eyes commonly called eye bags and found in most women and men of my age. After researching several physicians in central Virginia I chose Dr. Kaltreider in Charlottesville. I would like to report excellent results from procedures performed in her office with no complaints. Prior to surgery I was informed of all testing and evaluations that would be done and of costs to be submitted to my insurance as well as any portion for which I would be personally responsible. Dr. Kaltreider is a skilled professional with many years of service to the community. Unlike many physicians specializing in plastics I have not found her to be motivated simply by monetary gain. What has surprised me is the time she has spent with me during consultations and follow-up appointments as I find most physicians stick to a very rigid patient schedule and overbook their days in order to see as many patients as possible. This is not the case in Dr. Kaltreider's practice. Her nurse Lois as well as her front office staff are honest and caring individuals who understand that those of us seeking their services often struggle with issues of self-esteem due to aging and other congenital issues affecting our appearance. Although she treated me specifically for issues related to my eyes her practice focuses on all facial aesthetics and she does many reparations for patients who have had cancerous lesions and other prior surgeries which have damaged their appearance. Due to the fact that all patients heal differently and even scar differently Dr. Kaltreider makes revisions and corrections when necessary to achieve the results that satisfy the patient without additional charge. I will continue to see her as I age to help maintain a fresh appearance as a reflection of my level of energy and upbeat personality. Accepting a look of being tired and run-down just because of chronological age is not necessary in today's society. I recommend Dr. Kaltreider wholeheartedly without reservation.

Lenore Savage

Unlucky & lucky me. I developed an eye disease during 2001 that wreaks havoc on my eyelids. I had to wait years for the disease to calm down before I could consider corrective surgery. Since 2007, Dr. Kaltreider has performed multiple eye lid surgeries, and even a brow lift for me. Most recently last month- April 2019. That should tell you how highly I regard her work. I cried when I saw the first results. After years of looking deformed, my eyes were once again normal. Even now, 6 weeks after the most recent surgery, no one can tell I just had surgery. We just made an appointment for my husband. BTW there is no consultation fee.

Mary Jenczewski

Botched 2 Procedures: Upper Eyelid Surgery & Direct Brow Lift. Before I begin, I’d like to state that honesty, integrity, and accountability are all values I take very seriously in my own conduct and in others, especially those entrusted with a patient’s well-being who take an oath to do no harm. I feel it is my moral obligation to inform others considering the same procedure(s) of my terrible experience with this doctor. The past year has been heartbreaking. I had a very smooth forehead and ideal eyelids to work with. I had no complications, just simple excess eyelid skin quite common for a 40-year-old. The short version is that I had eyelid surgery and a direct brow lift performed on the same morning. At 3 months, I had to be realistic and admit that I had permanent scarring over both eyebrows and both eyelids had bumpy, pinched incision lines that would never look as promised or like the many other successful eyelid surgeries I had seen. When it became clear that revision work would be required, I began to witness a very different personality than the one which impressed me so much at the consultation. She was insensitive regarding what I had been going through for 5 months. Almost cold. I witnessed a lot of denial, an arrogance and superiority I never saw coming, and a lack of accountability. She made several promises to me and kept none of them. I am now in a very tough position of having to find a truly skilled and experienced revisionist in oculoplastics to fix the damage she has caused to several areas. I’ve spoken to her about this, and again, she was completely unaffected. There is so much more detail than I can possibly include here. I wanted this to be a success story more than anything and hoped to be able to refer people to her. That’s why I started documenting this journey 2 weeks before my surgery. I went into the consultation very open-minded and eager to learn about her experience and what she could offer me to cosmetically enhance my already attractive appearance. By the time the visit was over, I thought I had hit the jackpot. She was so sweet, sincere, complimentary, made me feel like I was her only patient, answered all of my questions and concerns with great confidence, promised beautiful results, and even reassured me that in the event something did not go as planned, she would make it right “at no additional charge.” I bought in immediately. I could have chosen any surgeon in this country, but I chose her. She had the best sales pitch I’ve ever heard. I will not speak on her experience with ptosis correction, eyelid retraction repair, congenital issues, or other revision-related surgeries she may be capable of performing. I can, however, share my traumatic experience with women of all ages who are seeking an aesthetically pleasing first-time Blepharoplasty or brow lift. We only get one first-time surgery. The uphill battle after a botched surgery, including the high financial costs, finding the right surgeon, the emotional toll, and likely travel and time away from work and/or family, is enormous. My advice is to seek out a surgeon who can share several picture results of similar successful surgeries, reach out to a patient of that doctor if possible, and try not not to get pulled in by an amazing sales speech. Lastly, I recommend setting up more than one consultation no matter how well you feel the first one went.

Lydia Falomir

Stay Away-charlatans-- These people are only interested in money. We did not even have an appointment with them, we are seeing an GYN doctor and on our way out they asked us if we wanted information. We said sure. We had no idea that information was going to cost over 600 dollars. They never once said it was an office visit, because it was not, they never once told us we would be charge anything. We were clear we were not going to pay anything for information. We have insurance but we were not sure if it would cover it. We told them from the start we were not willing to do anything till we knew about the insurance and I had to research more about what she was telling me I needed. She told me 50 percent of my vision was being impaired by my eyelid by a 3 minute test they give. She coached me on how to take the test. They brought us into another room and had us fill out papers they said "was only for insurance pre-approval". We told them then and with followup calls I was not sure I wanted any procedure and I would decide after I spoke to my insurance and did my own research. When I first saw the doctor I asked her if she had her eyebrows done she said no, I asked her assistant Lois and she said yes she did and so did the doctor. Why did the Doctor lie about her eyebrows? I began to feel uneasy with the situation and called in to let them know I was not comfortable with any of this. My husband called in about the bill we received and by the Assistant and the Doctor herself they both said "why does it matter you not paying it the insurance is". The problem is we were never told about any charge and the doctor told me by phone "its curious you want to know everything that is going on". That was the final straw and I cancelled everything with them, reported them to my insurance, reported them to Sentera, and Im reporting her to the medical board. The only thing these people care about is do as many surgeries as possible and make all the money you can and bill the insurance without the patient knowing what they are being billed for. I have found a new doctor and Im very pleased with her. I will post here as soon as I see her with the results of by eye light test and I bet it will not be 50 percent as Sara Kaltreider claimed. I will also see if I need Blepharoplasty upper eyelift and the brow Ptosis. After research and speaking to other medical professionals I was told that i did not need blepharoplasty but the eyebrow Ptosis would suffice. I called the office told Lois this and they pushed and pushed that I would need the Blepharoplasty too. I will find out for sure with my new doctor because I do trust the new doctor. I would not trust Sara Kaltreider with surgery or anything else. I found her to be dishonest and uses womens insecurities to capitalize on them. Well this woman is not insecure and I have only the interest of my vision. I suggest you search around. If you want someone who cares about you and not the money then stay away from Sara Kaltreider and her office minions. I have uploaded the bill that we never were told anything about and the eye test she gave me. In January I will see my new doctor and I will post the comparison. Till then, stay away from this place. Get a second opinion.