The Sternberg Clinic: Jeffrey Sternberg, MD, FACS, FASCRS

UPDATE: It's been 1 year and 7 months since the operation. Still have zero feeling back there, but I really don't care. It's been so long since I even thought about pilonidal disease! I can swim, exercise, sit down without worrying if im going to mess my underwear or pants with blood and puss, I'm no longer aching in pain when a new pilonidal is about to burst, I have my life back and that's all that matters. All thanks to Dr Sternberg and team, this was the best thing I ever did for myself.
Feb 22nd, 2023

As those who struggle with this awful condition are all too familiar with, pilonidal disease is one of the most under-appreciated and debilitating conditions out there. I developed an abscess on Thanksgiving Day in 2021 and the ten months that followed was one of the worst bouts of physical and emotional pain in my life. Because of the lack of success following two procedures on the midline of the cleft, I felt and acted as if the disease would be with me indefinitely, a proposition I found incredibly frightening. In an attempt to find hope and relief, I performed some research online and came across Dr. Sternberg and The Sternberg Clinic. After reading the extensive amount of information provided on the clinic's website about pilonidal disease (including many of the misconceptions about it), as well as Dr. Sternberg's unique surgical approach to the condition, I decided to roll the dice with him. Having resided in New York while being a full-time college student at the time, making the trip to San Francisco would certainly be a commitment. With all of that said, I could not be more pleased with my decision to seek out Dr. Sternberg. After completing the initial application and sending photos of the infected area, the team at The Sternberg Clinic was able to schedule me for an operation inside of two weeks. Prior to the operation itself, Dr. Sternberg was very honest with me, informing me that my condition was quite severe and would be a difficult case, while at the same time expressing genuine confidence that he would do everything he could to solve this challenge. It has been nine months since my operation and am completely pain- and infection-free. While my recovery process was a bit longer than most, the fact that I am now able to return to the lifestyle that I had lost makes it well worth it. Words cannot express my gratitude to Dr. Sternberg and his team. If you or someone you care about is believed to be struggling with this disease, make Dr. Sternberg your first choice, even if you are not local to the San Francisco area. His team is incredibly accommodating for out-of-state patients. Take this advice from someone who exercised other options before visiting The Sternberg Clinic. Thank you again, Dr. Sternberg.
Jun 19th, 2023

5-28-2019 8:50 am My 22 year old daughterm, Bella had a cyst and living in California. I trusted her to find a doctor to take care of it. Six months later it returned, but much worse. Keep in mind that both times she was in severe pain and unable to work. My daughter went back to the original doctor who wanted to drain it and pack it again. She told him no because she was going to get a second opinion from another doctor. He told her that she would have to deal with this for the rest of her life and there was no help. Keep in mind that the first surgery cost $7,000. Pilonidal is no joke and wrecks your life. She was unable to move, walk or sit without causing more pain. She was only able to lay on her stomach to reduce some of the pain. She would just cry until she passed out from being overly tired. No medication was helping and CBD (without THC) oil gave some relief. The second time I took matters into my own hands by googling for a specialist. That is when I found Dr. Jeffrey A. Sternberg. I don't rely on google for medical advice, but I needed to find someone who knew about this condition to help my daughter. I didn't want to believe that she would have to live with this for the rest of her life. Needless to say it has been well over a year and shes had no issues. We are so happy and pleased with the results. His bedside manners were wonderful!!! We can't thank you enough for giving my daughter back her life. 5/28/19
Apr 19th, 2023

After battling with pain, and multiple failed surgeries over 6 years, I came across Dr. Sternberg's website trying to find some answers. I was impressed with how informative the site was, and blown away by the positive reviews. I was finally feeling some hope that this would be the end of the road for my pain. The decision to travel so far for this type of surgery wasn't an easy one, especially since I wasn't going to be covered by insurance. I found that Dr. Sternberg's staff was extremely transparent about their costs, as well as the surgical center. These costs ended up being accurate and there were no surprises. Dr. Sternberg made the decision easy with his open and honest communication, extremely informative website about not only the disease itself, but also the best practices for traveling to San Francisco. I had never been before, so we added a few extra days on the front of our trip to do some site seeing (highly recommend the Alcatraz tour for those that haven't been). Upon arrival and during my pre-op I was comforted by Dr. Sternberg as he shared his history in helping others, and explained why my prior surgeries had failed. He was very confident that he could help me. Shortly before I was wheeled off into the OR, my nurse mentioned that there were so many people that he brought in from out of state, or the country, with 5, 6, 7, sometimes 8 or more failed surgeries. He was able to help all of these people. I am VERY happy with my decision to move forward with the lift procedure. I am roughly 3 months post-op at the time of this writing and feeling better each day. Unfortunately, with infection being a common occurrence after surgery in this area, I did battle with infection. Dr. Sternberg was always available and responsive via text and was very quick to react with getting me the medication needed to resolve the infection, and help me work through the anxiety of the healing process. He absolutely went the extra mile. Today, the pain has subsided enough that I don't think about it every day, and I expect that I will make a full recovery very soon. Thank you Dr. Sternberg for everything you are doing! I'm glad to have finally put this to rest and look forward to a life of sitting without pain. You're the best!
Mar 14th, 2023

It has been exactly one year since my pilonidal cleft lift procedure. I have waited to write a review to make sure it's not too good to be true. But one year later and no pain, no signs of recurrence, and able to do all the physical activities of my youth. Very satisfied customer. If you are suffering from pilonidal disease, this is where you need to go to get cured. Every day you wait is a needless day of pain and frustration. It is highly unlikely that your local practitioners and general surgeons will know how to treat this annoying condition. They likely will still refer to it as a "cyst." I had three local surgeons tell me that their excision surgery was "simple" but would require a 6-month recovery and come with a 25% chance of recurrence. Not odds I was willing to max out my deductible for, despite the pain I was in. I did my own research and found the Sternberg Clinic. The more I read about the cleft lift procedure and Dr. Sternberg's success rate, the more I was convinced it was the only route I could take to finally be cured. So I made the investment and flew my wife and myself to SF. What you get with Dr. Sternberg is a true expert in pilonidal disease. He has seen every scenario and knows how to navigate the most complex pilonidal problems. This paid huge dividends for me during my recovery, as I was experiencing some noticeable wound separation on the inferior end of the incision. I was convinced I needed to go to the emergency room and have it stitched up. After calling Dr. Sternberg, he calmed me down and assured me that this was normal given the chronicity of my abscess, and that some wound separation was to be expected and would heal itself over time. Sure enough, it did. I could continue listing positive aspects of the process, but the bottom line is that this is a procedure you need to get if you are at any stage of the disease.
Mar 13th, 2023