Miki Shima, L.Ac, O.M.D.

My daughter has seen so many different kinds of doctors who prescribe Rx for her abdominal pain and, still, after months of trying various strategies, it is acupuncture with Dr. Shima that is the most effective.

I’ve had Dr. Shima perform acupuncture on me for a number of years and always feel significantly better after his sessions. I also had a good friend get acupuncture done by him while she was getting chemotherapy. I remember very clearly her saying on the drive back that it was the best she had felt since she had gotten sick. He’s someone I really trust.

I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Shima for acupuncture, based on several positive reviews on local mother’s club forums. What a disappointment! After a few minutes diagnosis he prescribed pricey herbal supplements; and then spent the rest of my visit trying to sell me on some magic youth-​returning pill. No acupuncture, despite that it was what my session was scheduled for (and what I know works for me from the past experience).
I was a bit suspicious about his super brief assessment, but decided to trust the mother’s forums. So against my instinct I took the prescribed supplements. Bad idea, as they made everything much worse. When I finally checked with another practitioner, she was quite horrified to hear what I was taking and when, as the prescription was plain wrong for me. She helped me recover, but this was an unnecessary ordeal. Save yourself the hassle, and look for a good practitioner elsewhere.

Just an update:
Miki is great — I love him. I was seduced away to try someone else and came running back. Yes, I strayed and tried someone else who had great recommendations on a list serve I belong to and who has also won the award for best acupuncturist by Pacific Sun the past several years.
Well, that guy has nothing on Miki. The other guy told me that Miki’s diagnosis was off and he put me on a bunch of different herbs etc. I ended up feeling so much worse than I had before. In addition, the other guy’s needle technique is painful! It really hurt every time he puts them in. It rarely if ever hurts with Miki. I’ve never had acupuncture needles hurt like that before and I’ve been to a few acupuncturists!
So — I went back to Miki because I felt so rotten and within a few days I was feeling soooo much better. I confessed my «cheating» on him with another acupuncturist and he laughed and thought it was funny. Not only is Miki a great acupuncturist but he’s a genuinely good person. He wasn’t threatened by the fact I tried someone else out and had a knowing look when I confessed my running back to Miki to fix me up. You can’t beat Miki’s knowledge and skill — the texts he’s written are used in Acupuncture schools for a reason!
Go to Miki — he will help you feel better like no one else can!