Classical Acupuncture for Back Pain, Sciatica & Neck Pain in San Diego
SAN DIEGO
A 1-on-1 investigative approach for people who have tried the normal options, but still don’t feel normal.
Complimentary 15-minute chat with Diego
Understand why you haven’t healed yet
Board Certified • Est. 2017 • Classical Lineage • Private 1-on-1 • 5.0★ (30+ Reviews)
Chronic Pain Has Become Your Close Companion
You've adjusted your life around it. Stopped doing things you love. Tried the specialists, PT, injections, medications.
The pain improves for a while, then returns. Or worse, it never leaves. Just quiets down enough to become your new normal.
Here's what no one has told you: The pain isn't the problem. The pain is a signal.
Most approaches try to silence that signal. At Gateway Acupuncture, I investigate what your pain is pointing to so the underlying pattern can be addressed.
"Diego is fantastic and he did a stellar job addressing my pain. He helped me find the root of my pain. I can now work out with heavier weights and enjoy life without the tweaks and pains."
— Christina G.
Understand Why You're Still Hurting
You've tried PT, injections, meds, rest. You're still not back to baseline.
This is common. These approaches aren't wrong, they're just addressing the mechanical presentation (tight muscle, inflamed joint) without asking why your body created that pattern in the first place.
Your body is infinitely wise. Nothing it does is by accident. If your back keeps seizing up, it's protecting something. If your pain moves around, it's signaling instability in your system.
Western medicine sees a machine with broken parts. Tight muscle? Stretch it. Inflamed tissue? Suppress it.
Classical Chinese Medicine asks different questions: Why is the body doing this? What resources are depleted? What pattern is preventing healing?
When I address those root factors, the mechanical symptoms often improve naturally.
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When you were a child, injuries healed quickly. You fell, scraped your knee, got back up. A few days later, healed. Your body had abundant resources.
As an adult, that tweaked back from three months ago still aches. The shoulder that bothered you after sleeping wrong never fully resolved. These injuries don't heal completely. They're added to an invisible collection of unresolved patterns you carry forward.
The difference isn't just age. Resources.
Blood deficiency means tissues aren't receiving adequate nourishment. Muscles stay tight protecting undernourished areas. Joints degenerate because Blood can't maintain cartilage quality. Nerves become hypersensitive.
Fluid deficiency creates patterns where pain moves around unpredictably. We call this Wind. The pain migrates because the underlying deficiency is systemic, not local. Your body doesn't have the fluids and stability it needs.
Wei Qi deficiency means your defensive energy can't protect injury sites or clear pathogenic factors (Cold, Damp, Wind) that lodge in tissues. Children have abundant Wei Qi. Their injuries heal fast. Many adults don't, and injuries become chronic.
Jing depletion (essence stored in the Kidneys) means your constitutional reserves are exhausted from years of stress, poor sleep, overwork, chronic illness. Jing governs bone health, tissue regeneration, recovery capacity. When Jing is depleted, healing stalls.
These aren't metaphors. These are physiological resources that can be assessed through pulse diagnosis and addressed through Classical acupuncture treatment.
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Maybe your pain doesn't stay in one place. Today it's your elbow. Next week your knee. Then your lower back. You can't figure out the pattern. Neither can your doctors.
Western medicine looks at each location separately. Treat the elbow. Treat the knee. Treat the back.
But pain that moves is telling you something specific. In Classical Chinese Medicine, this indicates Wind, often accompanying a history of fluid deficiency, dehydration, Blood deficiency, Jing depletion, poor sleep.
The pain moves because the underlying deficiency is systemic. Treatment focuses on rebuilding the fluid resources your body lacks, not chasing pain from location to location.
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Pain fixed in one location: Often Dampness or Blood stagnation. Stays in the same spot, worse with cold or damp weather, better with heat.
Stabbing pain with spasms: Often indicates Cold has penetrated the channels. Sharp pain, worse in cold weather or at night.
Pain that radiates or moves: Often Heat or Wind patterns, frequently accompanying fluid deficiency. Travels along channel pathways or appears in different locations unpredictably.
Intermittent pain (comes and goes): Could indicate Wind or Divergent Channel patterns (latent pathology, unresolved infection, pathogenic Cold held in your joints). When your reserves are strong, pain is quiet. When depleted (stress, poor sleep, illness), the pathogen emerges and inflammation returns.
Pain that won't heal after injury: Wei Qi deficiency or Blood deficiency preventing normal tissue repair. The injury site never fully resolves because the body lacks resources to complete healing.
Each pattern requires a different treatment approach. This is why generic protocols often disappoint.
