Going to The Acupuncture Center of Santa Maria is one of the best choices I have ever made. Dr…read more Kandel is not only so incredibly knowledgeable, but he is also patient, kind, and thoughtful about understanding the whole patient, not just one particular symptom. After one visit I felt immediate relief of chronic pain I have had for years. I whole heartedly recommend Dr. Kandel for anyone interested in their complete wellbeing.

I've had persistent pain and inflammation all around my left elbow and forearm for 6 months. I have…read moretried just about everything I could find to heal, some things helped a bit but nothing really knocked it all out. On suggestion from my super smart wife I tried acupuncture and Dr. Kandel appeared to have pretty good references. Well I'm happy to say this is the BEST my arm has felt in 6 months, after just one treatment. I'll probably go back in for another one just to make sure I'm good, but so far I'm back in the gym and doing all of the things I haven't been able to do for half a year. Dr. Kandel did an awesome job and I'm now a full believer in this healing art.

The Staff is kind and the doctor is knowledgeable. The treatments seem to be helping & is quite…read morerelaxing.

I always feel better after being seen. They are great and fast. I go often to maintain my healthread more

This was my very first experience with acupuncture. Was suffering from occipital caranial myalgia…read morewhich had been unsuccessfully treated medically. my physician suggested a trial of acupuncture - I was highly skeptical. after the first treatment the worst of the pain was gone. After 3 treatments I feel that the problem had resolved. I am amazed and surprised and delighted. I highly recommend Dawoo.

Doctor Julia is Amazing! So very kind and so very Helpful !…read moreI've been to her 2 x and I am starting to feel better! Her staff is wonderful too!

If I could do zero stars I would. I had a really upsetting…read moreexperience at this acupuncture clinic. I came in seeking help for a chronic illness that affected my tonsils--something I had been dealing with long before the pandemic. However, shortly after businesses started reopening, I visited this clinic, hoping to try Chinese medicine after exhausting my options with Western medicine. Instead of being met with care or professionalism, the acupuncturist immediately started yelling at me to leave, insisting that my condition was a COVID symptom. I tried to explain that this was a long-standing issue unrelated to the pandemic, but he refused to listen, aggressively pointing at the door and continuing to yell. His wife just sat there, stunned and silent, making no effort to de-escalate the situation. What makes this even worse is that they are the only two workers there, and it's clear that she is either too afraid or unwilling to say anything when he lashes out like that. It felt completely unprofessional and uncomfortable. I understand that people were still on edge after COVID, but the way I was treated was uncalled for. A healthcare provider should at least take a moment to listen before jumping to conclusions and treating a potential patient so disrespectfully. If you're looking for a compassionate and understanding practitioner, I'd recommend going elsewhere.

I have chronic lower back pain stemming from a number of things, including hereditary idiopathic…read morescoliosis, disc desiccation, and facet arthropathy, and I have tried several different avenues of treatment for it, acupuncture being one of them. I did do one procedure a few years ago from an acupuncturist who worked out of the offices of Lags Spine and Sportscare, a pain management clinic that has since been closed down due to insurance fraud and patient abuse. That was a terrible experience, where the acupuncturist was very rough and the table she had me lay on was very hard and uncomfortable, and it kind of soured my opinion of acupuncture in general. But eventually I did want to give it another shot and see if I could find a better acupuncturist, when I was talking about it with a new primary care physician I am seeing and she assured me that that type of experience was certainly not typical. She referred me to this place, so I gave it a shot, and it was definitely not a terrible experience like I had at the other place, but after having consistent sessions every two weeks for months, I just can't really say that it had much of an effect on me. The office was very clean and calm and serene, the soft music they play and the decor and the heat lamps all created a nice and peaceful and warm atmosphere, the receptionist was always friendly and helpful, and the doctor was very adept at what he was doing. I'm just not sure that what he was doing was accomplishing anything. Maybe it works for some people. Maybe my condition just isn't responsive to this kind of treatment. I don't know. But after a certain point I felt like I was just wasting time. The doctor did tell me a couple times that I need more treatments, but my insurance only covers 2 sessions a month, so I literally couldn't do any more than I was doing. He also very adamantly told me that I must rest after the treatments, for a couple days at least, that it was very important for letting the treatment work, and suggested that if I wasn't feeling any better from the treatments then it was because I wasn't resting well enough after the treatments, but the thing is, I was. I wasn't doing any strenuous activities for a good couple days after each treatment. There was also a couple appointments where I had gotten a referral from my PCP to work on a pain and tightness in my calf that I had been experiencing, which I was also referred to physical therapy for, so we did that instead of the back, and he informed me during the treatment that he was going to use an "older technique" or something like that, where after the needles had been in for the regular period of time, instead of just taking them out and that was that, he took them out and then reinserted a couple of them for just a quick period of time. I'm not sure about this. I was left basically unable to walk or put pressure on my leg at all for a day or two after that. It did not help, it made the tightness worse. So I opted to stop doing that and just go back to the back treatments for awhile. But yeah, eventually, I just felt like those weren't really doing anything, so I stopped going. So yeah, maybe it might work for you. Different people respond to different treatments. At least unlike that other acupuncturist, you won't be roughed up and you won't have to lay on a hard, uncomfortable table with barely any cushioning. So I guess it's at least worth giving it a shot if you are in the market for an acupuncturist. Just, if he says he wants to use that "older technique" on you, my advice would be to just limit it to the standard treatment.

I've seeing Dr. Brachman on a regular basis for two years now and he has always delivered a high…read morelevel of care at an affordable cost. Not only is he a great practitioner, but it's clear he's a good person who takes pride in improving the lives of his patients. Specifically, I had a bad shoulder injury that Dr. Brachman took extra time and care of in order to heal it faster and better than I thought possible in that time period. And for that, and many other reasons, I'm truly grateful that Dr. Brachman is still practicing. I highly recommend him and his office!

Came into see Dr. Brachman after going to urgent care and ER for neck pain. I'd been in pain for 4…read moredays with no explanation, just a couple pain pills from urgent care and the ER. I was in so much pain. But Dr. Brachman and his staff took care of me. They are so kind and knowledgeable. Within the first visit he was able to tell me why I was in so much pain and what he was going to do to help me. After my second visit (the day after my first visit) I was feeling so much better. No pain pills were needed and I can finally walk, sit up, and sleep! Within 4 days of my first and second visit I was feeling amazing. They took care of me and fit me into their schedule with out a problem. I would highly recommend Dr. Brachman. Him and his staff are absolutely amazing. Not only are they so nice but they actually care about how you feel. I'm so happy and thankful.