Acupuncture for Back Pain in San Francisco
A low back that seizes when you bend, aches after a day at your desk or flares every time you lift? We treat back pain, strains and disc problems with acupuncture, dry needling, cupping and hands-on work, then help you build it back so it stays quiet.
Sound familiar?
- A low back that locks up when you bend, twist or get out of the car
- Stiffness first thing in the morning that eases once you get moving
- An ache that builds through long hours of sitting
What our patients say
5.0 on Google from 92 reviews
I could not recommend Andrew enough! He has so much knowledge on the human body and can figure out quickly what areas need work. I went in with major back pain that kept me from lifting weights or running, and after a few sessions I am pain free.
Andrew is fantastic! He is knowledgeable and provides specialized treatment for my chronic nerve pain. I highly recommend him.
I would strongly (strongly!) recommend Acupuncture for Athletics for both athletes and non-athletes alike. Not only does Andrew help with injury recovery, pain management, and stress relief, but he creates a relaxing and positive environment that enhances the work that he does and leads you to feel better both physically and mentally after each visit. And beyond acupuncture and massage, Andrew goes the extra mile to provide guidance on how to address specific pain-points and injuries, or to simply ensure that you are feeling and performing your best. Again, I can't recommend Acupuncture for Athletics enough!
Andrew is a cornerstone of my care team. He successfully unwinds my ills before they can become chronic problems.
Andrew treated me over a period of about two years for hip and shoulder problems, and he was tremendously helpful. I was impressed with his knowledge and skill, not to mention wonderful “bedside manner” and especially his enthusiasm for staying current in his field.
I loved coming to Andrew. He was a lifesaver in helping me through some back issues when I was pregnant with my first child. A lovely, warm place and Andrew is amazing!!!!
Andrew is a fantastic alternative and addition to physical therapy. He quickly understands your condition and treats it effectively.
In our career it is very important to stay physically healthy, because our dance career is very short. We rehearse, work out every single day, and very often, because of the physical pressure from practicing so hard, we get injuries and surgery. My story is about my back, foot and wrist. I joined San Francisco Ballet a year ago. The first day of work, during ballet class, I hurt my back. I have had problems before with my wrist, and sadly, later on with the tough season, my foot got hurt. Luckily, I was recommended to Andrew Castellanos. I started with a few visits a month, and quickly saw results, so I made sure I finished my treatments. Thanks to Andrew, I was able to finish my successful season here. Now I have to spread the word…
As a professional dancer, I rely heavily on Andrew throughout the performance season to literally fix me in order to get me back onstage. I have chronic problems with my knee and my shoulder, and the combination of acupuncture with electric stimulation and heat has been tremendously helpful. Andrew only needs five minutes to find exactly where he needs to work, and the results are fantastic. His acupuncture work is also gentle, and doesn’t leave me sore the next day — in fact, it’s one of the only therapies I feel comfortable receiving right before a show. Andrew does great deep tissue work as well, and he is very responsive and attentive as a therapist. I’d highly recommend him to dancers, athletes and non-dancers alike.
I was introduced to Andrew by a friend who dubbed him as nothing short of magical. After experiencing his expertise firsthand, I couldn't agree more. Andrew's mastery of the human body and its intricacies truly feels like a kind of magic. I've been to other specialists for my chronic upper back and neck pain, but Andrew is different. He focuses on treating the actual problem, not just masking the symptoms. For the first time, I walked out of an acupuncture session and went back to exercising without feeling any pain. It was a game-changer. I feel as if I've been given a brand new back. Honestly, I never thought a life without back pain was possible until now. While I was also working with Andew some other health issues came up that couldn’t be diagnosed by western medicine. His thoughtful and holistic approach immediately made me feel understood and valued. Throughout our sessions, he would patiently explain the various points he was working on or the sensations I was experiencing, shedding light on what was going on internally within my body. Thanks to him, I now have a deeper appreciation for how imbalances in one area can send ripples throughout the entire system. He was able to find the root cause, guiding me slowly but surely on the path to recovery. I feel blessed to have met Andrew, he really has changed my life and I’m grateful for that.
