Tina Chin-Kaplan, LAc, CMT

Dr. Tina is an exceptional practitioner — a responsive listener, an insightful healer, and very kind and caring. I have found my treatment under her care and guidance has very helpful and beneficial. I enjoy working with Dr. Tina and I hope to continue to work with her even after my immediate health issues are resolved.

This review is so overdue, I finally have time to write this after taking care of our baby as a first time parent for one year now. I am so grateful to Tina for helping us to live our dream of having a child. We tried several fertility treatments and natural conception for years. After a miscarriage and failure to conceive naturally at age 48, we decided to try IVF. I saw Tina for IVF support prior to pregnancy and during pregnancy. I had one chance for a successful IVF cycle because we could not afford another one, so I made sure to do everything I could to increase the chances of a successful cycle with effective acupuncture treatments. I really feel the successful IVF cycle was due to Tina’s deeper knowledge of Chinese medicine. She was knowledgeable with a holistic approach addressing much more than just needle treatments. She helped my hormone balance, egg development and helped build a strong endometrial lining. Tina encouraged me to have regular consistent acupuncture regardless of my busy schedule at work to help reduce the effects of stress on the pregnancy, which was great advice. While I was pregnant I had little trouble sleeping due to hormones being balanced and other discomforts alleviated (mental and physical). Tina always took the time to educate me with her knowledgeable advice and support throughout the long process. I really miss my visits with her and look forward to the day I have time for more treatments. Maybe some metabolism boosting acupuncture to lose this pregnancy weight:)

Went in for insomnia and fatigue. It has been consistent and western medicine has not figured out the reason even after trying diff things like doing lab work, overnight sleep eval, etc… so figure I would try eastern medicine.
My Unilocal rating is not a reflection of the staff — they were great, friendly, and professional. The rating reflects that their treatment did not help. I did acupuncture, pills, and herb powder. Did it for 8 weeks (weekly visit) and no results. I do realize for this treatment to work they say it could take many months… maybe a year +…of visits, but sadly I don’t have to time to keep doing this every week. This time needs to not be used on other treatments/​remedies I am looking at…
So while it did not work, in their defense western medicine has not worked either! I am writing this post partially so people don’t think acupuncture is some sort of guaranteed cure-​all as the current Unilocal reviews here seem to indicate.

i have threatened to write this review for awhile. after 5 weeks of no Tina — my issues are starting to surface again. i am convinced that acupuncture is probably the most under-​rated pain treatment on the market.
after postponing a hip replacement surgery and subsequently learning that i probably need back surgery, i was at an emotional bottom. a former marathoner and current fitness buff, the pain was intolerable. i’m not a cryer — and the first day i walked into her office, i couldn’t hold back the tears. i couldn’t imagine living another 30 years (life span) with this kind of pain. i was no longer me. i don’t do painkillers — so the amount of aleve and ibuprofen i was taking was wreaking a different kind of havoc on my body.
i saw 3 orthopedic surgeons — one ready to operate, two who said wait. these two also said to try a combo of acupuncture and physical therapy. so for 5 weeks, i committed to both acupuncture (2x per week) and physical therapy (various times per week using different exercises). i’ve been in and out of physical therapy for a year (for a previous knee surgery). i had no opinion of acupuncture. it worked for some friends of mine — and didn’t work for others. some used it for pain, smoking, sleeping, menopause, etc… again… i had no opinion. i was willing to try anything.
by the way — did i mention: DON“T RUN MARATHONS!!! i should have listened to my mamma. 9 marathons and my body is showing the wear and tear.
after my third treatment, something major changed: i was able to sleep through the night — without a sleeping pill. i had taken a mild rx sleeping pill for years — because the pain of my back and hips would wake me in the night. after my fifth treatment, what pain? i have to admit — on some level, i couldn’t believe that i was finally pain free. in fact, i was suspicious — that the pain would set in again.
i remained pain free — yes, pain free — for the 5 weeks of treatment — and another 5 weeks — post treatment. almost 3 months of no pain. i’m increduous as i write this.
since tina is the only acupuncturist i’ve used, is it tina or acupuncture i’m giving 5 stars to? clearly… it is tina. i’ve been back to my internist and orthopedic surgeon since seeing tina. both were surprised at the extent of relief i was able to achieve. in fact — both asked for tina’s contact information. while advocates of acupuncture, as i shared details of tina and my experience with her and her treatments, they were impressed.
i live in 2 states — so i’m not at liberty to see her again until june. the pain is starting to set in again. i’m not finding an acupuncturist in my home state. i’m waiting until i’m back in CA to see tina. she is that good. now… if i could only get her to move to CO!
if you’re on the fence, let me «needle» you… give her a «shot.» and don’t go just once. commit to at least 3 treatments.
PS: she gave me a powder to help reduce menopause’s lovely night sweats. i haven’t started taking it yet. will keep you posted on that treatment.

Tina is an incredible acupuncturist! She can help with so many health concerns; pain, fertility, rehab, digestive issues, injuries, IBS, emotional issues, etc. The list is endless. Make an appointment with her-​I feel incredible after seeing her. Thank you Tina!

