Yung C. Chen MD

Dr. Chen has been my pain management doctor for the past year. I have been a chronic pain patient for over 10 yrs. previously, I had been seeing a doctor in Redwood City, which had been one of the worst experiences of my life. After seeing this previous doctor and then when I started seeing Dr Chen, it was like a day and night experience. Dr Chen is a very positive, effective and on the cutting edge in the treatment of chronic pain. Along with Dr Chen, he has a great staff that supports and provides the best in care. I am always in and out of the office for my visit within the hour. I highly recommend Dr Chen, he is the very best doctor in the Bay Area.

Dr. Chen is the most wonderful, caring, knowledgable Doctor I have ever met!!!
I was referred to Dr. Chen from my primary Doctor and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was suffering with high levels of pain in my neck, and down my arm. As a mom of three and twins I was overwhelmed suffering in pain while attending to my children. Dr. Chen wasted no time ordered an MRI and started treatment, he gave immediate relief on my first visit with Ultrasound and a procedure. I knew after my first visit my pain was on the mend because Dr. Chen really cared about my pain and SINCERELY listens and Identifies the problem.
Not only is Dr. Chen fabulous his staff is a 5 star team of intelligent and efficient professionals. EACH member of his Team is a 5 Star employee! I wish I knew each staff name to recognize them all because everyone has been wonderful to interact with each time I see Dr.Chen. Peggy is so caring, personable, and efficient. Jacquelyn is always prompt and amazing to work with. It is clear from the minute you walk in Dr. Chen has a well run professional staff.
Dr.Chen treated my bulging disc’s in my neck as well as herniated discs in my back and I have gotten better and healed.
Dr.Chen is also precise with acupuncture and I highly recommend getting a vitamin B shot each visit, it truly helps any pain.
Jeannette M
San Mateo

Amazing Dr. And staff. I honestly had given up with the idea that I would ever be pain free. I had tried everything. Or so I thought and was considering surgery on my neck after a car accident. Dr Chen gave me hope and results, he is a genuine and kind man and really cares about his patients. His staff is top notch, they are fast and efficient and super nice. They are all extremely knowledgeable and talented as well. I highly recommend Dr Chen. Don’t have surgery until you visit him

Loved him absolutely fantastic Doctor, office were wonderful, my mom and I Both went and were very happy and his assistant was great

From the beginning to the end, my experience with Dr. Chen and his team was fantastic. A very friendly, efficient and professional staff made my first experience seeing Dr. Chen a good one. Although they were very busy that morning, I was seen on time by Dr. Chen for pain on my QL (Back Muscle). During examination, he took the time to perform a thorough examination quickly discovering the issue. He explained in detail what was wrong and mapped out a plan for recovery. Since I like to take a natural approach to healing, he suggested acupuncture, natural anti-​inflammatory foods and physical therapy. As a Pilates Instructor who is very in tune with the body. I am happy to have found Dr. Chen. 3 weeks later and I am feeling back to normal.

Updating my review because as fate would have it, I found myself back again in Dr. Chen’s hands after an exercise injury gave me severe scapular pain. Dr. Chen was excellent — performing a full examination with ultrasound and answering my concerns about what my recovery plan would be in the next few months. He gave me an excellent physical therapist to work with & this time, I opted to receive a small injection which has greatly reduced my pain.
I’ve really got to disagree with several other reviewers saying he forces his patients to get injections. I had all my treatment options reviewed with me before deciding (on my own) to have an injection which to me was the quickest way to break my pain cycle.
Highly recommend Dr. Chen and his welcoming staff, especially for treating any sports/​exercise injuries you might have. Cannot thank them enough for their care!

Dr. Chen is a consummate professional! My 12 year old son injured his elbow playing sports and it was our good fortune that our baseball coach highly recommended our seeing Dr. Chen. From our very first meeting, it is evident how much pride Dr. Chen takes in his practice and the outstanding individualized care he gives to his patients. His assistant Elias is equally as efficient and caring. The Office staff is exceptional and their efficiency in scheduling your appointments and greeting you upon arriving in the office, is greatly appreciated. I wish I could give more than «5» stars as they are all most deserving.

