Ivor A. Emanuel, MD

Ah… finally a Physician who can put it all together — asthma, acid reflux, allergies, smell loss, and vocal cord problems. What a relief. After seeing doctors in Los Angeles piece meal about all the upper respiratory and digestive ailments plaguing me, I finally agreed to see my sister’s doctor, Ivor Emanuel, who has kept her asthma and allergies at bay for years. It was probably the most thorough intake at any doctor’s office I’ve experienced in years. Dr. Emanuel administered lung function and allergy tests and took a look at my vocal cords and reflux damage. I walked out with a medical protocol easy to understand and most importantly, he administered hope that I will talk and breath normally again. I think that may be the most important function of a doctor. The trip was worth it… not only to see this man but to take in the views of the great city of San Francisco and to see my nieces and grandchildren too.

I have a history of sinus allergies and infections and have been successfully treated by another ENT previously before moving to SF. I was a patient of Dr. Emanuel’s for over a year. I’ve gone to another doctor after losing patience with having 4 sinus infections in a row (which appeared to be the same one) due to ‘not aggressive enough’ treatment. I assumed he had to figure out what worked best for me but after several chances I was sick of suffering

Just had my first appointment. Dr. Emmanuel could not have been more professional and intelligent — looking forward to working with him on both my environmental allergies and potential food allergies.

Dr. Emanuel is a miracle-​worker. I have lived so long barely able to breath that I had pretty much resigned myself to it. Together, we charted a course to tackle my allergies and open up more breathing capacity. The results were tremendous. I really couldn’t say enough about the Doc and his staff — if you are looking for an ENT, look no further.

San Francisco is terrible for allergens and every time I see Dr. Emanuel I regret not coming sooner. This spring I felt worse than the time I got food poisoning. At least that’s contained to one day, allergies are like undulated torture of everything neck and above. Dr. Emanuel is excellent with great bedside manner, very patient and thorough.

Dr. Emmanuel cured my snoring problem about 15 years ago. One of the most worthwhile things I have ever done.

I had issues for many, many years because of the Dust Allergy in San Francisco. I read a few reviews here on Unilocal.Haven’t had a sinus infection, gotten sick or been affected by my Dust allergy since. it’s very prevalent here in San Francisco and he is a major expert on Dust Allergy. Total go to if you have this!

Dr. Emanuel is a fantastic Doctor who is a professional .who also cares about people and their lives. He is an amazing doctor. I have gone to him for years.

Dr Emanuel changed my life — really. I’ve had a life-​long lack of energy and focus which I had always written off as your avg case of laziness.
I recently had a 2 – 3 month long ‘sinus infection’ but after not responding to antibiotics, I decided to see an allergist. Turns out I have an obscure autoimmune issue with yeast (Candidiasis). This had been triggering ENT allergy symptoms every time I had very common foods (wine, sugar, vinegar, condiments) so I had no way of isolating it.
I’ve had a set of symptoms indicating this for 20 YEARS, but no doctors were able to connect the dots. I’m truly thanking my lucky stars that I saw Dr Emanuel. My work and personal life are so much better off now that I know what it’s like to feel ‘normal’.
Extra points for his staff — they’re nice, personable and punctual. They even recognize me after 2 – 3 month periods between appts. A+!

I began seeing Dr. Emanuel about one year ago, after leaving the care of another allergist. I was struggling with poorly controlled environmental allergies as well as frequent asthma problems. I was also being treated for «ear infections» on a regular basis with antibiotics, despite little indication of infection. My previous specialist had me try weekly allergy shots, for a number of allergens, to try to improve my symptoms. For a couple of months, it worked, but I began to have reactions to the shots which left me with head cold like symptoms at least 2 days every week. They repeated the same dosage week after week, and after at least 25 office appointments, hundreds of dollars in co-​pays and many «sick» days, my symptoms were not improving and were not able to be controlled by antihistamines.
Enter Dr. Emanuel into the equation… his first step was to validate my older allergy tests. He found a few foods (that I ate regularly) that I was mildly allergic to. Reducing these in my diet has helped reduce congestion. He also proposed using allergy drops instead of shots, and instead of trying to treat me for 4 – 5 allergens at once, just focused on my worst environmental allergy. I’ve been using the drops for close to one year now. Not only do I tolerate the drops better (I’ve never had a reaction), it is cheaper and easier than allergy shots, since I don’t have to go to the doctor each week. The drops have helped improve my allergy symptoms to the point that I rarely need to take allergy medicines. Dr. Emanuel also helped me pinpoint the times of year when my allergies would be the worst. Every fall since moving to San Francisco 14 years ago, I’ve gotten really sick in September and October. I always blamed it on viruses spread when school starts again, but last year Dr. Emanuel warned me that dust mite allergens worsen this time of year. He offered me a steroid shot when my symptoms were at their worst, and this was the first fall I didn’t spend weeks sick with respiratory problems!
Other doctors have thrown antibiotics and steroids at my frequent ear and throat pain. Dr. Emanuel took stock of all of my symptoms and suggested I may have TMJ. He proceeded with treatment, and my symptoms improved for the first time in years.
My asthma has been well controlled under Dr. Emanuel’s care. Aside from a recent bout with the flu, I have rarely used my rescue inhaler, whereas I used to use it at least a few times per week. Dr. Emanuel is also working with me to step down my maintenance doses now that my allergies are better managed.
So far I’ve had only positive experiences with his office, no long waits, no billing issues, no complaints at all. I’ve found Dr. Emanuel and all of his staff to be compassionate and friendly.