Gosh, I'm so happy I found Andrew! Thanks to him, I avoided going down a surgery route for my injury! In June 2022, my left knee started acting up (my best guess is overcompensation for gluteal tendonitis I was treating) but I pushed through to backpack 264 miles on the John Muir Trail. When I finished my trek, my left knee was pretty unhappy and I couldn't even get in and out of my car without feeling like a jigsaw puzzle. I tirelessly saw dozens of providers over the next year - chiropractors, physical therapists, orthopedists, massage therapists, etc. All had their own theories - soleus muscle, calf strain, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, etc. The complexity in my case was that my pain was not in my knee itself - it was on the left side in between my knee cap and calf. Despite my knee MRI showing meniscus tears, inflammation, tendonosis, etc. the doctors insisted we treat the symptoms, not the MRIs. So, I got a calf MRI, hip MRI, and an EMG, all of which were negative. Then, one doctor recommended oral Prednisone, and he told me I should see results better than Advil for pain management. It did nothing. It wasn't until I was finally referred to one doctor who noticed something in my knee MRI and caught that there is excess fluid in my proximal tibiofibular joint (PBTJ), and that area tracks with where I feel my pain. To test his suspicion diagnostically, he recommended an ultrasound-guided cortisone injection in my PBTJ to see if that reduced my pain. The pain did decrease (which was good), but it wasn't gone. The doctors informed me issues concerning the PBTJ are rare, and that they needed to refer me to one of the only specialists in the country for this. That specialist happened to be in Minnesota, and when I checked his website, he was only seeing patients for surgery. I did not want surgery. I felt completely defeated, unsure where to go next. In May, I was recommended by someone who also had a challenging journey with injuries (and was able to return to running and hiking) to try acupuncture. I was surprised, since I had not considered Eastern Medicine before for a sports injury. The person specifically recommended I search for an acupuncturist who specializes in athletes, and that led me to find "Acupuncture for Athletics." :) My first appointment with Andrew was May 30, and he patiently listened to my whole ordeal and reviewed all of the documentation I brought (MRIs, doctor's notes, etc). He assured me he treats the root cause, which I appreciated because I did not want to do a band-aid fix only for this to return again, and that he has hope I can feel better. We started off with cupping along my left leg to encourage the inflammation to dissipate, and then we did needles in my leg. Oof, I remember one session when Andrew placed a needle near my PBTJ - I screamed SO loudly lol. But once all of the needles were in, it slowly felt like a meditative experience, and I was able to relax into it. Over my 7 sessions with Andrew, I began to notice the needles felt less painful. In the beginning, I remember feeling the pain just in walking over to Andrew's office. By the 6th session, I realized I wasn't thinking about my pain anymore. I did one more session to be sure, and I was in disbelief that I actually felt pain-free! We decided to go a month testing how the pain fared without regular sessions, and so far so good! The pain flares here and there, but in a MUCH less capacity than before. Throughout this whole process, Andrew was kind, patient, and determined. He was committed to solving the underlying issue, and he was flexible and accommodating to me - whether I wanted to address my left knee or start tackling similar pain that was creeping up on my right knee. Had it not been for Andrew, I would have likely chased surgery because I was running out of ideas. I appreciate you, Andrew! If you're nearing your wits' end with a chronic injury, please go see Andrew and give it a good ~5 sessions if you can. Wishing everyone out there good luck on their chronic pain journeys! You got this!
Andrew applies his knowledge of the body and expert techniques to address affected muscles both for maintenance during training and related to injury. His combination of acupuncture and massage helps to open up areas and find the place to target. I have seen Andrew in the past for recovery post concussion and most recently for routine maintenance while training at a high level for my next marathon. I highly recommend Andrew and am lucky to have him as a part of my support team to stay healthy! - Katie Hynes, competitive runner -
Does this sound like you?
Back pain comes in many forms, from a sudden spasm to a stiff ache that's been around for years. These are the patterns we hear about most.
If a few of these ring true, an assessment will show us which tissues are involved and why they're flaring.
- A low back that locks up when you bend, twist or get out of the car
- Stiffness first thing in the morning that eases once you get moving
- An ache that builds through long hours of sitting
- Pain that flares after deadlifts, rowing, golf or a long run
- Tight bands of muscle on one or both sides of the spine
- Tension between the shoulder blades that never quite lets go
What's behind most back pain
Most back pain is what doctors call mechanical or nonspecific: the pain comes from the muscles, ligaments, joints and discs of the spine rather than from a disease. A strained muscle, an irritated joint and a tired disc can all hurt a lot without anything being seriously damaged.
The good news is that low back pain usually improves within a few weeks, according to the NHS. The frustrating part is that it often comes back, especially when the habits that set it off (long sitting, a sudden jump in training, lifting when you're tired) stay the same.
Upper back pain is usually muscular too, tied to posture, stress or sports like swimming and climbing, and it often travels with neck tension.
Common causes
- A muscle or ligament strain from lifting, twisting or a fall
- A bulging or herniated disc
- Long days sitting at a desk or in the car
- A sudden increase in training volume or load
- Wear-related changes in the spinal joints with age
- Stiff hips that push extra work onto the low back
Muscle strain or disc problem?