If I could give negative stars I would. From the moment I stepped into Dr. Chen’s office I got an odd vibe. The waiting room was packed so I figured there was other doctors at this practice, but there was not. That was red flag # 1. The patients were coming in and out very quickly and I overheard the girls/​nurses calling in the patients saying, «Hi Mrs. X, ready for your injection today?» (I also heard them confirming appointments for the following day and all appointments seemed to be for injections.)
Once I was brought in to the exam room Dr. Chen’s assistant met me and went over why I was there and collected some info and said Dr. Chen would be in shortly. The doctor came in took one look at me and said «Oh your neck is very messed up!» (He hadn’t even touched my neck yet.) After looking at me and maybe touching my neck for 1 – 2 min he did an ultrasound that lasted less than 1 minute then he gave me his diagnoses. He said, «I’d like to give you a cortisone shot, it will help with the inflammation and pain. You need to get an x-​ray of your shoulder and an MRI for your neck… once we receive the MRI back you should come back and we can discuss the next plan of action which will probably be physical therapy.» I asked how long will it take for the cortisone shot to kick in because I am in a tremendous amount of pain and if I can continue to use ibuprofen. Dr. Chen interrupted me mid-​sentence and said, «I’M THE SUPER SPECIALIST! Can you just listen to me?» Uhhhm ok, I just had a question. He kept repeating that he was the «Super Specialist». I get it, but the Super Specialist wasn’t answering my questions. I just wanted to know if I could take some ibuprofen for the pain.
I agreed to get the cortisone shot since he said it would help with the inflammation and the pain. One of his girls came in to prep me for it and she asked if I wanted a B12 shot as well… NO, I don’t want to be upsold! So I got my shot and my paperwork to get my x-​ray and MRI and got out of there. Within a couple hours I was in the worst pain EVER. My neck felt worse than when I had gone in. I didn’t know if I was having a bad reaction to the cortisone or what was going on, but I just tried to suffer through the pain. 2 sleepless nights later, I called Dr. Chen’s office on Friday because the pain was unbearable. The first 2 times my call was placed on hold over 5 minutes so I hung up, so I tried back later in the afternoon and finally got through and spoke to his assistant. I told his assistant I was in excruciating pain, hadn’t slept for 2 days, had taken the max amount of ibuprofen aloud and still had no relief. «You guys did this to me, what can you do to help me?» His assistant responded, «You can try to put some ice on it.» Are you kidding me… ICE! I said, ice is not going to help what else? He replied, «You really shouldn’t take ibuprofen, you should take Tylenol. You can try Tylenol.» I said, «They are pretty much the same thing, Tylenol is not going to help if ibuprofen didn’t help.» He said, «Well let me talk to the doctor and I’ll call you back.» HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK. He let me go all weekend, knowing how much pain I was in and didn’t call me back until Monday afternoon @ 4pm. Monday he called me and said, «I just wanted to check and see how you were feeling? I’m sorry I didn’t call you back on Friday, but I did talk to Dr. Chen and he suggested ice as well.»
Dr. Chen should be ashamed of himself, he is no SUPER SPECIALIST. This is not how you run a practice and treat a patient.
I agree with all the other negative reviews on here Dr. Chen IS An INJECTION PUSHER.

Dr. Chen is a really knowledgeable and capable doctor, I saw him after suffering from what was the most significant back injury of my life in December, Dr. Chen got me through the worst of it and onto rehabilitation and recovery. Despite having a very busy practice, he gave me the proper amount of time for examination and explain exactly what is going on with my injury and what my options and next steps might be necessary. He is very good guy, personable, intelligent and knowledgeable.
The office team is amazing, given they dealing with people all day long who are in pain and distressed, they remain extremely kind, caring, welcoming and professional. This is from the person who greets you to the people that take your information and examine you before the doctor comes in. Not sure if you guys read these reviews but THANKS!
I would definitely recommend Dr. Chen and his team to friends or family and (god forbid) if I hurt myself again he would be my first phone call.

I had recently just injured my foot while dancing. At school, I’m in the Filipino club and we do a dance called tinikling, which involves the use of big bamboo sticks being banged together while we tip toe in and out of them to a melody. Well, one time at practice I missed timed the sticks banging together and stepped in them while they were closing, getting my foot caught in the middle. I immediately fell to the ground and couldn’t get up cause my foot was hurt pretty bad. My friends took me to the campus clinic and I was diagnosed with a fractured metatarsal.
When I came back home to visit my family for thanksgiving, my mom and I were looking for a place to go to to get a second opinion. That’s where Peggy came in! Peggy was my older brothers friend and a medical assistant at Dr. Chen’s practice. She saw me in my walking boot when she came over one time and I told her what happened. She suggested I should have Dr. Chen take a look at it and she set me up straight away. I came to the office and Peggy and the other medical staff made me feel right at home. Even though my condition was diagnosed already, Dr. Chen wanted to start fresh so he ordered an x-​ray. He went over the images and the report and made it easy for me to understand since I’m not too familiar with the terminology (just started courses for nursing!) Since I’m away at college for the most part, he gave me some home remedies and advised me to do some physical therapy to ease the inflammation and pain. I still come in for follow ups and my foot has gotten better since. I’m already back on the dance floor hitting the moves! Just gotta keep my 8 counts in check and I think I won’t have another accident. Thanks Dr. Chen!

