Nicole Chitnis, MD

Dr. Chitnis started her training in pain management in the 70s at University of Washington, home to the world’s first multidisciplinary pain clinic, which opened in 1961 and became a world model for the diagnosis, study and treatment of chronic and acute pain. This ignited her passion for pain management. During the next several years, while in private practice, she continued training in interventional pain procedures with various spine specialists around the country and also worked as the Co-Director of a Spine Clinic in Pacific Northwest.

After seeing the limitations of traditional medical approaches, in the 90’s, she went on to study numerous alternative/integrative medical modalities including acupuncture, manual medicine, cranio-sacral therapy, nutritional medicine etc. and incorporating them into her practice and this resulted in significantly improved outcomes. Instead of using strong medications such as opioids and steroids which helps temporarily, she was able to provide long-lasting pain relief using natural and safe modalities such as acupuncture.

Her focus has always been on not just treating the injury, but treating “the whole patient”. She moved on to helping patients and athletes with wellness, prevention and peak performance. She worked with many professional as well as amateur athletes helping them with not just prevention and treatment of injuries but also to help them achieve peak performance. This included guidance regarding nutrition and stress management and other mind-body medicine techniques.

In 2001, she brought her unique approach to California and since 2005, she has been also working as a Qualified Medical Evaluator for the Division of Workers Compensation in the State of California. Since 2018, she is now working full time as a Qualified Medical Evaluator/Agreed Medical Evaluator.