Golden Gate Acupuncture Center

I have been seeing Dr Gao for 3 weeks now because of a work injury. She is very professional, very knowledgeable and very wise person. She did great work on my lower back and helped me feel better. Her hygiene is excellent and her treatment is very soothing to my back and to my soul. I always feel better when I visit her and look forward to the next appointment.
I highly recommend her treatment if you want to get great results.

Dr. GAO has treated me when I private paid cash or check… No problems. I wanted to see her for a workers comp injury this week. I sent her the authorization forms three times. She kept saying all the information wasn’t there. It was clearly on the form. My doctors office spoke to her and typed information to her by email. I retyped claim number, adjuster and addresses for her in large fonts.
I arrived on time for my appointment after driving around 20 mins for parking. She said she couldn’t read the authorization forms. I copy zoomed each half for her. She still kept saying she didn’t have all information. After 15 minutes of going over the authorization form, claim number etc… She said she wouldn’t have enough appointments available to accommodate me. I’m sure if I paid by cash or check, this would not have been a problem.
Dr GAO wasted my time, the doctors time, insurance company with all her phone calls and questions. She should just say she doesn’t want to deal with insurance companies! Some people keep asking questions over and over when they don’t want to do something. Please… Just be up front from the beginning. It would save everyone time and frustration. It was very unprofessional!

This place is awesome. Dr. Gao is great very friendly and helpful. I recently had work injury (muscle tension from sitting wrong at my desk all day) and after 6 treatments I feel back to normal! If i ever have a problem again I will def come here!!!

I’ve been seeing Liling weekly for a couple months now and don’t have enough good things to say about her.
I was so impressed with her in just my first visit, which was unusually long because she was so detailed taking down down my medical history and examining the areas of my body where I have a lot of pain.
Liling is not only intuitive and thorough, but she’s just such a sweet woman in general and it shows in her bedside manner. She goes out of her way to make sure you’re comfortable during treatments and that everything is clean.
Needles were never my thing but Liling makes the experience completely relaxing and enjoyable.

I wish I still lived in SF so I could see Liling. She is great! I felt relaxed and confident in her care.

Liling is great, I can’t say enough good things about her. I have seen many acupuncturists in my life and non have been as thorough and in tune with my body as her. I have had trouble with my back and just recently my neck, and she has significantly helped me with my pain.

I was sent by my employer to Dr. Gao for a work related hand injury. As soon as I began treatment, the swelling began to dissipate and the pain reduced immediately. She also began treating other existing ailments since they use the holistic approach. I am feeling so much better and sleep very soundly now. Dr. Gao is very patient, has an excellent bedside manner, understands your symptoms and is very flexible and accommodating in regards to appointment scheduling. I had no issues with cleanliness and hygiene. She washes her hands multiple times from the exam to the arm/​hand massage, to the needle inserting, to the needle removal. She is certainly a hidden gem!!!

Dr. Gao is amazing!!! I have never tried acupuncture before, however, after experiencing it with Dr. Liling Gao, I definitely would recommend it for anyone that hasn’t had good results with traditional methods. Dr. Gao is very thorough and comprehensive. Highly knowledgeable in the practice of acupuncture. I have never felt better! My back pain has gone, plus she has taught me how to follow-​through with exercises and stretches that can be done daily. Thank you Dr. Gao! I highly recommend her!

I’m docking a few stars because of dubious hygiene practices. I can’t really give ONE star because I had one of those little lavender eye pillows over my eyes and didn’t actually SEE what was happening, but here’s what I heard…
*doorbell*
enter Doofy Guy: Hi LiLing. I’m having all this trouble with my back, neck, shoulder, blah, blah, blah… *cough* *sneeze* …and I’m not feeling very good.
LiLing: Okay. I will take a look. (Ushers man to other treatment area, which is really just on the other side of the curtain from me.)
She puts some pins and needles in him. Meanwhile, my little electrode machine starts playing the «all done» song, which is really loud. She stops with Doofy, comes through the curtain, and disconnects me from the electric devise. She asks if I can wait 10 minutes while she finishes with Doofy. I tell her sure.
She goes back to Doofy to finish with his needles. As he complains of various aches and pains, I drift in and out of awareness. (It turns out, having a newborn baby really puts a crimp in all of that wonderful nighttime sleeping I used to do.)
Suddenly, I hear her telling him she needs to take my needles out now and will return to finish his treatment after she’s done with me. She comes through the curtain, after having just touched Mr. CoughingAndSneezing on goodness knows what parts of his body, and she takes out my needles without cleaning her hands! EUW! She might have gotten blood and germs and doofy all over me! Now, to be fair, I’m not sure if she has some hand sanitizer in the middle there, or something. And… I am a little OCD, in general. That said, I really prefer that my practitioners wash their hands before touching me. Especially if their previous patient is all yucky and doofy and sick.

I first met Liling in 2002 when she was renting a space in a chiropractor’s office. Now that I have moved back to San Francisco, finding Liling again was one of the first orders of business. She didn’t go far … still in Inner Sunset but with her own lovely, little office space.
As for her work … she’s a miracle worker, period. I am a cynic by nature and I do not give such high praise easily but I am amazed by her knowledge, compassion, and ability as a healer. She has helped me with any number of health issues over the years. Further, as I have always combined conventional western treatment with holistic approaches, I appreciate Liling’s openness to both schools of thought. She is well-​informed about prescription medications and western medical procedures and has never suggested that I use only her method.
Finally, and I cannot stress this enough … Liling is just a sweetheart and has a great bedside manner. She’s very easy to talk to about any concerns you might have.

I started coming to Dr. LiLing in September. I had chronic pains in my knee from running. I had surgery earlier in the year but was in more pain after than before. Out of desperation I came here…
My life quickly changed. After two weeks my pain was significantly less. By November it was gone!
Be patient when you come here. LiLing does everything from open the door, to answer the phones, to check you out. She does it all herself. She is friendly, wise, and above all she is excellent at what she does. She changed my life in a few short months. Every dollar I spent here was worth it!
So for others who have chronic pains or illnesses and traditional medicine has not worked. Come here! It changed my life and I am sure it will change yours.

It has been 10 months and I have been sleeping soundly every night since I went to see Liling. Thank you, Liling! You are an amazing woman.

If you’re looking for an experienced and caring acupuncturist in a comfortable setting, look no further! Dr. LiLing is very knowledgeable and approaches acupuncture treatment in a holistic way. She shared with me that she also practiced for more than 10 years in mainland China and has been serving patients on 9^th ave. for 8 years now. She also has 6 years experience working at a Physical Therapy clinic which tells me she knows what muscles to focus on. She never pushes to do more or extra treatments for the money. I am a busy student so I appreciated that she told me to call her whenever I was free to make a follow-​up appt. She also will work with what insurance you have so you don’t have to worry about it.
I had low back pain with shooting pain from sciatica and knee pain after almost losing my balance running at a 5K race which led me to land hard on my left side after I regained my balance, but after just one treatment, I feel loose and more fluid throughout. She knew exactly where to push where it hurt and incorporated massage and breathing techniques to relax my whole body. She definitely opened up all the meridians of positive energy that were blocked! I higly recommend her; she is trustworthy, personable and experienced. Thank you Dr. LiLing!

Dr. Liling is excellent! Her office may be modest (she runs the front desk and is the sole practicioner) but her skills are outstanding. I decided to try out acupuncture for some vision problems after western medicine had no answers. Dr. Liling’s work has improved my vision, reduced back pain and stress. She even worked with me to have all my visits covered by my health insurance plan. She’s the best!