Both are common and both can be intense, but they behave differently. Working out which one you're dealing with shapes the whole plan.
| Compared on | Muscle or joint strain | Bulging or herniated disc |
|---|---|---|
| How it starts | A lift, a twist or an unusually hard session, often with a clear moment it went | Sometimes a single lift, sometimes a slow build after weeks of sitting and bending |
| Where you feel it | Across the low back or to one side, rarely below the buttock | The low back, and sometimes into the buttock or down the leg |
| What makes it worse | Specific movements, such as twisting, arching or getting up from a chair | Sitting, bending forward, coughing or sneezing |
| How long it tends to last | Usually days to a few weeks | Often a few weeks to a few months |
| Where we focus | The guarding muscles along the spine, glutes and hips | Calming the irritated area, easing muscle guarding and protecting the nerve root |
Pain running down your leg?
When a disc presses on a nerve root, the pain can travel through the buttock and down the leg. That's sciatica, and it has its own guide: read about acupuncture for sciatica and leg pain. A disc on a scan isn't a life sentence, either. Cleveland Clinic notes that herniated discs get better on their own or with nonsurgical care for 9 out of 10 people.
Who gets back pain
Almost everyone, at some point. We see it in lifters and rowers as often as in laptop workers.
People we see most
Related problems we treat
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Hip, glute and hip flexor pain
- Long-term and chronic pain
- Nerve pain and neuropathy
- Tension between the shoulder blades
- Muscle spasm after a heavy lift
How we treat back pain
We settle the pain, loosen the muscles that clamp down to protect your spine, then get you moving well enough that it stays away. Most visits blend a few of these.
- Sports acupuncturePoints beside the spine, in the hips and down the legs to ease pain and quiet muscle guarding.
- Dry needlingInto knotted spinal muscles, the quadratus lumborum and the glutes to help them release.
- CuppingTo free up tight tissue across the low and mid back.
- Cold laserLow-level laser over sore soft tissue, used alongside needling.
- Sports massageDeep work through the back, hips and hamstrings that are holding tension.
Who performs dry needling in California?
In California, dry needling is performed by licensed acupuncturists. Physical therapists in California are not currently authorized to perform dry needling. Every practitioner on our team is a California-licensed acupuncturist.
What the research says
Low back pain is one of the most studied uses of acupuncture. The American College of Physicians' 2017 guideline recommends trying non-drug options first, and acupuncture is on its list for both recent and long-term low back pain, alongside exercise, massage and heat.
A 2018 analysis of 39 trials with more than 20,000 patients found acupuncture beat both sham acupuncture and no acupuncture for chronic back and neck pain, and most of the benefit was still there a year later. A 2020 Cochrane review of 33 studies found acupuncture eased pain and improved function compared with no treatment.
In a 2009 trial of 638 people, people who received acupuncture did better than those on usual care, at eight weeks and at a year.
For disc problems, a 2018 review of 30 trials with 3,503 people found acupuncture eased lumbar disc herniation pain more than traction and some anti-inflammatory drugs. Want to know what's happening under the needle? Read how acupuncture works.
What studies have found
- Guideline-backed for recent and long-term low back pain
- Benefits that were often still there a year later
- Encouraging results for disc pain
- Works best paired with movement and strength work
Your first visit and your plan
Your first visit takes about an hour. How many sessions you'll need varies with how long you've had the pain and what's behind it, and we'll give you an honest estimate after your assessment.
Assess
We ask how it started and what sets it off, then check how you bend, twist and squat to see whether it looks muscular, disc-related or both.
Treat
Most people lie face down, propped comfortably, while we needle the back, hips and legs and add cupping or massage. Many feel the back loosen before they get off the table.
Afterwards
You might feel easier right away, or a little sore for a day, much like after a deep massage. A walk that evening usually helps more than resting on the couch.
Build it back
We'll give you a few simple movements and help you adjust training or your desk setup, then space visits further apart as you get stronger.
When to see a doctor instead
Most back pain is painful but not dangerous. Rarely, it signals severe nerve compression at the base of the spine, an infection or a problem outside the spine, which need urgent care.
If you have any of the symptoms in the list, go to the emergency room or call 911. Don't wait to see us first.
See your doctor before starting treatment if the pain began after a fall or accident, came on suddenly and keeps getting worse, or comes with a fever, unexplained weight loss or a history of cancer. We're happy to work alongside your physician once you're cleared.
Get emergency care if you have
- Pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in both legs
- Numbness around the genitals or buttocks
- New trouble peeing, or loss of bladder or bowel control
- Back pain with chest pain
- Back pain after a serious accident, such as a car crash
Who'll treat you
Three California-licensed acupuncturists who treat back pain every week, all trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and comfortable pairing needles with hands-on work. Andrew Castellanos has more than 25 years with athletes and post-surgical recovery, including USF Athletics and MLB teams at spring training.
Andrew Castellanos
L.Ac, CST · Clinic owner
Back strains, disc issues and recovery after back surgery.
- Post-surgical recovery is one of his specialties
- Dry needling, cupping and deep tissue sports massage
- Worked with USF Athletics and MLB spring training
Ali Hakimi
L.Ac
Local acupuncture for back pain and injury recovery.
