Mahmood Mahdavi, MD

Had my deviated septum and sinusitis surgery a little more than a year ago. Results were great, I could smell & breathe a lot better, until a few months ago. My symptoms all came back but it may be my allergies so I want to wait out and see. Dr. Mahdavi recommended to resume using the saline wash which I haven’t done yet. No real complaint medically — BUT there has been a cosmetic issue, and I’m pretty frustrated.
Immediately after the surgery when the swelling went down, I noticed an indentation on the bridge of my nose. When I expressed my concern, Dr. Mahdavi advised to wait 1 – 2 years for my nose to heal completely; he informed me of possible ways to fix the issue, which I was under the impression that he would take the responsibility.
So come this year, the indentation hasn’t improved at all. So I call again. I ask for the office visit fee to be waived since it isn’t really a post-​op, or a check-​up and I wouldn’t have had to see the doctor if it weren’t for the indentation caused by Dr. Mahdavi. The lady on the phone isn’t too nice and treats me like I’m some kind of a cheapskate trying to freeload. Because I’m persistent, she offers me to transfer me to the nurse, who turns out to be really nice and understanding. She relays my issue to Dr. Mahdavi and he calls me back the next day. He says that the indentation is one of the side effects/​complications with the sinus surgery which are all explained to me before the surgery. He also adds that my weak bone caused the indentation. I’m still not sure as to why an internal surgery would cause an external indentation, and why he didn’t leave the plastic support in my nose a little longer to avoid problems like this. He then mentions that we never had photos taken at the office before the surgery, and I wonder why he is saying this… Is he basically saying that there’s no evidence? Idk. Maybe I’m overthinking out of frustration.
The phone convo with him seems not too hopeful at this point, and finally he offers me to provide a surgery to straighten my nose! But there’s a catch. I would be responsible for the operating room fees, which if I remember correctly, are thousands of dollars. I ask if he could just do a filler injection to help the nose temporarily since I have a modeling gig coming up. He agrees but he would also need to do that in the op room. Huh??? I don’t get it. I’ve done many different fillers and never once I had to go to the op room for an injection. I ask to do that at his office like all other places, and he says that he would need to check if he could and if he could even get the filler to his office. Honestly I don’t get what’s so complicated but I’m no expert.
Overall I can’t say much yet since I’m still waiting for the doctor’s call about the filler. I’m, however, pleased with their prompt response, the initial surgery results (internal results), and the Dr’s offer. I will edit/​update this review when the doctor calls me back!

Caution — (this is from my mothers experience)
I went to Dr. Mahdavi at the San Diego Ear Head Neck Surgery Medical Clinic with an earache. I told him I thought it was a fungal ear infection and that I had no other symptoms; no sore throat, no congestion, no runny nose, eyes clear, no cough. He charged $ 227.00 for new patient set up. He looked in my ears and confirmed I had a fungal ear infection. He looked in my nose and throat. I left after paying a $ 20.00 co-​pay and when the ear drops did not work I went back to the specialist in Orange County. I received a bill for what my insurance company said was a surgery procedure. Since I did not have surgery I called the office. Staff was prepared for questions and had an answer ready for me. Apparently Dr. Mandavi had a tool used by surgeons to look up my nose. He charged $ 302.00. This kind of practice is why medical costs are so high. When a doctor puts financial gain before ethical practice I would caution you to ask questions and check and double check your bills for hidden costs. I am guessing deceptive practices are nothing new to him or his office staff. A bogus excuse to charge money. Be careful.

stay away from this guy — totally old school, doesn’t listen, does what he wants, discounts what i say and feel, totally messed me up. sinus surgery was terrible, and when i had pain after, he called me a complainer. that pain turned into an even worse infection, and he had the nerve to say, he needed to go back in. NO WAY JOSE. i’m looking for a new ENT.

I like Dr. Mahdavi. He was the only one who listened to me and found a pretty serious problem and I ended up having surgery. I must have had good insurance coverage because I don’t remember getting tons of bills or being overcharged for anything. He’s a specialist so yeah, you’re going to pay more to see him than to see your regular doctor. But, I’ve had two surgeries and both times I got several bills from hospital and I think that’s standard at any hospital (at least it is at Scripps). You get a bill from hospital, one from surgeon, one from anesthesiologist, etc. I was surprised the first time but for this surgery I bugged the hospital to find out who would be seeing me and what I could expect. It was not an easy task, trust me. But this had nothing at all to do with the doctor.

