The following is my review indicating my experience with a Dermatologist. In the fall of 2019 I moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, which is known by many to be a hub of 'elitist', well-off people who have a penchant for physical appearances being above average. I thought that the Doctors in that area must be very good at their practices because of this, so decided to see Dr. LaTowsky, a well-known dermatologist, in Scottsdale. I decided to investigate the possibility that I could have a Thread Lift Procedure, and so booked an appointment with the said Dermatologist/Doctor. All angles of pros and cons/prices, etc were discussed and an appointment was booked for the beginning of March, 2020 to have the procedure done. My appointment was for 10:00 am. When I arrived I found the office dark with no lights on, the door was locked and despite knocking loudly no one came to the door. I went back home & called the office. An answering service replied to me stating that due to "Covid" the office is now closed. I received no phone calls/texts or emails advising of the cancellation of my appointment. Fast forward to the fall of 2021, believing this must have been just a simple oversight, I made another appointment with said Dr. and explained what happened that March 2020, to which I received the reply "sorry". I then proceeded to book a new appointment to have the procedure done. On Feb. 12/2022 I attended the office for the Thread Lift. Many pictures were taken from all angles of my face 'before'. The procedure was quite painful, with the doctor having to inject more and more Lidocaine into areas that were to be affected. All seemed well upon completion, but within a week I could feel and see threads drifting and migrating within my face, some making very large swelling points especially in the chin area. I went back to see the Dr. at which time pictures were taken as a follow-up. She didn't seem concerned, advising that all that would subside in time. Over the next few weeks I found that threads were migrating into my chin area, inside my mouth on the cheek side, poking through the skin into my teeth, & having one which had come out through the skin beside my nostril, as well as one high in the left cheek. I again called the Dr.'s office & was told that her schedule was "really full" and that she could see me in approx. 3 weeks. I was extremely unsatisfied with this answer so explained to the next person on the phone that it could be a more urgent issue for the doctor to address (assuming this was the scheduling supervisor). She was able to book me an appointment to see the Dr. within the week in a few days. Again the Dr's assistant took many, many pictures of my face from various angles before I saw or spoke to the Dr. Shortly after, while waiting in the treatment room, I could hear several females laughing loudly (I assumed all worked there). They were on the other side of the door, but close enough for me to hear the laughter & what was being said (about my pictures). The Dr. & her assistant came into the room & I firstly stated, "I heard you all laughing at my pictures". The Dr. seemed surprised but opened up her computer-notebook & asked, "Do you want to see what we were laughing at?" then proceeded to show me a picture of myself with a rather unflattering facial pic. She stated that they were just asking the assistant what she had done to provoke that horrible expression, but obviously I could hear otherwise. She then proceeded to say "we all have to laugh sometimes, right?". I 'should' have replied but not at the expense of jeering at my photos. I felt belittled, judged and disrespected, as well as embarrassed. I felt inside this was a violation of the doctor's code of conduct to maintain professionalism & respect for patients. The Dr. went on to show me comparison pictures from the last 2 visits up until those taken that day, trying to encourage me that there were 'great changes' in my skin and lift. I could not see absolutely any difference whatsoever. She seemingly disgustedly snapped closed her computer-notebook and asked, "What do you want me to do?". I replied that perhaps a few new threads would help the situation. Her advice was to have "Sculptra" injected into the cheek areas to attempt to 'pick up' some of the sagging skin lower, & that she would do so for "Free". Two weeks later I had the appointment to have the 'Sculptra' injected into my cheeks. I first saw the assistant who put numbing cream on my face and gave me a 'frozen hand', meaning a large latex silicone glove which was frozen solid & told me to hold it on my cheek areas, rotating from side to side. I waited ..... & waited ..... & at least an hour later (the frozen hand was pretty much all thawed). The Dr. finally came into the room & I noted there were 7 various-sized syringes filled with some unknown clear substance(s) sitting on a tray for me. She then proceeded to inject the 'Sculptra" into my cheek areas. When finished I asked her if she would have time to give me a small amount of Botox in the upper forehead area. She said 'sure', then asked the assistant if there was any Botox in that treatment room, to which the assistant replied 'no, not in this room'. Neither of them left the room. The Dr. injected 'something' into my forehead areas & I went home feeling a little better about the whole procedure. About 2 weeks later, still with threads poking out, I realized the Botox didn't seem to be doing anything, and that the cheeks were as flat as they were without the "Sculptra". I could feel no filler in the areas. I moved back home & upon doing so booked an appointment with another Dermatologist/Doctor who examined me. He has been working in this capacity for over 35 years & is very up to date on all aspects of cosmetic dermatology. In his professional opinion he could detect no filler in my cheeks & indicated that what was used in my face may have been just Saline Solution, which would have dissipated within a week. He also advised that the "Botox' used had no effect whatsoever. So life goes on .... & I've learned an unfortunate lesson in not to trust seemingly professional individuals in this capacity. The reason for my writing is just to warn others to be very aware of who they are putting their delicate faces into the hands of, and do research very well (much more than I did) to assure a good result as intended. I hope this may help others who are considering any type of cosmetic skin rejuvenation.