- Cupping and moxibustion alongside acupuncture
- Diet and lifestyle guidance to support recovery
Suzanne Lange
DACM, L.Ac, CMT
Orthopedic acupuncture with myofascial and trigger point work for the low back.
- Whitfield Reaves Sports Medicine Apprenticeship
- Advanced training in pregnancy and postpartum care
- Certified massage therapist as well as acupuncturist
Pricing and booking
Back pain is treated in a regular appointment, using whatever mix of our treatments suits you. You won't be asked to buy a package up front.
We're out-of-network and don't bill insurance directly. We'll give you a superbill to submit for possible reimbursement, and we take HSA and FSA cards and all credit cards. The clinic is on Webster Street in Cow Hollow, an easy trip if you're searching for acupuncture in the Marina District.
Appointments
- 60-min initial acupuncture & assessment
- $225
- 45-min acupuncture follow-up
- $195
- 60-min acupuncture/massage combo
- $225
- 75-min acupuncture/massage combo
- $265
- 90-min acupuncture/massage combo
- $300
Back pain FAQ
Does acupuncture work for back pain?
For many people, yes. The American College of Physicians recommends acupuncture as one of the first non-drug options for chronic low back pain, and large reviews have found it helps more than usual care or no treatment, with benefits that often last. Results vary from person to person, so we pair it with movement and estimate how many sessions you'll need after your assessment.
How many sessions will I need?
It varies. A fresh strain often settles faster than pain you've had for months or years, which usually starts with visits closer together that space out as you improve. We'll give you an estimate after your first assessment.
Can acupuncture help a herniated or bulging disc?
It can help with the pain and muscle spasm that come with a disc problem, and research on lumbar disc herniation is encouraging. Most herniated discs improve without surgery. If your symptoms suggest you need imaging or a specialist, we'll say so and help you coordinate care.
Which acupuncture points are used for low back pain?
Usually a mix of local and distant points: along the muscles beside the spine, in the glutes and hips, behind the knee and in the lower leg, and sometimes in the hands. We choose them based on where your pain sits and what we find on assessment, so no two treatments are quite the same.
Does it hurt?
The needles are far thinner than injection needles, and most people find treatment relaxing. Dry needling a tight back muscle can bring a deep ache or a brief twitch, and you may feel mildly sore for a day.
Should I rest or keep moving with back pain?
Keep moving as much as you comfortably can. The NHS advises staying active and carrying on with daily activities, and warns against long spells in bed. We'll help you choose which movements to keep and which to ease off for a while.
Can I keep lifting or training?
Often, with adjustments. Many people keep walking, cycling or training lighter while we treat them, and pause heavy deadlifts or whatever reliably sets off the pain. We'll help you plan a gradual return to full load.
Can you help after back surgery?
Post-surgical recovery is one of Andrew's specialties. Once your surgeon has cleared you, acupuncture and gentle soft-tissue work may help with lingering pain and muscle tension. Please bring any notes or restrictions from your surgical team to your first visit.
Do I need a referral, an X-ray or an MRI?
No referral is needed, and most back pain doesn't need imaging before treatment starts. If anything in your history or exam points to something more serious, or you aren't improving as expected, we'll refer you to a physician.
Where can I get acupuncture for back pain near Pacific Heights?
Andrew Castellanos treats low back pain, strains and disc problems at our clinic at 2920 Webster Street, in Cow Hollow between Union and Filbert. That's a short walk from Pacific Heights and the Marina. Along with acupuncture he may use dry needling, cupping and hands-on work, then help you build your back up so it stays quiet.
Can I come from Marin or the East Bay for back pain treatment?
Some of our patients come from Marin, Oakland and Berkeley, so you won't be the only one making the trip. If a weekday drive is hard on your back, Ali sees patients on Saturdays. Once you're here, there's metered parking on Union Street and the Union Laguna Garage at 1910 Union Street.
References
- Qaseem A, et al. Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2017.
- Vickers AJ, et al. Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Pain. 2018.
- Mu J, et al. Acupuncture for chronic nonspecific low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020.
- Cherkin DC, et al. A randomized trial comparing acupuncture, simulated acupuncture, and usual care for chronic low back pain. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2009.
- Tang S, et al. Acupuncture for lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupuncture in Medicine. 2018.
- NHS. Back pain.
- Cleveland Clinic. Herniated Disk (Slipped or Bulging Disk).
Ready to bend, lift and sit without thinking about it?
Book an assessment at our Cow Hollow clinic, or call to talk it through first.
Visit us in Cow Hollow
2920 Webster Street, between Union and Filbert. A short walk from the Marina, Pacific Heights and the Presidio.
Address
Acupuncture for Athletics2920 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA 94123 Gate code: in your booking confirmation email
Hours
- Every day
- 7:30am – 9:00pm