He’s an excellent doctor. Highly educated, knows his stuff. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Is he expensive– yes. Is he the best– yes. You get what you pay for. I had cancer in my sinuses which another ENT doc missed. I had it removed but it was huge so I have some ongoing issues from it (had to do radiation, chemo, etc so it was extensive). I have had 3 surgeries from Dr. Mahdavi and they have all been top notch. I have gotten second opinions twice to make sure I’m on the right track and all the docs have said that Mahdavi is the best and they would recommend continuing to see him.
His office is run extremely efficiently as well so I have never waited more than 10 min to see him… compared to waiting hours for other docs sometimes.
I get it, it SUCKS to get random bills and it’s frustrating… that part annoys me too. But to me, having a doctor that is compassionate, skilled, knowledgeable, efficient and precise is worth the extra money even though I don’t have a lot extra. I’d rather spend it on getting good care than extra clothes or a fancy car.

I should’ve listened to the other reviews. I can basically only echo the same experiences as the previous reviewers. I went in for a deviated septum and chronic sinus infections. He recommended septoplasty and turbinate reduction. I had 3 separate bills from the procedure and after multiple follow up visits he continues to use a «scope» for about 10 seconds and charges me $ 300 each visit.
Each question I ask seems to have the same answer of «deal with it». Allergy and Asthma recommend this doctor, but I need to have a talk with them.

I agree with the other reviewers. I was charged $ 800 out of pocket (after insurance) for procedures this doctor deemed «surgical.» And, all he did was give me a sheet of paper with stupid exercises for my vertigo. He also completed ignored the fact that I had a very persistent cough, which I believe falls under «throat»???
See someone else.

When you ever visit his office, make sure you ask the doctor, nurse, or anyone if that operation/​treatment is necessary. And how much it costs if performed… FOR EVERY QUESTION THEY ASK, AND FOR EVERY TIME THEY TRY TO TOUCH YOU.
I was recommended to Dr. Mahdavi by my physician when I had constant dizziness. At his office, besides the treatment for dizziness (some QAs, a piece of paper showing physical exercises to train inner ears for balance), I was asked if it’s okay to inspect my nose holes for possible infections. The nurse said she has to ask every patient because it’s considered «INVASIVE» on paperwork… I just laughed and agreed, not knowing the outcome. She didn’t tell me how much it costs to insert a flash light ¼ an inch into my nose hole.
Then I went to the office again a few weeks later for follow-​ups and the doctor sticked the flash light into my nose again.
Next month I received an insurance claim saying that those «INVASIVE» operations cost me more than $ 300 each and my out-​of-​pocket expense ended up over $ 300 for each visit. It’s funny that they reported such operations as «SURGERIES» on claims. Perhaps they did so to make it look justifiable.
Performing unnecessary nose examination for profit… they deserve zero or negative stars, but I gave a star for healing my dizziness by introducing me to the inner-​ear exercise.

Dr Mahdavi & his staff are great! Helped me with my ear issues right away. Would recommend them to anyone.

I saw this doctor because I had a chronic bloody nose. While he did fix the problem, he insisted on using a new fancy camera each time he saw me (initial appointment and the follow up) and charged me $ 150 each time. My insurance covered the actual procedure and appointment time, but not the cost of his new camera.
I would not have had a problem with this if he would have given me the option of using a different tool or his new fancy camera that he obviously has not paid off yet.
Based on the way he runs his practice and charges patients without giving them options, I would NEVER recommend his services.

Let me tell you about this doctor!!!
I drove down to see him from Laguna Beach, i had a massive congestion followed by terrible headaches, i did all he told me to do, with no resoults. To make it short he just said we gonna watch it, My wife suggested some home remedy that helped me a lot.
Each appointments i was billed about $ 150.00 for less then 10 minutes consultation and going over test resoults.
The nice parts is that he knew that i was in pain and he never prescribed me anything to help me out, i was told about my test resoult by his nurse, which makes me belive that he did not even look at my XRAY because the socond appointment that i had with another specialist up in Laguna Beach he noticed that i had something different that what Mahdavi had told me.
This place was an unpleasent experience for me, it’s all about the money for this people, never again back there.

