Tipton Dale L, MD

i’ve read through some of the good and bad reviews here about dr tipton, and as a whole i think they give a fair picture of the practice as a whole. overall, though i’ve always had a great, warm experience here. i do basic allergy shots. and with this sort of thing, what counts is the staff. you see them every week – sometimes twice a week.
chazz is the best – very sweet, efficient, caring, human, technically awesome. i can’t even tell when she gives me a shot.
ryan at the desk is also very smart, nice, and always pleasant to talk with.
there is another woman there who is also outstanding. she gave me my allergy test (where they prick you with 40+ needles). good thing she was highly experienced at giving that test.
the staff really makes this office hum and keeps it golden for all of us patients. they know each of us patients and do what it takes to make sure we get consistent, medically excellent, and great care with a smile. this is the main reason i make sure my various HMOs/​PPOs ALWAYS include dr tipton’s office.

He also looked down my throat with a small mirror, like a dental mirror, and charged for a Laryngoscopy. What a scammer. He did not really listen to me and went on about allergy shots for pollen. I am allergic to cats.

My speculation that Dr. Tipton is TOO OLD to be practicing medicine is absolutely correct. After a brief exam and review of my ear history he suggested I might need to get another tube put in my ear — which he was happy to do in the office.
RED FLAGS went up at that moment (I already had some hesitation based on his quivering hands and the thought of him touching my «bad» ear surgically, made me want to run out of his office).
I had ear problems in the past and surgery by some of the best in Boston, but they have been pretty stable over the past 10 years — so you don’t want to mess with someone’s ears that have more or less stabilized by throwing a tube in there. Especially in an eardrum that previously had a hole (from a tube) that had to be repaired with complicated surgery.
At that point, I sought another opinion — from a doctor that Dr Tipton himself referred me to («long time friends» — in the same building).
That doctor took one look at my ear and said — absolutely not. I wouldn’t mess with that ear and I would question anyone who would advise you to get a tube or have any other surgery on it.
The appointment with that doctor was quick and fully covered by my insurance.
Like others here though, I received a $ 300 bill from Dr Tipton’s office for a tiny microscope that was used during a routine exam. So — question EVERYTHING he uses if you’re concerned about extra charges.
Or. just find a younger doctor.

I asked my primary care doctor for a referral to an ENT in the 45 Castro building as there is easy parking and I drive in from Pacifica. Dr. Tipton US wonderful, just as his other reviews state. He is personable, friendly and thorough. He engages and talks with you while he is working. Jeff at the front desk is also very nice and pleasant as well. I highly recommend Dr. Tipton.

Dale Tipton is a sweetheart-​I wear hearing aids and have to get the wax cleaned out of my ears more often than most-​he is gentle, thorough and careful without being patronizing of me or my hearing loss. I hope he doesn’t retire anytime soon!

Best. ENT. Ever. I’ve been to 2 other ENTs in the city. Dr. Tipton is by far the greatest.
Very warm, friendly and patient. He listens to your concerns and doesn’t try to rush you out the door to move on to his next patient. No unnecessary procedures (a big double plus in my opinion). He tells you before he does something that might be painful, or chooses a different approach that will be more gentle.
A++, will never go to any other ENT except Dr. Tipton

Knowledgeable, efficient and kind. Problem explained and solved within 10 minutes. What more can you ask for from a medical professional?

I just need to say THANK YOU DR. TIPTON!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU.
I have the worst alergies that have plagued me all of my life and finally after two miserable days in Denver on a work trip that my alergies left me miserable, I decided to finally go see an alergist based on a freind’s recommendation.
So I had my evaluation and Dr. Tipton put me on pills and a nasal spray to deal with the symptoms. Here is the cool thing. He didn’t just say do this or that. He talked to me about the pro’s and con’s of the immunotherapy shots. Gave me a realistic goal and path to make a decision. Dr. Tipton isn’t one of the younger doctors in SF you might encounter that tend to try and upsell you on stuff. Sounds crazy that a doctor might do that? It’s not that uncommon.
Turns out the doc could have retired but loves what he does. I go in weekly to get my shots now from the nurses but you always see people stop by glad to see the doc. Great office that tries to work with the patients and Chaz the nurse that gives me the shots is awesome too. She’ unreal. Seems to know every patient.

