Laura Phan, MD

Dr. Phan is not only an excellent physician but also a talented artist. I have been going to her since she opened her practice in Los Gatos in 2013. She does not push anything on me and tends to be conservative, always telling me that less is more.
She does an amazing job with just Botox and fillers alone. The best thing is that she achieves great results with very little product, thus saving me a ton of money. I stopped telling her what I want and just let her do her artsy thing!
I did not have surgery with Dr. Phan yet but her results are pretty amazing. You have to see her before-​and-​after pictures to believe it.
Lastly, her office is pleasant and does not feel like a doctor’s office as other Unilocalers have mentioned. Try the tea with real glass mugs; her attention to details, even in the waiting room, has always impressed me.

Dr. Laura Phan is very knowledgeable.
My mother came in today to have a cyst looked at on her eye and Dr. Phan evaluated her with the utmost of care and sensitivity. In addition, she made it a point to go over every detail of my mother’s medical history to help provide some insight on her current condition. I was very appreciative of Dr. Phan’s thorough examination and her ability to provide my mother with options on her care, allowing her the ability to choose what is best for her needs and what will best suit her health goals.
In addition, Dr. Phan’s classic yet modern office is very welcoming. It is filled to the brim with samples, informational pamphlets, and technology to showcase the various services and procedures offered by Dr. Phan.
If you are looking for someone to give you a 360 degree view on any procedure involving ophthalmology or cosmetic surgery of the eye, look no further!

My sister has been going to Dr. Phan since the start of her practice. She dragged me into Dr. Phan’s office, insisting that I get a consultation for my scars. I didn’t care too much about the way scars look, but they caused me pain once in a while. So, I decided to go just to shut my sister up.
While the office was posh, the fanciest I had ever been to, It was clean, warm and welcoming. Dr. Phan and her assistant, Marissa, were really nice and down-​to-​earth. They made me feel comfortable, despite being the only male there at the time.
During the consultation, Dr. Phan was matter-​of-​fact. She didn’t make me feel bad about my scars or try to push anything on me. She just gave me a lot of options and told me to go think about it. I was a bit surprised that nothing is pushed on me.
After some consideration and a lot of nagging from my sister, I came back and took her advise regarding what she thought would work best to achieve my expectation.
After the treatment, I look much better and more importantly, the pain is gone! I can’t thank her enough.
Since then, I have been following Dr. Phan’s advice on caring better for my skin. I have gotten a lot of unexpected complements from my co-​workers. They don’t know what’s different, just that I look great!

I was really displeased with my consultation. $ 75 for about 15 minutes of time, with a cold, condescending Dr. who didn’t seem to give a damn about my concerns. Maybe she had an off day, but she took all these pictures & then pointed out a bunch of flaws that I had never considered flaws. That was funny. I almost started laughing. I mean, she was picking me apart, but she’s no beauty herself. I wanted to do the same thing back. I didn’t ask for her to point out my areas of «concern» she took it upon herself! Making me feel bad about myself doesn’t work. It’s a low form of manipulation used for centuries. I came for a specific area, I left a detailed message prior to my appointment time. Perhaps they could have saved me a trip since a side effect of injections of fillers near the eyes can cause blindness in some patients. If they had told me that on the phone I never would have come in! But hey, why not get $ 75 out of some idiot right? Also, Dr, don’t make appointments for dermal fillers the day before a major holiday & then tell the person they shouldn’t do it that day because they’ll have noticeable bruising. How dumb is that?