Learn More: The Classical Medicine View of Pain
How Gateway Acupuncture Works Differently
You may have tried acupuncture before without lasting results. This often happens when treatment relies on standardized point protocols without investigating your specific pattern.
Here's how I work:
Complete Channel Diagnosis
I don't guess. I use pulse reading, channel palpation, movement assessment to identify exactly which channel system holds your pain pattern.
Acute muscle injury? Sinew Channel.
Chronic joint degeneration? Divergent Channel.
Pain that moves around (Wind)? Treat underlying fluid deficiency.
Pain with emotional components (grief, anger, stress)? Luo Channel.
Constitutional weakness causing recurrent injury? Eight Extraordinary Channels.
Nine people could present with low back pain. Their causative factors would all be unique. I trace the pattern back to its source and treat that. Not just the location of pain, but why the pain is occurring.
One Patient at a Time
I don't treat multiple patients at once or rush between rooms. When you book a session, you get my undivided attention for the entire appointment.
Comprehensive Channel Work
Most acupuncture schools mention Complement Channels briefly but don't teach how to activate them correctly. This is why you might have tried acupuncture before and gotten minimal or temporary results.
I work with:
Sinew Channels for acute muscle injury
Divergent Channels for chronic joint issues and latent pathology
Luo Channels for pain with emotional components
Eight Extraordinary Channels for constitutional weakness
Standard TCM only treats the Primary Channels. Chronic, stubborn pain often lives in these deeper systems.
Resource Rebuilding
If your body doesn't have the resources to complete healing (Blood, fluids, defensive energy), I address that alongside the pain pattern. Symptom relief without rebuilding resources is typically temporary.
Precision Over Protocols
When I activate several points along the same channel, your body receives a single, clear therapeutic message. Not competing directives from nine different channels, but one unified signal. Powerful healing demands clarity.
What I See Often:
A patient comes in with sciatica that worsens when sitting. Their low back feels tight but the real problem is in their hip flexor. The psoas has been chronically contracted for months, compressing the nerve. PT stretched it, which gave temporary relief, but never asked why the psoas won't release.
During my assessment, I find their pulse shows Kidney deficiency. The psoas attaches to the lumbar spine, which the Kidney channel governs. When Kidney Qi is weak, the body braces the low back for stability. The tight psoas is protective.
What I do first: Treat the Kidney Divergent Channel to rebuild the constitutional foundation. The psoas releases on its own within 2-3 sessions because the body no longer needs that protection pattern.
What changes: They can sit through a work meeting without pain creeping down their leg. They stop doing that thing where they shift their weight every few minutes.
"I'm 90 years old and needed a hip replacement. The pain was so bad my next move was a wheelchair! After working with Diego things were better. I can't say enough or rate high enough!"
— Robert C.
What Changes Look Like
Healing isn't magic. It's physiology. Here's the typical progression my chronic pain patients experience:
Phase 1: Relief (Treatments 1-3)
Sharp pain often becomes dull. Constant pain becomes intermittent. Sleep improves. Range of motion starts to increase. You can reach overhead without wincing. You can bend without bracing.
Phase 2: Restoration (Treatments 4-8)
You stop guarding movements. Activities that triggered pain become tolerable again. Old injuries stop haunting you. That shoulder from 5 years ago stops randomly hurting. The back pain from the car accident finally releases. Flare-ups become less frequent.
Phase 3: Long-Term Improvement
Many patients return to activities they'd given up. The gym, hiking, gardening, without fear of re-injury. The pattern shifts because we addressed both symptoms and underlying resources.
Results vary based on how long you've had the pain and your body's current capacity. Acute injuries (recent) often respond faster than chronic patterns (months or years). I'll give you a realistic timeline during your initial visit.
The goal is always independence and sustainable improvement, not just symptom management.
"The discomfort due to my arthritis has substantially subsided through Diego's strong intentions. Treating the root cause offers a much healthier outcome."
— Debra L.
Is This Approach Right for You?
This is a good fit if:
✓ Your pain has lasted longer than 3 months or keeps recurring
✓ You've tried conventional approaches without lasting results
✓ Your imaging is "normal" but your life isn't
✓ Stress, sleep issues, or digestive problems accompany your pain
✓ You're willing to commit to a short treatment trial (3-4 sessions minimum)
✓ You value quality of care over insurance convenience
This may not be the right fit if:
✗ You want a one-visit quick solution
✗ You're currently in an emergency or rapidly worsening situation (seek urgent care first)
✗ You're not willing to try at least 3-4 sessions to assess response
✗ You're looking for the cheapest option available
I work with people who are ready to address root causes, not just manage symptoms indefinitely.
What I won't promise: I can't guarantee specific outcomes or timelines. Every body is different. If you're not seeing progress by session 4-5, I'll tell you directly and we'll either adjust the approach or I'll refer you elsewhere.
