Neat199374 on Realself 2 months ago
04/20/2023, 05:57 AM
Horrible experience - regret not having followed my gut
My experience with Dr. Sinno has been a nightmare, to say the least. I regret not having followed my gut and gone with a different doctor or cancelled my surgery when given the opportunity. From my first consultation with Dr. Sinno, I felt tremendous pressure to commit to surgery by his office. My concerns began when I met with the office manager after the initial consultation and I told her that I had to give everything some thought. I had gone to see Dr. Sinno about fat grafting and a potential eyelid surgery and/or eyebrow lift. During my appointment I also expressed concerns about my neck. Dr. Sinno said he could perform the upper blepharoplasty and fat grafting but also strongly suggested that I get a full lower facelift, including a neck lift. After meeting with him he introduced me to Lori, the office manager, to discuss scheduling and payment. I was in no position to schedule surgery, having just been informed that Dr. Sinno suggested that I undergo more procedures than I had initially been considering. Lori pressured me to schedule the surgery, telling me that my neck really needed a lift and sharing that she had undergone a similar procedure at my age. I felt uncomfortable making a decision at that time and left the office. Another plastic surgeon who I had previously consulted had suggested a brow lift. I asked Sinno on at least three occasions, including the week before the surgery, if he was certain a brow lift was not necessary and he assured me it was not.
I visited the office a few different times and never got the warm fuzzies from either Dr. Sinno or the office staff. To be totally honest, Dr. Sinno seemed to be making an effort to try to come off as a warm and personable physician, but I found him to be rather fake and frankly a bit of a salesman. However, I kept referring back to patient reviews that commented on his good bedside manner. Consequently, I questioned my own judgment. In retrospect, I deeply regret not trusting my gut.
I really wanted to correct the concerns I had about my face/neck changing at a time when everyone was wearing masks, but did not feel entirely comfortable committing until after my second appointment. During that visit, I received a lot of pressure from Sinno to schedule the surgery a month or two before the holidays, saying that is a "coveted" time to schedule. I reluctantly scheduled it for October per his suggestion. It was during the height of the pandemic and after thinking things through and seeing we were heading into another long isolated winter, I decided that it would be best to undergo surgery during January when it would be more likely that I would be staying home anyhow, thereby also allowing me to enjoy the warmer more pleasant weather that we often still experience in October. I notified the office of my desire to change the date of surgery within the time frame that they require. This was when I was exposed to the first sign of Dr. Sinno's temper. Needless to say, he made it known that he was not happy with my decision to postpone. I was taken aback and frankly intimidated. After getting over the shock of his reaction, I let him know how upsetting his it was. He called to apologize and gave me the option of backing out of the surgery. I so wish that I had taken him up on the offer. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I kept looking back at the positive reviews and questioning my own judgment. That is why I am now writing this review - I want to give potential patients pause- especially if they are having any misgivings after consulting with him.
I went through with the surgery and it was a total nightmare. The recovery was not nearly as easy as I was led to believe. Aside from being swollen and puffy longer than I was told, I developed dry eye in both eyes, which is always a risk they warn you about in the fine print at least in this case, but you don't hear much about. I was predisposed to because I have suffered with blepharitis for years, which I mentioned to Sinno, not realizing how significant that was. He should have known though and discussed precautions with me. My eyes were very very red, extremely dry and constantly itchy and irritated. I could not look at screens, preventing me from working for weeks/months, and had to constantly administer eye drops, sit in front of a humidifier and undergo several costly treatments with my optometrist to overcome my dry eye. During my follow ups at his office, he basically pretended as though there was nothing wrong with my eyes, which were obviously irritated. In fact, his nurse asked during one of my last visits if I had lower blepharoplasty done because they were so red and unsightly. Dr. Sinno gave me little to no direction on what to do about my eyes. I was left to figure it out on my own. Forced to do my own research, I noticed that my eyelids weren't closing all of the way. When I asked him if it was possible that the dry eye was from him removing too much skin from my eyelids, he called and laid into me much harder than the first time he had an outburst. I was scared of going into the office after that, let alone meeting with him by myself. I did not return to the office for the remaining follow ups and instead was forced to figure out on my own how to remedy the problem. After spending a lot more time being stuck at home because I could not wear makeup or contacts for weeks beyond the purported recovery time and significant money on various treatments, I finally resolved the issue, at least for the time being.
Within about 6-8 months after I healed, I realized that there were several issues that were not addressed. First, the fat grafting he did was negligible. He claimed to have a more "natural" approach; however, I think this was his excuse for not really knowing what he was doing. Fat grafting is a bit of an art form and should be done only by those with significant experience. I don't think he did anything to address the hallows in my chin, as well as under my eyes and he refused to do anything to the hollows in my temples when I asked him to fat graft there. I had shared photos from social media of others after fat grafting was done as examples of what I was looking for, and he claimed their youthful plump faces were the result of fillers. I didn't know understand how he came to that conclusion, but it was far too late for me to back out of the surgery without losing most of my money. I could only hope that I could trust him because I did not begin to have suspicions that this was not his forte until after I had already paid my non-refundable deposit.
Approximately 6-8 months after the surgery, I began seeing various injectors and plastic surgeons about my under eyes, which are hallow and wrinkly and stand out now that my upper blepharoplasty was done. They all said that I would require additional surgery...not at all what I wanted to hear! Fillers cannot always be used under the eyes, which Sinno never told me. Additionally, the plastic surgeons I saw suggested revision blepharoplasty on my upper lids because Sinno did not remove my fat pads, which we specifically discussed and he assured me he would address during my last appointment before my surgery. Needless to say, this was very difficult for me to hear after everything that I went through with my dry eyes.
Moreover, my eyebrows are not at all symmetrical. My one eyebrow is flat while the other has a nice arch. I will indeed need a brow lift as it turns out, in spite of Sinno assuring me it was not necessary, to create symmetry. I am very self conscious about my under eyes and flat brow and am considering paying another surgeon to correct what should have been addressed by Sinno. I will once again have to pay the surgery, anesthesia and physicians fees for things that SHOULD have been addressed the first time. I also face more weeks of recovery and hiding out during the healing process. I am extremely paranoid that I will suffer from dry eye again and that I will have to endure all of that discomfort. I further learned from people within the industry, which include some very reliable sources who have direct knowledge of the practice, that not only are Sinno and Mustoe known more for nose jobs than facelifts but they are also not the nicest to work with or for. This point was driven home when I contacted the office and asked to meet with Mustoe, who is the head of the practice, because I hoped he would be more competent and not as intimidating as Sinno. That request was flatly rejected.
I hope that those reading this review take the time to avoid making the mistakes that I did. I encourage you to meet with a lot of doctors, ask a lot of questions and ensure you are on the same page as your physician before making your decision. Most of all, I would also follow your gut. After spending thousands of dollars and months of setbacks, plus many regrets, I sure wish that I had.