Dr. Paul Smiley, MD

I would not recommend Dr. Smiley to anybody. He cut me off when I was telling him when and why my pain originated (ejected from a car headfirst at 85mph) to scoff that I must not be in pain for coming in 14 years later about my shoulder… “I must be more resilient than you,” is what I stopped myself from responding and further, “for reasons related to this interaction, I don’t trust all doctors to perform invasive surgery on me.” He said the X-rays looked fine, which I could have told him before they were ordered because it’s a tendon or ligament issue not bone. The nurses were great but, for his future non-old white male patients sake, I hope he is near retirement. He spent all of 10 minutes spouting a script and not listening to me but, alas, he got to check his box and I’ll await my bill for $400.

I tore my ACL and had some meniscus tears. Dr. Smiley diagnosed and repaired it. I am very happy with the results years later.

I fell & hurt my shoulder. Went to Lahey in Peabody were i met Dr. Smily. He checked my shoulder. He informed me my rotator cuff was 90% bad. He was super informative. He said it was so bad he might have to replace the shoulder. He also explained that it might never heal completely. He repaired as best that could be done. I now have no more pain. There is some limited motion but all in all he did a great job for me. He is super easy to talk to very informative & kind.

I ruptured my achilles in July of 2021. I went to Lahey without hesitation to get it diagnosed because I had ruptured my other achilles 10 years prior and had a great experience with the then head of Orthopedics Dr Teebagy(who was a foot and ankle specialist). On this trip to Lahey there was a convention going on that most of the Dr's were attending so they sent me to Dr Smiley. After my surgery Dr Smiley did almost the exact opposite of what the first surgeon did. Had me immobile in a cast for 5 weeks(unheard of) and then in a boot for another two. I am over a year post surgery and still have difficulty functioning correctly do to the amount of time I spent not moving. My muscles are still atrophied and I have to go to a functional body coach just to get my muscles to fire again. I am a very fit male and should not be in this condition due to a surgeon making bad decisions. I would highly discourage having surgery with Dr Smiley at the helm.

I came to him for an already diagnosed injury. He acknowledged the injury and said if I have the injury or don’t it doesn’t matter and that he doesn’t answer questions based off hypotheticals. 1. Shouldn’t I get to say if it matters or not? If I’m losing function of one of my limbs and I’m a sports athlete it may not matter to you but it matters to me. 2. Are you not a doctor? You acknowledged the deformation and loss of function yet still don’t even try to find out what it is or how to fix it? 3. You can use the same pathological way of thinking to deny anything. If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, and flies like a duck but I’m not sure if it’s a duck I won’t acknowledge hypotheticals. Are you kidding me? My take away, he treated my situation like he seemingly didn’t care at all about my issue. Seemed intimidated by Me asking questions. Seemed defensive. Lacked basic communication skills. Now I have to book an appointment with someone else to do what he didn’t.

Went for a cortisone shot in my knee. I had a baker’s cyst that was causing pain. Personally, his personality was ok. I felt rushed and when I spoke, he always interrupted making me feel like he didn’t want to or have time to hear what I wanted to say. I gave up and just let him give me the shot. Out of there. Won’t be following up with him. Neither of us will be losing sleep over it!

Dr Smiley operated my rotator cuff on my right shoulder December 2018. He is s very good surgeon with many years of experience. I am so glad that he did the surgery because not only he is good but also has a good personality. Everything he told me to do I listened and I am now moving my arm almost to a full extent, compared to a friend that went to another surgeon and now his arm moves only half way. His surgery team is extremely good and I can’t thank them enough. Don’t hesitate to choose him.

Simply one of the best doctors I have seen at Lahey.

Dr. Smiley's diagnosis of my knee issue was spot on. He recommended using minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery to resolve my issue, which has afforded me a quick recovery and almost no scarring. His bedside manner was caring and collaborative. I sought his expert opinion, but he left the final decisions to me. The entire process at Lahey took only two months, between my first visit with Dr. Smiley and my surgery. I am very pleased with Dr. Smiley and the Lahey team. Thank you.

When you go to him and he gives you a shot for your shoulder then sends you for physical therapy which neither worked. Pt tells you they can’t help, got worse and they call your Dr to get you in earlier to see him, pain worse by the day and they don’t see you for 4 weeks isn’t right. Then you see him just about in tears cause it hurts so much he tells you I’ll get you another shot in maybe 2 weeks then I’ll seen you a month after that and tell you goodbye ignoring the pain in your face.bad Dr!

I have used Dr. Smiley as my orthopedic doctor since 2004. He is an excellent physician & a good person! I can recommend him without reservation.

I found him thorough and knowledgeable. His diagnosis was right on. I would highly recommend him

I wouldn't recommend Dr. Smiley to anyone. He has no bedside manor at all and told me I need to build muscles to fix my knee which is impossible bc I have muscular dystrophy. He didn't even bother looking at my chart before come in to see me. He knew nothing about me or my medical history!!!! ??

Dr. Smiley and his office was great! I had surgery on my ACL in March 2012 and have had zero issues! He provided me with a full review of my situation- the different options available to me and did not pressure me one way or another. The aftercare was also great. Overall there was nothing that could have been done better!

I went year ago to Dr. Smiley for shoulder surgery. He identified the problem immediately and scheduled out-patient surgery within a few weeks. This was after going to someone else for 10 years that kept giving me the run-around. He was easy to talk to, explained everything. Again, this was years ago. But I used to go to Lahey for just about everything - easy to make appts and everything gets done in 1 day. Once I return to New England I will start going back to Lahey without a doubt.

First I went to see him for my twisted knee. He didn't show any x-ray I took, but just told me to do mri. My knee is still painful on and off. Then, I went for mri. I was seen him again, and he said I had meniscus damage, he suggested to do the surgery for removing the damaged meniscus. He didn't even show me the damage from my mri images. He didn't even physically exam my knee. I wouldn't recommend him to any one.