Autoimmune Conditions Treatment in San Clemente, CA

You may arrive with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, or another diagnosis already on the chart. You may also arrive with positive antibodies and a specialist who has not finished the workup. Both situations are welcome. FRI does not create a new autoimmune label to replace the one your physician is using.

Dr. Sani Kohen, D.C. and Dr. Tara Kohen, D.C. ask which joints flare, what the specialist has ruled out, and which medications you are on. Functional Medicine reads that list before suggesting a test. Stopping an immune-modulating drug is not part of this visit.

FRI does not replace a rheumatologist, a primary physician, an endocrinologist, a gastroenterologist, or a mental health clinician. Flares, new rashes, eye pain, and medication side effects go back to the specialist who knows the disease. A nutrition visit is not a second opinion on immunosuppression.

What this office can do is look at sleep, food, and movement as support around that medical plan. The Hashimoto's thyroiditis page is the specific autoimmune thyroid conversation. This page stays on the broader situation so the two are not collapsed.

Some people with autoimmune disease also bloat, react to meals, or sleep in fragments. Those threads are optional. They are not a claim that the gut caused the disease. GI-MAP stool testing is used when digestion is actually part of your story, not as a required rite.

Chronic inflammation describes inflammation as a process your physician may already be measuring. FRI will not promise that a food change lowers every marker or quiets every flare. Sleep loss, by itself, can make pain feel louder the next day, and that lever is practical.

Stiff mornings and joints that will not load are a reason people stop moving, which often makes the day worse. Chiropractic Sports Medicine and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation can work on the joints you still need for walking, gripping, and getting off the floor. The pace respects a flare.

Functional medicine at FRI does not replace a primary physician, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, or mental health clinician. Nutrition and supplementation is individualized, with no brand protocol and no dose aimed at the immune system. You keep every prescription your specialist wrote.

A complimentary 20-minute consultation can clarify whether support care is appropriate beside your specialist. FRI is out of network, offers superbills, and accepts HSA and FSA funds. Hours are Monday–Thursday, 9–6.

Bring the diagnosis, the medication list, and recent labs from your rheumatologist or physician. Any gut test is optional. You should not expect a plan that replaces immune medication.

San Clemente has two terrains that matter clinically. The Pier Bowl, the beach trail, and the streets near the water are relatively level and sandy. Talega, Forster Ranch, and the newer hills are the opposite: repeated grades, youth sports, and a drive just to reach I-5. Surfing at Trestles and along the pier loads shoulders and low backs. Hill neighborhoods load knees on the way down and necks on the drive. We ask which part of town you live in because the home program has to match the grade outside.

A lot of San Clemente patients are trying to stay active while working north of here. The I-5 commute itself is a sitting test. If your low back or sciatica eases when you walk the beach trail and worsens in the car, that detail changes the exam. Tell us the direction of the commute and how long you sit, not only where it hurts.

The drive is I-5 north through San Juan Capistrano into Mission Viejo, about 16 miles. Without a slowdown it is a little over 20 minutes. A backup through the Capistrano stretch pushes it toward 35. Exit for the La Alameda side of Mission Viejo and come to 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, CA 92691. Parking is on site. The doors are open Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6.

Because the drive is simple, people sometimes stack a visit onto a day that already includes a surf and a commute. Say if that is the plan. We may want the exam before the surf, or we may want you to skip the session that morning so the tests mean something. Call (949) 312-1754 if you are sorting the order. The 20-minute consultation can be the first appointment if you are not ready for a full evaluation.

Board sports and trail hills make shoulder, neck, and knee complaints ordinary reasons to come north. McKenzie-based spine care is a fit when back or leg pain has a clear directional preference. Corrective exercise is how a Talega hill gets written into the plan instead of fought with a generic core sheet.

Families also come for problems that are not sports. Thyroid, sleep, and migraine questions are evaluated with the limits those conditions require. A migraine plan does not replace a neurologist. A thyroid plan does not replace the prescriber. Read the city overview at the San Clemente chiropractor page.

No referral is required. Bring shoes you hike or walk the trail in if the foot or knee is the issue. Prior MRIs are useful and not mandatory. If you have bowel or bladder changes, saddle numbness, or a rapidly weakening leg, do not drive past an emergency department to reach us.

The practice is out of network. San Clemente patients typically use HSA or FSA funds and a superbill. We will not guess your benefits. The doctors are Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen. Their biographies are on the about page, and the clinic layout is on the office page.