I was referred to Laura Phan by my optometrist after she detected an unusual eye lesion. I was able to make an appointment pretty quickly over the phone. The appointment itself was not off to a good start though when it was 15 minutes late for no apparent reason. Dr. Phan’s general demeanor was calm but not terribly friendly or reassuring. She did not seem to have read the referral as to why I was there or who even referred me. I had to probe and ask a lot of questions to get enough detail as to what my eye problem could be and what the future courses of action would be. She became flustered to the point of annoyance when I asked her who would be performing the surgery at the Mountain View site if that was found to be necessary, which I thought was a straightforward question but I had to ask it in a few different ways to get an answer. So, overall, we didn’t communicate that well. I also would have appreciated knowing what she was doing as she was doing it, like explaining that my eyes would be dilated (no forewarning) and that an instrument would be touching the surface of my eye, instead of jumping right in and doing it.
I’m explaining some of these things in detail because each thing taken individually was not that big of a deal, but collectively left a sour impression with me.
My last point of contention is that I received a bill not just for the office visit ($ 300) but a separate $ 100 bill for ‘eye photography.’ Toward the end of my one visit with her, she took a photo of my eye with her digital SLR camera, and I was under the impression that this was just to show me the lesion on my eye under slightly more magnification. While I understand they may need some sort of documentation for insurance purposes, it still seems outrageous to be personally billed, and for this much, for non-​diagnostic or pre-​op purposes.
My general impression after the office visit and reading her website, is that Dr Phan’s emphasis is on cosmetic issues and less on medical issues (especially unusual cases like mine). I saw Dr. Barbara Erny at PAMF for a second opinion and had a much better experience there.

now 4 months later.. .Such an improvement in vision and in my appearance. Scars are much less noticeable already and are still improving.

Met with others and felt most comfortable with Dr. Phan. I am extremely detailed and overly critical about certain things and she nailed all of my concerns without me even saying anything… She didn’t try to sell me anything extra that I didn’t need or was not concerned with. I went with her bc she answers everything and took her time… Results?!? Super happy!!!

If I could give Dr. Laura Phan 10 stars, I would. She is, hands down, the BEST Doctor /​Ophthalmologist /​Oculofacial plastic surgeon. I simply cannot imagine anybody being more thorough, thoughtful, caring, professional, detail-​oriented, or clear. Here’s my story,…
A year ago, I developed ptosis in my right eye. Initially, I thought it was severe dry eye because I have been wearing contacts lenses for almost two decades; looking back, it was probably my eyelid rubbing against my pupil that caused the scratchiness and «dry» sensation. Thankfully, I learned that ptosis appeared to be quite a common condition and could be resolved through surgery. I wanted to be extremely cautious about which oculofacial plastic surgeon to select since this was my precious eye, and I found two doctors in the Bay Area (one of them being Dr. Phan) who had stellar reviews on Unilocal.I had consultations with both doctors but, this is why I ultimately selected Dr. Phan:
1) During my first visit on 10/​31/​2014, Dr. Phan spent over one hour with me even though it was the end of her working day. She normally does not see patients on Friday because she reserves Fridays for surgical procedures. However, I travel for work a great deal so, she accommodated me by seeing me after a full day of performing surgeries. She took a great deal of measurements, performed a comprehensive check of both of my eyes as an Ophthalmologist should, diluted my eyes, put some other drops in to check the health of my eyes, and placed another set of drops in my right eye that magically lifted my right eyelid. Apparently, if my right eye reacted well to those drops, then I might be an ideal candidate for the procedure that she ultimately recommended for me (a less invasive ptosis repair surgery). I was SO grateful that Dr. Phan took a conservative approach with my right eye. Given the less severe nature of my ptosis, Dr. Phan did not recommend the typical procedure, which could be quite invasive and could require at least 2 – 4 weeks of recovery. She then recommended that I obtain an MRI scan so that she could doubly confirm that my ptosis was not a symptom of a larger health issue (so thorough!). She also took the time to answer my laundry list of questions. Through it all, Dr. Phan was incredibly patient and professional.
2) After my MRI, I went to see Dr. Phan again (12÷1÷2014) and, thankfully, my MRI came back completely normal. No health issues that might be causing the ptosis. Whew! She then had me take a test that would help indicate whether my ptosis would be covered by my health insurance for medical reasons, or whether my health insurance would deem the ptosis repair as a cosmetic procedure. Unfortunately, my ptosis repair was considered a cosmetic procedure but, I am thankful that she was very upfront about it. Then, she went into great detail to explain the surgical procedure — how to prepare prior of the surgery and also the day of, how much it would cost out-​of-​pocket, what to expect, how long the recovery period might be, etc. She also presented to me the option of either local anesthesia or something like general anesthesia. Again, she was patient and professional as she answered my laundry list of questions.
3) On 12/​19/​2014, Dr. Phan preformed my ptosis repair surgery. Dr. Phan utilizes the Los Gatos Surgical Center facilities. The staff and nurses at Los Gatos Surgical Center facilities were also extremely professional, efficient, and patient. Another doctor administered the anesthesia (I was not completely knocked out — strangely, I was «asleep» and I could not feel any pain but, I could hear everything and I was conscious). The procedure was over in about an hour, maybe less than an hour. My eye looked swollen and nasty (but that was expected) and Dr. Phan prescribed me some painkillers if I needed them. She also gave me her personal cell phone number and said that I could contact her anytime if I had any issues or questions during the healing process. That night, Dr. Phan even contacted me to check-​up on me. So kind!
4) On 12/​21/​2014, I noticed that my right eye was still rather swollen and my eye was very red; there also appeared to be a broken blood vessel. I contacted Dr. Phan right away, texted her a picture, and she suggested that I come into her office on Sunday. Of course, normally she does not open on Sundays but, she came in just to see me. WOW. Talk about being accountable for her work! She identified the source of the problem — a suture had come loose — and she tightened the suture, gave me an extra ice pack, sterilizing bandages, and some tape to keep the suture tight. Throughout the course of the week, I texted Dr. Phan whenever I had questions or if I was nervous.
Today, 12/​26/​2014, Dr. Phan took my stitches out and my right eye is HEALED! It’s symmetrical and even with my left eye! I am SO FREAKN’ HAPPY!!! I can’t believe how quickly I healed. I am SO grateful for Dr. Phan and HIGHLY recommend her!

