What We Don’t Do

If you require any of the following, our clinic may NOT be the right fit for you:

We Do Not Offer Front and/or Back Treatments  
We do all our treatments using distal points: elbows and knees down, ears, and scalp. We find this is a very effective way of treating many conditions.  Rolling up sleeves/pants to elbows and knees is more fitting and comfortable for community acupuncture environment.

We Don’t Use Massage Tables  
We perform all acupuncture treatments in comfortable recliners.

We Do Not Provide Acupuncture Treatments on the Floor
With the use of the right pillows and blankets, we find that we can get most people comfortable in our chairs. Doing treatments on the floor is not an option.

We Do Not Provide Private Consultation 
For follow up treatments, we talk for a short amount of time, in hushed voices, in our open group treatment room.

We Don’t Provide Lifestyle Or Psychological Counseling 
Our focus is to provide all our clients with efficient high quality acupuncture. Our interviews are short and used to gather the information we need to do this. We aren’t able or equipped to provide extensive lifestyle or psychological counseling.

We Don’t Take Insurance

We are not in network with any insurance providers and do not bill any insurance companies directly. All acupuncture treatments must be paid for in advance or at the time of treatment. If you have out of network acupuncture coverage on your insurance plan, awesome! You can submit receipts yourself to your insurance provider for reimbursement, though reimbursement is not guaranteed. You can either submit the do-it-yourself receipts we have at the payment stations, receipts from online payments, or twice a year you can request a receipt from us that includes billing and/or diagnosis codes. Just email oaklandacu@gmail.com with this request.

We Don’t Sell Herbal Formulas or Supplements
Here is a list of some herbalists and herb shops in the area we often refer out to:

We Are Not Equipped to Change Money 
We do not keep money sitting around the clinic and are therefore unable to provide change. Please have the exact amount you wish to pay in our sliding scale ready when you come in for treatment.

Animals at OAP: NO animals allowed in the clinic, including emotional support animals.  Service animals are the only exception.  We do NOT treat pets at OAP.  If you would like a referral for animal acupuncture please let us know.

We can not assist patients in and out of our zero gravity recliners: Our staff are not trained to move patients and therefore can not assist in this manner. If you do not think that you can get in and out of a zero gravity recliner on your own due to mobility issues or extreme pain we ask that you bring someone in to assist you with the transfers.

Private Acupuncture – A Different Choice 
In private settings, the practitioner will typically spend a good deal of time on an intake and assessment, and there will be more “talking time.” You will be treated in a private room, usually on a massage table. You may be treated on the front and back of your body, and there may be additional therapies, like cupping, massage, and moxibustion, incorporated into your treatment. Some patients may prefer the privacy and longer personal attention. Please be aware that while we will provide you a personalized treatment, we are practiced in doing it very quickly. We will not be able to give you more “talking time” than the other patients in the clinic. If you prefer a private treatment, there are many acupuncture clinics in the area! We can recommend a few of our friends:

For another option, the student clinics at AIMC Berkeley (http://aimc.edu/acupuncture-clinic/) and ACCHS (http://www.acchs.edu/clinic/) provides supervised treatments by acupuncture interns at lower fees than private clinics.