One of the most well ran medical offices you will ever go to. Dr Chen has really taken the time to train his staff and it definitely shows. Although they are a very busy clinic with a small office space, everything seems to run so smoothly.
I saw Dr Chen last week for my chronic back pain from playing sports all my life. He prescribed me some anti inflammatories that have really calmed the pain down. His staff went over all treatment options and Dr Chen created a treatment plan that I was comfortable with.
This office seems pretty busy which is a good sign. It must mean people trust him. I will be returning soon to go over my MRI results. They were able to give me an appointment within the week even with a packed schedule.

I was referred to Dr. Chen for my chronic back pain. I was skeptical after reading the few negative reviews but I couldn’t be happier that I chose to see Dr. Chen.
For those complaining about the long wait and short time spent with Dr. Chen clearly don’t understand pain too well. People like me that are in pain want to be seen immediately and get some pain relief already! I always hear the staff overbooking patients but I actually appreciate this! All the staff there try to get patients in as soon as possible because they understand pain patients CAN NOT WAIT. Dr. Chen and his staff must be exhausted at the end of the day. I’ve never seen any of them take breaks!
People in pain are usually not very happy or pleasant to be around. I know I definitely was not my best when I first saw Dr. Chen. But I always feel a sense of relief and joy leaving this office. Thank you Dr. Chen and staff for helping me manage my back pain :)

Dr. Chen now offers Vitamin B12 injections! I am one of those people that can’t get through the day without my coffee but now, I just get these amazing B12 injections once a week instead and I feel amazing. I spend more on my coffee on a weekly basis. Once Dr. Chen and his staff explained the benefits of the B12 injections, I was all in. Pain relief, stress relief, energy boost, and mood enhancement! I have less migraines and feel way more focused at work without getting that burnt out feeling at the end of the day. Everyone around me notices the difference after I get the B12 injections.
Dr. Chen and the staff really does care about the well being of their patients. I recommend them to all my friends and family!

I have been a patient of Dr. Chen’s for years and he has always been SO helpful and compassionate. At EVERY single visit I feel like I’m the only patient. I am beyond thankful as I sit here, finally out of pain! His office is SO well run, and his assistants SO polite and helpful. Thank you Dr. Chen.

Do not use this doctor. He is running a pill mill. I went in to see how I was to get off pain meds. after a series of three operation. After an hour of humiliating treatment, forced to give a urine sample and asked in the patient’s waiting room why I was taking this drug and that drug, I finally got through to the aide that I didn’t want any meds, She said «Oh», left and returned in
a few minutes and said: «Doctor said to come back when it hurts». I was so mad that I didn’t trust myself to speak so I left. After cooling off for an hour, I called his office and said that Dr Chen was no longer my doctor and I was not to be charge for my visit or my urinalyses. I received a bill for my urinalyses.

All of the one/​two star reviews here (like all the ones that precede mine)…
PLEASE BELIEVE THEM. Never in my life have I been the patient of a doctor’s «factory» office set-​up. Someone today even called this place a «pill mill».
The staff is generally cold and unwelcoming, as in, they don’t even greet you with a hello, or good morning, just «insurance card» (and you can forget about please or thank you… that’s too much for these cool millennials). And they seldom smile. Every single I’ve visited there, they make you feel like you’re just another body/​source of money. Oh, and do you have one question, that’s a co-​payment, you need a quick form filled out, that’s another co-​payment, etc, etc… every. single. thing. there is a charge for.
The tall, slim, Asian girl with very long hair (who never smiles and takes herself *very seriously) literally answered the phone with «Yeah???». Not exaggerating. It felt like I was calling a snotty sorority.
*If you get acupuncture, get ready for sharp needles to be left in your hair (only for you to poke yourself after you find them later). This happened not just one time. This happened in 75% of my treatments. When it comes to treatment, this place is *not conservative. I got incredibly sick from the heavy medication I was given (w basically no real respect or assessment into my history). Then when I said I got sick, it was made to seem like I was the «one in a million» patient that had had an issue with the treatment. No responsibility or apology.
*Because everything is rushed, be prepared to have to call back for things to be clarified. My last conversation was with one of said snobby receptionists who made an error with her explanation; when I asked what she said, she backpedalled, twisted things, and said she hadn’t said what she indeed had (and made it seem like I was wrong and had misunderstood).
Again, no responsibility or apology.
At this point, I have ZERO trust for this entire place. (I was forced to go here because my original referral was backed up with appointments and I needed immediate attention, so this place was given to me another option).
Bottomline, if you want rushed, sloppy, rude and cold service, come here… the people giving 4+ stars are obviously under the impression that it’s normal to be treated like just another number at the doctor’s office. Patients deserve warm, caring, polite and thorough treatment that they can trust and not have to second guess constantly. Do not be fooled by the glowing reviews here (I found out the hard way).