Tina helped me so much during my early pregnancy and while suffering from migraines. She has a wonderful manner and caring nature, and I have never had a doctor take a more complete history. She was so kind and never pushy in her suggestions. I recommend her very highly!

I LOVE Tina!!! I have been seeing Tina for 3 years now, and she is fantastic. She really listens to what you need and provides for you. She has helped me with back pain management. She even bought a top of the line electronic stimulation machine because I can handle a lot of e-​stim. She provides for her patients! She also practices Chinese herbal medicine, which I love! She never pushed me to try anything. It took me asking her after 2 years of seeing her if she had anything to help with my cold. She said of course and gave me a little bottle of herbal supplements. They were really cheap too $ 7 – 10. I had already tried herbal supplements from Whole Foods and the strongest stuff I could find from Walgreens to no avail, and her supplements fixed me in 3 HOURS! Needless to say, I was impressed. Since I have been there, she has hired to new fantastic acupuncturists! They are also wonderful! I would and have on many occasions recommended this place to everyone! THANK YOU TINA for everything!!!

Eureka! It’s such a good feeling to know when you’re at the right place. I came to Dr. Chin to have an evaluation of circulatory issues and spider veins. I am no stranger to accupuncture and have used herbs and essential oils since 1980. I found the dr. to be a great listener and very skilled at what she does. My body responded well to the treatments and I noticed improvement right away.
I like it when healers like her offer advice on what I can do outside the office. She recommended certain exercises, massage, and a salve that I use to rub on my skin and veins. I enjoy this level of care and appreciate her empathy towards my health.

Beware if you are using your insurance and coming here.
Here’s what happened to me…
I am covered by my insurance (Aetna) for acupuncture with a simple co-​pay at each visit. Both my insurance company and Needles and Tea confirmed this prior to my first appointment. After coming for over a month and paying my co-​pay each time I was told that I had a deductible to cover and that I needed to pay them the deducible plus and extra $ 10 for each co-​payment for my prior visits. Excuse me? I immediately called my insurance, and as I expected, I did not have a deducible nor were my co-​payments supposed to be more. So why is Needles and Tea suddenly trying to demand I pay them a deducible. I may never know the real story! After weeks of harassing emails from the owner about the situation, she finally got it straightened out and ended up having to refund me money. As a client, I am applauded by how the situation was handled. If there was an issue between her claims and my insurance company, for the sake of her business, she should have figured it out with them before ever getting me involved — telling me I was wrong about my coverage (when I was not) and causing me all this stress. Not the best customer service if you ask me. As a result — she’s lost a client, who now has this unpleasant story to share on Unilocal!
Other than that ordeal, the place is just ok. They’re in weird location, tucked in the back of a building and sharing a floor with a start up company of sorts. I was very cold during my treatments (they do not keep the rooms at a comfortable temperature for acupuncture) and I bled on multiple occasions from the needles (painful!). There are several other acupuncture places popping up in the area and I would suggest you try one of those. I’ll be going to Brannan Street Acupuncture instead, my co-​worker has been going there and everything has gone seamlessly for him.

I started to see Tina only a month ago, yet I am seeing amazing results from sleeping better to better circulation! During my 1^st visit, I knew that Tina was the one as she listened, talked me through what she recommended and on top of this was so pleasant. I’m one tough cookie when it comes to doctors and health, she is top notch!
Her office location is perfect, right next to the muni stop and makes getting there on time a breeze…

i’m currently working on my yearly budget to see how i can manage building a bedroom in my apartment so tina can move in with me.
she’s knowledgable, thorough, sweet, and makes my back feel better and she doesn’t laugh at me when i wake up from my 20-​minute nap mumbling nonsense because i don’t know where i am since i slept so well.
her office isn’t super easy to get to (not hard but definitely not on any main thoroughfare) but it’s worth it.

Tina is amazing. As a first-​time acupuncture patient, I had a lot of questions. Tina takes the time to truly listen. Her patients are her priority. She asks all of the right questions, and has an awesome memory. Tina’s patients are both seen and heard.
As for the results, they are spot-​on. Regardless of the issue I am dealing with for that particular week, Tina has known exactly what to do. Tina Chin-​Kaplan is a healer. I give her my highest recommendation.

I’ve been seeing Tina on and off for 2+ years now, and she has kept me in top health! She has helped me with everything from stress, to muscle pain, to the common cold and more.
The best thing about Tina is that she really cares about her clients’ health and well being. She will respond to my questions via email even on the weekends and while she’s on vacation. I’ve never received this type of response and consideration from my medical doctors.
Tina is also a whiz with women’s health, herbal remedies and is very gentle with the needle (I was afraid at first).
I would recommend Tina to anyone who wants a higher level of care and doesn’t want to run to their medical doctor for every ache and pain. She’s simply the best!