Common Conditions Treated
Musculoskeletal
-Back pain (lower, mid, upper)
-Neck pain and stiffness
-Shoulder pain (frozen shoulder, rotator cuff issues)
-Hip pain and bursitis
-Knee pain (arthritis, meniscus issues)
-Sciatica and nerve pain
-Sports injuries and overuse pattern
-Plantar fasciitis
-TMJ and jaw pain
Neurological & Systemic
-Headaches and migraines
-Fibromyalgia
-Pain that moves or migrates
-Post-surgical recovery
-Complex pain patterns that haven't responded to other treatments
If you don't see your specific condition listed, reach out. I treat the pattern, not the diagnostic label.
What Happens on Your First Visit
Before your first treatment : Complimentary discovery call
10-15 minutes with me. We'll clarify your goals and whether this approach is right for you. If it's a fit, you'll leave with a recommended starting plan.
Initial Intake & Treatment: Your first session (80 minutes) includes:
✓ Comprehensive pain history and movement assessment
✓ Classical pulse and tongue diagnosis
✓ Channel assessment to identify which systems are involved
✓ Discussion of lifestyle factors affecting your healing potential (sleep, hydration, diet, stress)
✓ Same-day treatment based on your specific pattern
✓ Clear explanation of what I'm seeing and the treatment approach
✓ Guidance on supporting your healing between sessions
One detail most patients don't expect: During channel palpation, I'll press specific points along the channels on your arms and legs to feel for heat, cold, or tenderness. This tells me which channels are constrained and guides point selection. It's not painful, but you'll feel the assessment happening. Many practitioners skip this step.
Follow-up Treatment: Ongoing sessions (55 minutes):
✓ Continued channel-based treatment
✓ Adjustments based on your body's response between sessions
✓ Ongoing lifestyle and movement guidance
✓ Resource rebuilding as needed
Your Investment in Health
I'm an out-of-network provider dedicated to premium, individualized care. This allows me to treat you based on what you need, not what an insurance adjuster dictates. I provide detailed superbills for insurance reimbursement.
Initial Intake & Treatment: $225 | 80 minutes. Comprehensive history, assessment & diagnosis, lifestyle evaluation, and your first full treatment.
Follow-Up Treatments: $180 | 55 minutes. Continued channel-based treatment, adjustments based on your response, ongoing guidance.
Treatment Plans: Most chronic conditions require a course of care for lasting resolution. We offer reduced rates for commitment packages (6 & 13 sessions) to support your healing journey.
Military & First Responders: 15% discount on all services
Payment: Cash, credit, HSA, FSA accepted
Insurance: We are an out-of-network provider. Detailed superbills provided for reimbursement.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A: Depends on how long you've had the pain and your body's current resources. Acute injuries often show significant change in 3-6 visits. Chronic patterns (months or years) typically require 6-12 sessions to address the root pattern. I'll give you a realistic assessment after your initial visit.
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A: Classical acupuncture is generally very gentle. You may feel a sensation when I access a channel (dull ache, warmth, heaviness), but it's rarely painful. Many patients fall asleep during treatment.
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A: I'm out-of-network, which allows me to provide the level of care you need without insurance restrictions. Payment is due at time of service. I provide detailed superbills that you can submit to your insurance for reimbursement. Many plans cover out-of-network acupuncture. HSA/FSA funds can be used.
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A: Yes. I work alongside your other providers. Continue medications, PT, or other treatments unless your doctor advises otherwise. Many patients find they need less medication or fewer interventions as patterns improve.
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A: This is common. Most acupuncture practiced in the U.S. (TCM) uses simplified protocols that treat only the Primary Channels. Classical acupuncture accesses all five channel systems and uses pulse-based diagnosis to identify your specific pattern. This allows me to address issues that standard approaches often miss.
Ready to Address Your Chronic Pain?
Don't spend another month managing symptoms. Let's investigate what your pain is signaling.
Schedule a complimentary discovery call:
✓ 10-15 minutes with Diego
✓ Clarify your goals and whether this approach is right for you
✓ If it's a fit, you'll leave with a recommended starting plan
Gateway Acupuncture & Wellness
Diego García, L.Ac.
3636 5th Ave, Suite 101
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6 PM & Sun 11-3 PM
Call on Mobile: (619) 289-9336
Email: Diego@gatewayacu.com
Serving: Mission Hills, Mission Valley, Hillcrest, North & South Park, Golden Hill, Normal Heights, Kensington, University Heights, Bankers Hill, Downtown San Diego, La Jolla, Del Mar, and nearby communities.
Written by: Diego Garcia, L.Ac.