I really did not like this Dr. He advertises himself as a spine specialist but tells you directly that all he really does is give spinal steroid injections. He sees someone every 15 minutes and as you sit in his waiting room, you hear his staff telling everyone the exact same thing, read this flyer the Dr. really wants you to read, all about the medications and injections he gives. When you get into the exam room, he doesn’t touch you or look at your back. He looks at your MRI and asks you if you want to schedule an injection or not. I had lots of questions, about the causes of my back problems, whether or not I should get another MRI because of a cyst found, what kind of treatment would be best for ME, not whether of not I wanted what everyone else got and the only thing he had the option of giving. He is no specialist in spines.

Came in today to see Dr. Chen after a year of dealing with chronic lower back and upper neck pain … I’ve seen multiple doctors, physical therapists, and massage therapists but to no avail. Dr. Chen was the first practitioner to tell me that he’d do what he can to make me feel better — and that’s all I needed to hear! I got trigger point injections today but my back doesn’t feel better so I will definitely see him and the staff once I get my MRI. :)

My friend referred me to Dr. Chen to help out with my a pretty bad sprained ankle. I was barely walking at the time, so it really helped that parking was easy. They have their own parking garage – that’s a plus.
He’s an athlete himself, so it’s nice to know that his experience is firsthand. He also gave me tips on how to avoid future injuries. Now that I’ve worked with him I feel a lot more confident going back into training for a half marathon.

I am incredibly grateful and humbled to have been recommended to Dr. Chen from a friend.
He had saved me hugely on the two occasions both before and after my ACL knee surgery.
The first time, I was in between jobs without medical coverage and tore my right ACL ligament as well as also broking my arm in the process. I came down so hard on might side with multiple defenders on top of me. (Recovery was hard, I couldn’t even use crutches on my weak side. Walking was miserable.)
To help manage my pain, the electric (pin?) therapy for my knee and arm then was really interesting. I was blown away by how easily and swiftly Dr. Chen placed needles into my arms and legs while talking to him. I didn’t even notice and didn’t even feel it. Wow, that’s some expert skill! Running current through the needles is an interesting tingle. It is bizarre how effective it is.
I saw Dr. Chen again more recently as it’s been a year after my ligament has been surgically repaired with a cadaver ligament. It’s been better than without it, but it still bugged me and tended to give still. I wasn’t getting answers at Kaiser at all, they wouldn’t even give me a post-​op MRI despite my complaints and requests for a 2^nd opinion. I kept getting the run around.
So I saw Dr. Chen again and he gave me recommendations and an MRI referral else where so I can get answers. He was concerned that even over a year after my surgery, I still had swelling and he definitely concurred that I made more elasticity than I should.
He was incredibly thorough and his assistant took pictures of the… not sure which device, ultrasound or something? She took pictures to add to my medical file and as a techie, I was really impressed at that workaround and diligence.
This is still an ongoing process, but gosh, I feel so much better to have a the 2^nd opinion of an experienced doctor who specializes in sports medicine. Dr. Chen personally gets my struggle as he has also torn his ACL ligament from volleyball and understands the process.
Besides the obvious macro suggestions with my knee, he’s given me lots of lighter tips from changing up my workout regimen to lower impact alternatives.
He’s also a vegetarian and holy cow, as a vegan, it is so hard to find a MD who not only understands my choice of diet, but understands those challenges. He lives those values and I resonate well with that.
I am incredibly grateful to have him in my corner.
Pricing: Low $$$.
Not cheap, but I absolutely needed peace of mind and medical advice from a professional.
I didn’t have coverage when I saw him but still, it was worth it for that peace of mind and tailored treatment that I wasn’t getting at my HMO or when I didn’t have coverage at all.
Pros:
–Dr. Chen.
–Courteous staff. Diligent reminder calls before the appointment. Quick responses to voicemail.
Cons:
–Office is a bit crowded. The design and décor helps a lot though with the space, especially the plants and flowing water.
–Street parking is limited, there’s a large parking lot too, haven’t parked there before, I usually grab street parking.
TIPS!
–Bring quarters for street parking.