Appointments for new patients can be made by phone at: 510-526-5256
Appointments for existing patients can be made, changed or cancelled by phone or online here.
You can also access online scheduling through our group website at liveoakmed.org

Patients are invited to familiarize themselves with this website and the additional resources provided prior to their visit. Patient forms can be reviewed, printed and filled out prior to the initial appointment, or filled out in the office before the scheduled appointment time.
Please bring any pertinent assessments, lab work or imaging studies to the initial visit.  These can also be emailed or mailed prior to your appointment, allowing more time for review prior to your visit.
It is helpful to wear loose, comfortable clothing to allow for easy examination and treatment.
For follow-up visits, patients are invited to relax and rest quietly in a chair or on the treatment table before and after treatment.  This helps begin the treatment process and allows patients to maximize the benefits of their visit.

If at all possible, please allow time to rest following treatment.  Patients often feel relaxed, tired, or sensitive after a treatment, and allowing time to slow down, rest, and experience the effects of treatment increases the therapeutic benefit.  For children, this may mean postponing busy daytime or after school activities and going home for a quiet evening and early bedtime.
Patients are asked to refrain from vigorous exercise or activity for 24-48 hours following treatment.  This allows time for the body to readjust and stabilize before placing excessive demands on the system.
If patients are working with other hands-on therapies such as acupuncture, massage, or physical therapy, we recommend leaving at least 2-3 days between modalities in order for the body to receive the full benefit of each treatment. There may be times when other modalities are counterproductive during a course of osteopathic treatment.

While it is difficult to predict how any one individual will respond to treatment, most patients report noticeable improvement after 1-2 visits, with some patients requiring up to 3-4 treatments to experience relief.   Complete resolution of symptoms may take longer.  Recent musculoskeletal injuries and acute illnesses typically improve quickly, while chronic injuries and illnesses often require more time.
Once symptoms improve, many patients elect to continue on-going treatment for health maintenance and disease prevention.  Patients may come monthly or seasonally as part of a general healthcare regimen.  Children are often advised to come in around growth spurts in order to address developmental challenges and relieve any soft-tissue strain (“growing pains”) or asymmetrical growth patterns.  Just as with any general medical practice, patients also come as needed for acute illnesses and injuries such as colds and flus, ear infections, falls, joint sprains, allergies and asthma exacerbations.
Children generally respond more quickly to treatment than adults, although developmental challenges and chronic illnesses may require ongoing care.  Often modifications to daily rhythms and parental support is key to the resolution of symptoms.

We are not contracted with any insurance provider, and therefore require payment at time of service. However, we do provide an itemized invoice, or superbill, which patients can submit to their insurance company for reimbursement.

If you have a PPO plan that provides out-of-network benefits, you will likely receive partial reimbursement according to the terms of your contract, usually ranging between 60-80% once your deductible has been met.  HMOs typically do not reimburse for services by out-of-network providers.

Cranio-Sacral TherapyTM (CST) was trademarked by John Upledger D.O. in the 1980s as separate and distinct from the practice of medicine in order to teach lay people osteopathically-based concepts and techniques.  While CST is based on cranial osteopathy as developed by Dr. Sutherland (see Cranial Osteopathy vs. Cranio-Sacral Therapy), Upledger developed his own methods and techniques in order to create therapies that would be safe for non-physicians to perform.  While these simplified techniques are intended to be safe, cranio-sacral therapists are not trained or licensed to make diagnoses or to adjust and develop their own techniques in response to individual patient needs.  While some CST practitioners may be highly skilled, it is advisable to seek out a fully trained cranial osteopath whenever possible.

Osteopathic medicine was developed in 1874 by Dr. Still, a licensed medical physician and surgeon, for the treatment of any and all medical conditions.  The chiropractic profession was developed in 1895 by D.D. Palmer, a lay person, shortly after Still opened the first osteopathic college in 1892.  It is purported that D.D. Palmer was a patient of Dr. Still’s, possibly enrolling in the college for 6 weeks in 1893.  Soon after, Palmer opened his own school, using the term “chiropractic.” Since Palmer was not a physician, chiropractic education and practice was limited to musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment.
Early descriptions of chiropractic principles were strikingly similar to Dr. Still’s, but differences soon emerged as chiropractic treatment did not have the scope of general medical practice and used short-lever spinal adjustments as the primary method for achieving spinal alignment, the ultimate goal of treatment.  Osteopathy, on the other hand, prioritized function and physiology over structural alignment, with multiple techniques developed for optimizing blood circulation, lymphatic drainage, and nerve conduction in addition to boney adjustments.
Today, differences between osteopathic and chiropractic styles of manipulation continue, with osteopathic physicians embracing the full spectrum of medical practice through techniques aimed at restoring normal physiology and the life-giving processes of growth and regeneration.  For the osteopath, diagnosis and treatment of the musculoskeletal system is only the beginning of a journey toward Health.  Like footprints in the sand, the physical body tells us a story of its past and the person who has lived it. But, more importantly, it offers us a doorway to the hidden processes that determine its future.

Anthroposophic remedies build on the principles of homeopathy, including dilution and potentization developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in the early 1800s.  However, in anthroposophic medicine remedies are often used in combination and prepared in lower potencies (2X-30X) than is typical in most classical homeopathic preparations.  Multiple plant, mineral, and animal substances may be combined in order to guide and direct disease processes toward balance.  Lower potencies are preferred in order to direct treatment to the physical body and readily perceptible psychological and emotional processes rather than more subtle levels of therapy attained with the higher potencies common to classical homeopathy.  Unlike many homeopathic remedies, all anthroposophic medicines are derived from raw materials which are cultivated biodynamically or collected in their native habitat, ensuring the highest quality and potency standards.  Special attention is paid to sun and moon cycles when plants are harvested, and to laboratory processes of heating, distilling, separating and cooling, in order to maximize therapeutic potential.  Topical remedies are also commonly used, which are unique to anthroposophic medicine.