Helping people get out of pain for 25+ years.
Franco is an accomplished clinician and nationally recognized expert in the practice of dry needling, myofascial pain syndromes and persistent muscle pain.
With more than 40,000 hours of hands-on work, he’s been helping professional athletes, performers and thousands of others achieve greater health. His patients rely on his wealth of deep knowledge of the human body to help guide them out of pain and get them back to doing what they love.
Specialties
Franco’s years of experience have given him both deep sensitivity and skill for navigating the mechanics of the body. He is an expert at interpreting muscle-related (a.k.a. myofascial) pain and knowing what to do to relieve it.
He specializes in very advanced dry needling techniques that release and repair hard-to-reach tissue. If there’s a pain trigger, Franco will find it, know how to deactivate it and teach the body how to begin to repair it.
Franco is known for his warm, good humored manner and the way he incorporates movement, postural and ergonomic recommendations into his work so that patients can sustain lasting results.
Background
As a child and young man, Franco watched his father, a master tailor, measure and study people’s bodies. These early experiences gave Franco a passion for working with the body, and led to a life in service to others. He’s been working with people in pain since 1997.
Professional Affiliations
Franco is an active member of many pain organizations and keeps up to date on the latest studies on dry needling and acupuncture in the field of orthopedics, sports medicine and pain.
He uses a collaborative, team approach and has earned an excellent reputation with top physicians and health care providers in the Bay Area. Flexible, gentle and truly dedicated, Franco develops lasting relationships with his patients and their families, friends and co-workers.
Myofascial Pain and Injury Science
- Member, Academy of Integrative Pain Management (AIPM)
- DN-III Certification, Janet G. Travell, MD Myopain Series, Bethesda, MD and Wasilla, AK
- One-year Certificate in Integrative Musculoskeletal Medicine with Dr. Alon Marcus
- Acupuncturist, UCSD Acupuncture Center for Sports Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Integrative Medicine and Acupuncture
- California Board Acupuncture License #AC10514
- Master of Science, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego, California
- Two-Year Certificate in Massage Therapy, Swedish Institute, College of Health Sciences, New York City, New York
- Classical Chinese Medicine coursework with Jeffrey Yuen 1997-2001, New York City, New York
- Three-year Internship with Dr. Xi Qui, New York City, New York
- Advanced Courses in Herbology, Flynn School of Herbology, New York, New York
- Clinical Internship and Lecture Program, Chengdu Hospital and University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan, China
Clinic Experience
- Co-founder AcuGroup
- Integrative Clinic Manager at New York Medical, New York City, New York
- Acupuncturist, San Diego Hospice, San Diego, California