Tina is the best! She takes the time to get to know you during the assessment and her treatments are like magic.
I have degenerative osteoarthritis in my right knee. When I saw her in September of 2009, I could not walk, let alone put any weight on the knee. I had tried steroid injections, physical therapy, etc. to no avail, however, with Tina’s help (needles & herbs) after ~ 6 months, I was virtually pain free. Now on her recommendations of tea pills and tiger balm, I am still pain free.
Thanks, Tina!
P. S. Not to mention her needles helped with the allergy/​sinus headaches and alleviating the hot flashes.

I have to write a disclaimer, Tina is my friend, but at the same time she treated me like every patient. I made an appt online, and scheduled a time to come in. Paid her, and was treated as anyone off the street.
With this said, Tina has great bedside manner, and knowledge about what she is doing. She has a very easy way of telling you what’s she is doing without overcomplicating it. A difficult task for such a sophisticated field of study.
I hate needles btw. But, I was able to relax (or maybe block it out I was about to have needles stuck into my ears, feet, etc). She was extremely fast, and talked to me while she was sticking me with needles. A plus !
She explained everything to me about what I would do, and want to get out of the session (s). I think the most important part is she has a good mix of business sense, communicative, and knowledge of chinese medicine and acupuncture. I believe that she is probably in the top of her field for value, quality and success of treatments :)
I’d recommend her to anyone.

After my GP ran out of ideas about how to treat my 4 months of consecutive colds, I had a hunch this was one for Acupuncture. I found Tina on Unilocal and all the 5 star ratings are for real. Tina listened as I described my symptoms and she asked me a lot of questions. After the first treatment, I felt better and then over the consecutive treatments, the clouds cleared and — viola! — I felt WELL!
I have been to Acupuncture before, so I knew what to expect for treatments (looking at tongue, pulse, chatting about symptoms, not to mention the feeling –or not– of the needles) and I would say that the results with my treatments by Tina have exceeded my expectations. I look forward to and enjoy Acupuncture :-D
In addition to being an exceptional healer, Tina also worked through the business side of things so that my insurance would pay per my plan — huge for me to be able to continue with as many sessions as needed to get me through.

My experience with Tina’s Chinese medicine was nothing but positive. She is very knowledgeable and always interested in getting to the bottom of what ails you. I am always a bit skeptical of treatments outside of Western medicine however, the treatment she prescribed worked! I have to say, the roots/​herbs were a bit less than tasty however, they did the trick and I am very happy to have positive results.
I will definitely see her again.

I’m new to acupuncture so I can’t really compare Tina to others. But if all acupuncturists are like Tina, then count me a fan of acupuncture! :)
I’ve been having some back pain problems for a while and decided to get my doctor to refer me to an acupuncturist. Even before I made an appointment, Tina was amazing in helping me figure out exactly how my insurance works in regards to acupuncture. Once we got that straightened out, I booked my first acupuncture treatment ever!
I went for a total of 10 sessions. Every single time, Tina really tried to figure out what’s going on with my body+mind that particular day and customized the treatment accordingly. In addition to treating my back pain, she could tell when I was particularly stressed out or tired and added points to the treatment to help with that. I’m generally not a huge fan of needles but Tina has gentle hands and also told me exactly what she’s doing, which really helped to calm my nerves. Thanks Tina!

I’ve only seen Tina a few times… enough for me to know that she is smart, effective, and pretty awesome all the way around! She knows her stuff in a way that I would never think to REQUIRE of her, and immediately I believe I’m in good hands. Our talks are honest and informative, and the treatments yield real results! Afterward, I am rested, pain-​free and euphoric.
Combine Tina with a clinical massage and/​or chiropractic adjustment in the same office, and you have the wellness trifecta!

Not to sound like a blithering idiot — but OMG Tina is absolutely AMAZING!!! You know how Dentists used to call themselves «painless dentists» to get more business but you always knew they were lying? Which I can honestly contest to since my Dad is a dentist… Well, Tina is truly a painless acupuncturist!
Now I must qualify this by saying that the painless part does not necessarily a good acupuncturist make — so not only is Tina painless — she’s GREAT! From her warm and caring bedside manner through the ½ hour long treatment (which is the full cycle of qi) Tina shines in every aspect.
Her treatment room is warm and inviting, lovingly lined with her jars of herbs.
She takes her time with a thorough intake stopping to ask relevant questions about your life. I felt confident and taken care of. Her needle insertion is spectacular and as I mentioned above — completely painless. And, she gets the qi, every time.
When she left me to lie on the table I actually fell asleep, which has not happened to me during an acupuncture treatment in a long time and is a very very good thing. I kept waking myself up with gurgling/​snoring like noises but I couldn’t keep myself from dozing off once again.
After the treatment I felt relaxed AND refreshed. Plus during the intake she had recommended some particular supplements for me and during my treatment she spent the time researching them and writing them all down — including where I could get them.
Upon leaving, she gave me a gift!!! A wonderful Chinese soup mix of tonifying herbs and deliciousness.
Her clinic is in a wonderfully central SF location with easy (metered) street parking and some non metered parking too if you’re lucky enough to find it. Either way, there was no hassle getting there, which is ever important to the blissed out treatment you can expect to receive from Tina Chin-​Kaplan L. Ac extraordinaire! :)