Synopsis: A good doctor.
Dets.: I visited Dr. Phan’s practice yesterday hoping to get some advice about recurrent dark patches under my eyes. I assumed a procedure called a lower blepharoplasty would be in my future, but Dr. Phan emphatically disagreed. She gently told me I do NOT need surgery, and instead prescribed a topical lightening cream and sent me on my way.
She is kind, gentle, and clearly conservative in her approach. If you live in the South Bay and need an eye surgeon, I would recommend her — she’s one of the good ones.

She is gifted.
My opthamologist told me that the reason I wasn’t sleeping well is that my eyes were rounding at the bottom and not quite closing at night. Even worse, they were always bloodshot and irritated, and asymmetrical (one eye opened differently than the other). This was due to two things: an unskilled eyelift from years ago, and my own aging. Therefore, I was not thrilled about having yet another eye surgery. I didn’t want to look like one of those over-​surgerized women with slightly crazy eyes.
Dr. Phan was recommended to me by a highly respected surgeon. She examined my eyes with a number of different instruments, then assured me that the gentle lift she’d give to the outsides of my lower lids would be subtle – just enough to ensure full closure and improved symmetry.
So I said «yes.» Fast forward to 10 days post op, and… wow. My still slightly swollen eyes are vastly improved. Symmetrical! The bruising is minimal and the scars are invisible. Yes, already. The big bonus is that I am sleeping like a baby, and I now wake up each day with white eyes. My eyes also feel good throughout the day – the need for lubricating drops is virtually eliminated.
Dr. Phan is a truly great doctor. She listens. She delivers.

I was told by another doctor I needed surgery and couldn’t get in to see a surgeon. Dr. Phan was nice enough to see me quickly and told me I didn’t need surgery! Best of all, she still took care of the problem. Office is very nice and discrete. Doctor is really nice, easy to talk to, and doesn’t rush through appointment. I took her business cards back to my primary care doctor.