Dr. Darling treated me with complete contempt, disdain, and disrespect at my appointment. I had asked her about which treatments might be best to rejuvenate or freshen up my skin. She repeatedly grabbed the skin on each side of my mouth and mushed it together and told me that my nasolabial folds and marionette lines were so deep and pronounced that there was "no amount of filler she could dump into them" that would help. She then proceeded to point out all of my perceived flaws to me one after another (crows feet, laugh lines, forehead lines, frown lines, lip lines, etc.) only to tell me that there were no injectables available that would help any of those problems either. She also told me that other treatments, such as lasers, would either have little or no effect treating the problems that she had outlined for me. She offered me the option of a $4,000 laser treatment, but also let me know that she thought it would have minimal, if any, effect. I don't know what kind of person shells out $4,000 for something that might have little to no results, but that person is not me. She then said, "You know what?" as she grabbed the skin on each side of my jawline and pushed it up so hard that my cheeks were shoved into my eyeballs, and then told me that what might really help me was a "major" facelift. She told me that a facelift could help get rid of "all the sagging skin" on my jawline and could also possibly help correct the "asymmetry" she had observed in my face. She then told me that she didn't perform facelifts and that she didn't think anyone else in Omaha could handle my situation either and that I would have to be willing to travel to a major city to find someone who could handle what I needed. She then pulled out her phone and started showing me the before and after photos of the patients of some instafamous plastic surgeon in New York City whose work she follows and greatly admires. By this point, I was so stunned and shocked, I could barely think or speak. As I realized that a trip to the instafamous doctor in New York City would probably deplete my savings to an unacceptable level, it occurred to me that by Dr. Darling's estimation, my only other option was to live in the shadows until death decides to take me someday. I have never been treated this poorly by anyone in my life since I was bullied in junior high fifty years ago, and at least those bullies never sent me a bill for what they did. I left my appointment that day feeling like Quasimodo, the titular character in Victor Hugo's classic novel, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Something is horribly wrong with Dr. Darling's interpersonal communication skills or rather lack of interpersonal communication skills. I know this is not a surprise to anyone because I have read through all of her reviews on the various medical review websites, and I have seen enough reviews similar to mine to know that her treatment of me was not an isolated incident. I also wish to point out that during my appointment, she was glib, flippant, rushed, and told me things about treatment that directly conflicted with what she had told me during my first appointment. When I would point this out and ask for clarification, she would become frustrated with me. At one point, she sighed and said, "You have so many issues!" Also, I wish to emphasize again, that when it came to the perceived flaws in my appearance, she seemingly felt compelled to mention the same issues over and over again until I felt like I was going to burst out crying. I am not hard-of-hearing, nor do I have a cognitive impairment of any kind. Yet she mentioned the incredible depth of my nasolabial folds and marionette lines SO MANY TIMES that four days later, I still have visions of Charlie McCarthy, Howdy Doody, and Chucky dancing through my head. Dr. Darling did make me realize something, though, for which I am now profoundly grateful, and that is that I shouldn't give hard-earned money away to an industry that profits from exploiting women's fears and insecurities about their appearance. read more

I was surprised by the one star reviews. I've been seeing Dr. Darling for several years. She has always been friendly. I'm thankful to her for finding and removing melanoma in the very early stages. I find her thorough and knowledgeable. She is always willing to answer any questions. I see her often and haven't had any of the negative experiences mentioned. read more

Least knowledgeable doctor that I've ever had the displeasure of encountering. She has very little imput regarding biopsies that are not returned to her as an elementary explanation. After initial biopsies returned as unspecific, due to underlying scar tissue, she blamed me by saying that I was itching / picking at the lesion areas -which apparently created the lesions, and henceforth scarred the area (although none of this was true). She did no follow up biopsies, although there were many other areas affected by these lesions. Months later, my PCM deemed that biopsies should be redone, and the results were a bit over her head, in terms of derma-pathology, and suggested I return to Dr. Darling for a better Explanation of the results. Instead, Dr. Darling was rude and near hostile in questioning why I had returned for an explanation if "didn't trust her the first time" - even though I had encountered now countless more lesions, with worsening symptoms. At one point in the very distasteful encounter, I had simply suggested that UNMC's Neurology department had indications of possible 'motor neuron disease' and that these results may help them indicate what and where was causing my chronic inflammation (diagnosed by 2nd opinion biopsies) and the skin lesions. She then stated "I'm sure you have googled it." and rolled her eyes. ^this comes from the same Dr. that didn't know who / what the NCBI was, yet attempted belittling a patient on a countless base of googling symptoms. Perhaps, Dr. Darling, you should spend more time on the google and you may not become so reactive to your patients concerns & questions which you have no answer for. :( read more

My experience with Melissa Darling was poor, not even worthy of addressing her with the credentials of an MD. I would not recommend her to anyone. She comes into the patient room and asks, "okay what are we looking at" in a non-caring tone. I show her the red marks and spots on my back and behind my upper arm and she tries to tell me they are just scratch marks from me scratching my back. She was very unprofessional and did not talk to me like a physician, but like someone who knew nothing about dermatology, or even medicine. I'm curious to know how she received a medical license to practice in her specialty of dermatology. I wasn't examined at all and no vitals were even taken, not even height, weight, or blood pressure. The previous physician that did a routine physical at a different clinic about 6 months ago was very professional and was the one that looked at my skin. She referred me to see a dermatologist because she knew these were not just scratch marks on my back, but something more. Melissa Darling is incompetent in her field of study and the only recommendation would be for her to lose her medical license. There is obviously something abnormal about her bedside manner and interpersonal skills. I didn't pay the $145 copay at the front desk and now I am very thankful for not doing so. She tried to tell me to pretend like this never happened and not to file a complaint against her. read more