I saved enough money to get some insurance coverage and ended up being referred to this quack! If I could give this guy a negative (10) I would. My insurance clearly said that the fee for a «specialist» would be $ 60. So I pay the $ 60 co-​pay. I had all the paper work already filled out to bring in to save time. I’m having an issue with dizziness. I’m not kidding this guy didn’t spend 10minutes with me and all he did was look in my mouth and ears with a small flash light! no scope of any kind. He then made me sign a paper stating he would do a treatment that would cost $ 150 that insurance might not cover. I was desperate for help and thought he would be doing something to help. This is what he did. He laid me back in the chair to one side and then had me sit up quickly. Yup, that was it… at best an entire 10 minutes. Then right before Christmas I get his bill. The insurance had already paid him $ 400 plus dollars and my balance was $ 290!!! not including the $ 60 I already gave him. So I write him a letter telling him of how I’ve been laid off, how he’s ruining my holiday etc. I ask him if the $ 500 he’s already been paid might be enough and if he could forgive the balance. I got no response to my letter other than a notice saying if I didn’t pay the bill in full they will send to collections. I wrote them another letter telling them I can only pay $ 10 a month, they sent me back a notice saying they would except $ 10 but only if I give them a debit or credit card because they don’t trust me to send a check. Talk about getting raped! How this guy and his staff can sleep at night is beyond me… he is as low as low can be. I will be writing Ralph Nader and anyone else I can think of about this scum of the earth.

The Doc Rocks… Love this man! Compassionate and good!

Dr. Mahdavi has taken care of our family for years and is kind, compassionate and skilled physician and surgeon. When one of my daughters had her tonsils out, the surgery nurse told her that all the nurses thought Dr. Mahdavi was the best and they loved working with him.

Dr. Mahdavi is a wonderful surgeon who operated when I needed part of my thyroid removed. He has a calming presence, many years of experience and is technically excellent in surgery. He patiently and calmly prepared me for my surgery by making sure all my questions were answered. My recovery was quick and easy. He did a beautiful job stitching the incision and after just four weeks post-​op my scar is barely noticeable. I recommend him without reservation.

Consider the sound that a duck makes and you’ll have a good idea of what I think of Dr. Mahdavi.
I went to see Dr. Mahdavi as a 33 year old with mild hearing loss. Upon my arrival, I was presented with a stack of paperwork that took me a good 30 minutes to complete. I was then taken to an exam room by a medical assistant who proceeded to ask me the answers to the same questions on the forms I had just spent so much time completing. She presented me with a form to sign that would allow Dr. Mahdavi to use a laryngoscope during my exam. I was uncomfortable signing this form primarily because its use and purpose had not been explained to me, and the form mentioned that my insurance might view it as a surgical procedure. Huh? In any case, I was highly pressured into signing the form before Dr. Mahdavi would even see me.
During my exam, Dr. Mahdavi (who barely so much as introduced himself as he walked in) did use his laryngoscope for all of about 30 seconds to shine a high powered light down my throat. He waved off any theories that my other long-​time doctors had about the cause of my hearing loss. He told me that my hearing loss wasn’t a big deal, telling me that he has 85 year old patients with worse hearing loss who don’t even want to wear hearing aids. (Ummm… that’s nice, but I have more than 50 years to go until I’m 85.) Ultimately, I was sent off with the advice to go get another hearing test and with two bottles of «hearing vitamins». These hearing vitamins were not FDA approved, proven in any scientific way to improve my hearing, and suspiciously needed to be taken 3 times a day to be effective. Sounded like a good way for a vitamin company to make money to me.
A few weeks later I received a $ 600 bill for my visit. If you want quality care, a compassionate and understanding manner, and legitimate medical treatment for hearing loss, I would highly advise you to choose an ENT other than Dr. Mahdavi.