Acupuncturists - Oakland, CA

"Summary version: Silva's incomplete (and hence inaccurate) chart notes and his (or his staff's) inability to communicate information from me to Silva put my health at risk. He ignored anything I had to say about the various medications that I had tried over the past fifteen years, including which were effective, which weren't, and which I was currently taking. He and his staff did not reply in a timely manner, despite my multiple requests for assistance and statements of the urgency of the issue. He and his staff treated me as an adversary, not a partner in treating my medical symptoms. He seems to think that he knows everything and that the patient has no information that is useful in diagnosing and treating a medical issue. He has no interest/willingness in hearing about new treatments that he is not familiar with. I am thankful that my medical problem is not life threatening; my day-to-day health was compromised, but at least my life wasn't threatened by his lack of care. Details: I started seeing Dr. Silva for chronic headaches about eight months ago when I moved to the area from across the country. We reviewed the medicines I have been taking for almost a decade, medicines that have successfully controlling and treating headaches. Dr. Silva remarked that he would not have prescribed medicine X; I explained that it had been effective for me. He said something like "oh" and moved on to the next medicines. I had several refills left for X, so I didn't ask for a prescription at that time. Recently, a few days prior to travel, I needed a renewed prescription and requested one from Silva. He had his staff tell me that since he had never prescribed X for me, he would not prescribe it now. (X is not a narcotic or scheduled drug, this was not a matter of drug-seeking.) Aside from being completely illogical (he did prescribe other medicines he had never prescribed for me before), X is not a med you stop cold turkey. At first he seemed confused that I was taking X for headaches, despite the fact that we had discussed my meds previously. His staff insisted that I was only taking Y as that was what Silva put in my chart. I informed them that information was incorrect, but they refused to budge because that's what was in my chart. I explained the situation again, including that X is something one shouldn't stop cold turkey. That was a call on Thursday. I did not get a return call until Monday morning, when his staff explained, again, that since he had never prescribed X for me, he would not prescribe it now."

"I have been seeing Tina for over a year and she has helped me with balancing my hormones. She is very intuitive on your health issues and places those needles very gently where you immediately feel at ease. If you have not tried acupuncture, Tina would be the perfect person to help you / educate you on the many benefits of acupuncture. I feel wonderful after each visit. A great alternative to help with hormones and other ailments. It works!"