Classical Acupuncture for Chronic Illness & Autoimmune Conditions
You've Been Through the Medical System
Specialists. Tests. Medications. More specialists. More tests.
You have a diagnosis, maybe several. Cancer. Lupus. Rheumatoid arthritis. Hashimoto's. Crohn's. Fibromyalgia. Lyme disease. MS. Chronic fatigue. Or the frustrating "we don't know what's wrong, but your labs are normal."
The medications barely manage symptoms and create new problems. You're exhausted from fighting your own body. You've tried elimination diets, supplements, functional medicine protocols. Some things help temporarily, but nothing addresses why your body turned against you or why you can't heal.
You're not out of options. You just need a different approach.
Why Conventional Medicine Struggles with Chronic Illness
Western medicine excels at acute conditions. Infections, injuries, emergencies. But chronic complex illness? The system wasn't designed for this.
The problems:
Specialists treat organs in isolation. Your rheumatologist treats your joints. Your gastroenterologist treats your gut. Your endocrinologist treats your thyroid. But your body doesn't operate in separate compartments. Everything is connected.
Lab values become the sole measure of disease. If your numbers are "normal," you're told nothing is wrong. But you feel terrible. The labs don't measure bodily harmony.
Suppressing symptoms becomes the goal. Steroids reduce inflammation. Immunosuppressants silence the alarms from your immune system. Pain meds mask the ache. But no one is asking why your body is inflamed, hyperactive, or in pain in the first place.
Chronic illness isn't a deficiency of medication. It's a pattern of resource depletion and strategic coping by the body that's taken years or decades to develop.
How Classical Acupuncture Treats Chronic Illness Differently
I practice Classical Chinese Medicine, which views chronic complex illness through a completely different lens. Most importantly, your body is not punishing or failing you. For most people, their lifestyles have forced their bodies into an exceedingly difficult choice: a slow, chronic disease or imminent death from an acute organ failure. Not to be dramatic, but this is the case. In your body’s infinite intelligence it has chosen to sacrifice immediate quality of life to buy you more time to address the resource depletion and mental constraints that led to the disease in the first place. Through classical Chinese Medicine we can work on the body and mind to slow the progression and many times even reverse the course of chronic degenerative disease.
When conventional medicine offers no answers, Classical Chinese Medicine addresses what's been overlooked.
The Divergent Channels: Where Chronic Illness Lives
In Classical Chinese Medicine, the body has five channel systems. Most TCM acupuncturists only work with one: the Primary Channels. But the Divergent Channels exist to manage chronic degenerative disease.
The Divergent Channels are your body's critical response system. They manage:
Life-threatening disease
Autoimmune conditions
Chronic degenerative illness
Joint conditions
Resource depletion & Fluid regulation
Classical Acupuncture can release what's been held in the Divergent Channels for years, but only when the body is strong enough.
When your body can't resolve an issue through more superficial channels, the Divergent Channels sequester the pathology to protect vital organs. This is why autoimmune disease, chronic inflammation, and degenerative conditions persist despite treatment. The pattern is held in latency in a system that standard TCM doesn't access. We get symptoms or a disease label when the body, due to depletion, can no longer hold the pathogen latent and it begins to leak out from its place of containment. This leaking engages the immune response and we get inflammation and the common symptoms know to chronic inflammatory disease.
Complete Pattern Diagnosis
I don't treat your diagnosis label. I treat your whole being and your story.
Two people with lupus will present completely differently. One might have a Divergent Channel issue. Another might have Luo channel issue. The variations in patterns are as unique as the individuals seeking care. Same Western label diagnosis, different Eastern treatments needs.
I use Classical pulse and tongue diagnosis to identify:
Which channel system(s) hold the pathology
The nature of the pathology in question
What resources your body has available to spare
What your body can and cannot process in each treatment
This precision allows me to treat the actual root pattern, not the just the Western symptom label.
Addressing Root Depletion
Chronic illness doesn't just deplete you physically. It depletes you at every level.
You're depleted from years of symptoms, poor sleep, pain, medications, stress, and fighting your own body. Many practitioners don't assess how depleted you are before treating. They throw aggressive treatment at a system that has no resources to respond.
I work with what your body can handle. In every chronic illness issue we know that the body needs to build back hydration and other key resources. For this reason we will incorporate lifestyle guidance and dietary therapy. Because what happens in the other 23 hours in a day are just as, if not more important that the 1 hour of healing we achieve together. Some sessions require building reserves before we can address the deeper pattern. Some conditions require slow, gentle work over months.
Deep healing demands gradual pacing.
Treating the Whole System
Your chronic condition isn't separate from your digestive issues, sleep problems, anxiety, or hormonal imbalances. They're all expressions of the same underlying pattern.
Classical Acupuncture treats the system, not the symptom list. When we address the root channel imbalance, multiple symptoms improve simultaneously because we're treating what connects them. As a result quality of life improves.
What to Expect
Initial Session (80 minutes | $225)
Comprehensive health history (we'll discuss your timeline, triggers, what's helped, what hasn't)
Classical pulse and tongue diagnosis
Complete channel assessment
Same-day treatment tailored to your specific pattern
Clear explanation of your diagnosis from a Classical perspective
Treatment plan and expected timeline
Lifestyle and nutrition guidance
Follow-Up Sessions (55 minutes | $180)
Continued channel-based treatment
Adjustments based on your body's response
Ongoing support and guidance
Timeline
Chronic complex illness requires patience. Most patients notice subtle shifts within 4-5 sessions. Meaningful improvement typically emerges over a longer period of time. Some conditions require ongoing treatment as part of long-term wellness maintenance.
This is medicine for people who want to heal at the deepest level, not just manage symptoms.
Conditions I Treat
Late stage cancer diagnosis
Autoimmune conditions (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's, Sjögren's, etc.)
Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis)
Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
Fibromyalgia
Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme syndrome
Multiple sclerosis
Psoriasis and eczema
Interstitial cystitis
Chronic pain syndromes
Mast cell activation syndrome
Post-viral syndromes (long COVID, post-EBV)
Complex regional pain syndrome
Mystery illness (symptoms without clear diagnosis)
If your condition isn't listed, reach out. Classical Acupuncture treats patterns at the channel level, regardless of the Western medicine label.
What Patients Say
"The discomfort due to my arthritis has substantially subsided through Diego's strong intentions. Treating the root cause offers a much healthier outcome."
—Debra L.
"Diego is an extraordinarily gifted practitioner. His generosity of spirit combined with technical expertise and depth of knowledge are a rare combination. He will stand with you all the way."
—Josie J.
Investment
Initial Consultation & Treatment: $225 | 80 minutes
Follow-Up Sessions: $180 | 55 minutes
Six-Session Package: $1,035 (save $45)
Thirteen-Session Package: $2,160 (save $180)
Military & first responders receive 15% off all services
Payment: Cash, credit, HSA, FSA accepted
Insurance: Detailed superbills provided for reimbursement
Ready to Address Your Chronic Illness at the Root?
Text me to schedule a complimentary 10-15 minute consultation call. We'll discuss what's bringing you in and determine if Classical Acupuncture is right for you.
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Located in Hillcrest, San Diego
3636 5th Ave, Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92103
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