Dr. Emanuel is an outstanding doctor with a outstanding «bed side matter». The staff is very friendly and Dr. Emanuel was very professional and very caring and most importantly he took his time with me. This was my first time seeing him and it won’t be my last. 5 stars all the way

Dr. Emanuel is a great doctor. I was suffering from chronic sinus issues and he properly diagnosed and treated. After a few visits I ended up having the in office sinus procedure, somnoplasty. Two months later the sinus pressure is gone and I can breathe out of my nose again. I’ve been to his office several times and his staff are always nice and polite. The longest I ever waited was maybe 5 minutes before getting called back so they are pretty punctual. I would highly recommend.

This place is horrible. I went to Dr. Ivor Emanuel because of all of these reviews on Unilocal.He piece-​meals treatment so that you have to keep coming back to get treated. So that’s time away from work (since there is no time on the weekends) and he tries to push surgery on you.
On top of that, his staff doesn’t get back to you, ever. I was supposed to get a follow up on getting homeopathic treatment vs surgery — which never happened. Then I call them to get the homeopathic treatment since, yes I still have allergies. And they say I have to come in AGAIN. Yeah — they wont get another dime from me. Don’t make the mistake of coming here because it is a costly one.

I’m one of the handful of people on this thread who did not have a good experience. I’m pretty sure my view of patient-​doctor relationships is very different from Dr. Emanuel’s. He was abrupt, easily frustrated and struck me as a person who wants to tell people what to do but not illuminate them as to his reasoning.
I felt a bit nickeled and dimed, left with very little valuable information on how to self-​treat, and thought that my ultimate best treatment (sinus surgery) was prolonged due to a preference on Dr. Emanuel’s part to keep treating me for allergies alone (he doesn’t perform surgery as far as I know). I really don’t understand how I could be so swollen, have so little physical room in my sinuses int he first place and for him not to recommend surgery.
In the end two separate ENTs highly recommended that I get the sinus surgery which involved 3 separate procedures to improve my sinuses (turbinate reduction, septoplasty and balloon sinuplasty).
I’ve had the surgery and feel SO MUCH BETTER. It was a hard decision that Dr. Emanuel did not help me make…

Hard to gauge causality absent double blind process, but just as hard to deny the sequence: before Dr Emanuel, allergies; after Dr Emanuel, attenuation so significant as to enable imagination of allergy free life.
Dr Emanuel has been characteristically thoughtful, candid, warm, and funny. I was referred to him by a friend who’s a GP after Flonase, Claritin, et al. behaved like revealed placebos.
I’m very happy he’s treating me!

Dr. Emanuel was able to identify a problem that had been bugging me for years.
His staff was professional and handled my appointment on time.

Dr. Emanuel has been my ENT for thirty years. he is very nice and patient and listens to me and my questions, never rushed. I still pay what he charged me many years ago. he gives me free medicine when I need it because I don’t have health insurance.
I never have trouble getting an appointment when allergy season is in full tilt. I like sandy and the receptionst is very nice. highly recommend him for all allergy problems.

I had an OK experience with this doctor.
I’m leaving this 2* review only to let people know that this doctor changes co-​payment for every office visit — event follow-​ups.
Which never happened to me before. Also they do not let you know that before ahead but instead send you a bill afterward.
I have visited doctor 4 times for the _​same_​problem. I paid co-​payment on 2 separate visits and then I received a bill for 2 more copayments from follow-​up visits.
Have I known that, I probably would have substituted follow-​up office visits with the phone calls.
I ended up paying $ 100 in co-​payments only — which is too costly for one minor problem I had with my ear.

If I told you this guy is a miracle worker, would you believe me? If you don’t, you’re a fool.
I walked into my first appointment miserable. I had no voice for days, flu-​like symptoms, coughing, sneezing, blowing misery.
He checked me out, gave me a breathing test and an allergy panel. Turns out I’m allergic to EVERY tree and grass. Fantastic. I’m going to die… all of those are unavoidable. I’m going to be like the kid in the bubble, right?
WRONG.
He gave me a new, stronger inhaler. Explained every single step of my treatment in detail and it actually made sense. I know. A Dr that makes sense??? YUP. And then told me that he was going to give me a shot today and that I should feel 90% better by tomorrow. I even asked Dr. Emanuel what he does for patients that don’t like shots. His answer was «Don’t look» LOL! A Dr with a sense of humor, too? Did I just die and go to heaven? Not quite yet…
So, I get the shot because I’m literally DESPERATE.
If I told you that later that day my voice came back, would you believe me?
If I told you that the following day I DID feel 90% better would you believe me?
If I told you that my chronic eczema that my dermatologist told me I would have to treat the rest of my life MIRACULOUSLY disappeared within days, would you believe me?
You don’t have to. Just go see Dr. Emanuel! He works MIRACLES. I seriously heart him…

I have been going to Dr. Emmanuel for years because of my allergies. I was recently diagnosed with asthma because of my ongoing allergies and finally decided to get the regular allergy shot treatment last year. Dr. Emmanuel was a great doctor. Friendly and helpful, I felt like he treated me like part of his family.
The nurses were also very friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend Dr. Emmanuel to anyone with ENT issues.