I’ve been going to doctor Tipton for years now. I originally came to get my allergies checked out, which turned out to be severe. I did 1 year of the immunotherapy shots.
Even in his first diagnosis I was told that I must have broken my nose at some point in my life because I had a deviated septum. Some time near the end of the cycle of getting immunotherapy shots, I got the septoplasty surgery to correct it. It was fairly painless, and he is nice enough to give people a shot of demerol when taking the packing out after several days. Trust me, you want the demerol! Even with the shot, it was rather excruciating; I can’t imagine having it taken out without the shot.
I’ve also been to see him recently for a persistent cough that I’ve had. He never talks down to you, and he has always been kind, patient, relaxed, and knowledgeable, pretty much everything you would ideally want in a doctor.
Nurse Rowena is awesome too! She is the one that oversaw my weekly immunotherapy shots for a year.

So, i wear hearing aids in both ears and had noticed lately that they just weren’t functioning right but it was iffy like one day they’d be just fine and the next they wouldn’t after sending them to be «fixed» twice with the results being there was nothing wrong with them. i figured time to get your ears checked Candy!
So i call my GP and they mention this guy same building, different floor and they take my insurance — all good. I’m like cool! i call them up get an appointment in like two days, how awesome is that?
Day of my appointment i walk in apologizing to the guy at the front desk for not being 10 minutes early like he’d asked (totally my bad) and he was like «hey no sweat». i fill out my paperwork and hand it back, 2 minutes later he calls my name and shows me to the exam room.
Not more than a minute later in comes Dr. Tipton — what a SWEET MAN! oh just the best attitude. After a brief introduction he looks at one ear says you were right you just need a cleaning, which he proceeds to do on the spot. Now normally [i was born with ruebella so i am not new to having stuff done to my ears] having my ears cleaned is a painful thing for me, NOT with Dr. Tipton! It was thee most pain-​free cleaning ever i mean ever — i am 44 — EVER. I put my hearing aid back in yay it works. ok now on to the real problem ear… same thing no pain and i can HEAR even without my aid i could hear better! So he tells me in the nicest way to come in once a year for this and i will probably not have this problem.
Well, don’t have to tell me twice — with a guy as cool and sweet as he is, who makes ear cleanings actually feel really good, I will be his patient for as long as he’s practicing medicine!
44 freaking years of having my cleanings hurt. wish i’d found Dr. Tipton years ago!

I used to like Dr. Tipton. He was always very warm and friendly. But when I last when in for a checkup of my vocal cords (keep in mind, this is his specialty), I got slapped with additional charges for indirect laryngoscopy. Why you ask? Because in order to check out my cords, he had to put a mirror in the back of my throat. Five seconds after which he took it out and said «looks good.»
That mirror cost me $ 100, and when I called to contest the charge, they explained that when a doctor uses an instrument in examination, it is considered an additional procedure and costs more (even though they had never done it on previous visits). I suggested that, given that logic, I would also be charged when he stuck the audioscope in my ears to check them out. Of course, they didn’t have an answer for that.
Unfortunately, it feels like Tipton and/​or his billing department are trying to find ways to get more money out of their patients. I could possibly understand all of this if he had found something wrong and needed to go in to perform some sort of correctional procedure. But apparently the $ 120 office visit fee is what it costs to just walk in the door.
Dr. Tipton has every right to charge what he wants — but at the same time, he has an obligation to say to his patients «yep, this little mirror is gonna cost you $ 100 — are you sure you want me to do what you came here for?»
If you have endless buckets of cash to spend on ridiculous «standard» charges, then go to Dr. Tipton. If you prefer to get a checkup that doesn’t include hidden charges of outright absurdity, look elsewhere.

I love Dr. Tipton! He is a happy jolly man and I enjoy my appointments.

I love Dr. Tipton. He’s everything a doctor is supposed to be: warm, gracious and thorough.

After a year of chronic sore throats, strep scares and hoarseness I finally found a doctor I could trust to diagnose my condition.
Dr. Tipton was kind, and took his time explaining the entire tracheal area to me and I left my first appointment feeling educated and more aware of what was going on in my nose & throat. After some x-​rays and some antibiotics I received a call from Dr. Tipton. He had not looked to see that I had a follow appointment the following week, but had received my x-​rays and wanted to let me know he did not see anything unusual at all. After talking to friends and co-​workers I was debating getting my tonsils removed. Dr. Tipton did not advise this unnecessary surgery. He suggested simple things like rest & relaxation (no stress!) to help keep my throat calm. Sometimes we need a doctor to hold our hand and tell us to chill out. I didn’t know I needed this, and I have been strep free for over a year now. Hooray.