Dr. John Howard Nowlin, MD

I was very disappointed with my visit with Dr. John H. Nowlin, MD, FAAP. I took my four year old son to him because of his persistent sinus blockage which led to bronchial issues and resulted in frequent trips to urgent care and the ER. Dr. Nowlin had very little bedside manner, he rolled his chair directly in front of my son and started examining him without introducing himself to my son in a friendly way or breaking the ice at all. Based on my description of the problem, the doctor said my son probably had swollen adenoids and then called for an xray. After the xray, the Dr. said the adenoids were "mildly swollen" and then recommended surgery to remove the adenoids. He described the surgery for about 2 minutes, and then said his nurse would finish up with us. He left the office and the nurse bombarded me with a flurry of paperwork and assurances that the surgery is very common and only takes a week or so to heal from. WHAT? I had never heard of adenoids before, and now, because they… are mildly swollen, they need to be removed? I felt like we were on a conveyor belt to surgery. I would say I clocked a total of 7 minutes with the doctor. I went home and researched adenoids myself. It turns out they are an important part of the immune system and the surgery the doctor recommended is quite controversial. You can investigate for yourself and find published research that attests that this surgery is contested. I met with a nutritionist instead and after making several dietary changes, my son has greatly reduced his breathing problems and we have not had to visit the ER in over a year for any sinus/bronchial related issues. I recommend everyone to ask questions and be aware of any doctor that is rushing you towards surgery.

Dr. Nowlin put tubes in my son's ears after chronic ear infections. It was scary to have him get an operation when he was so little, but Dr. Nowlin took the time to explain that it's a routine procedure and gave good detail about long-term prognosis, expectations in the days and months after the surgery, and answered all my concerns. He has been right on all counts; my son has done very well and his speech improved. Dr. Nowlin has followed up with hearing testing and seen my son repeatedly for follow-ups, each time giving me information about what would happen next. He is good with my son, also. I would definitely recommend him to my family and friends. I'm not as crazy about the office staff. They are fine, but a bit standoffish.

The staff messed up paperwork so even though I had previously been seen in the same office by an audiologist, there was no link up of information and I had to be retested. I spent three hours here, back and forth between audiologists and Dr Nowlin, when all I needed was my ears cleaned out. Dr Nowlin was blunt and at times rude, asking very personal questions about my pregnancies and even my piercing. Neither was relevant to the appointment or my condition. If Dr Nowlin simply stuck to his profession we would have had a much more pleasant consultation. As it is, I will not be returning to this Dr.