What is Auriculotherapy?
Auriculotherapy is a health care procedure in which stimulation of the auricle of the external ear is utilized for the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions in other parts of the body. It is also known as ear acupuncture or auricular acupuncture when the stimulation is achieved by the insertion of acupuncture needles. The term auriculotherapy often refers to electrical stimulation of the surface of ear reflex points. Specific points on the ear can also be stimulated by manual pressure, referred to as auricular acupressure or ear reflexology. Acupuncture points on the ear can be stimulated with lasers, magnets, and ear pellets.
While originally based upon the ancient Chinese practices of acupuncture, the somatotopic correspondence of specific parts of the body to specific parts of the ear was first developed in France. It is this integrated system of Chinese and Western practices of auricular acupuncture which is presented herein.
How is Auriculotherapy different from Acupuncture?
Auriculotherapy is typically considered one form of acupuncture, but there are both differences and similarities between the two procedures. Acupuncture is a form of medical treatment involving the stimulation of acupuncture points located on energy channels extending over the surface of the body, which are known as meridians. From the philosophy of Taoism, there are six Yang meridians and six Yin meridians. In classical acupuncture, it is the Yang meridians that directly connect to the external ear. These energy lines of force are blocked or congested when there is some pathology in a specific area of the body. Insertion of acupuncture needles into specific acupoints can relieve the symptoms and underlying pathology of a particular health problem. Some of the meridian energy lines of force connect to the external ear, thus creating the field of auricular acupuncture. Different perspectives of auriculotherapy focus not on the acupuncture meridians but on the use of the ear as a localized reflex system connected to the central nervous system.
What is the History of Auriculotherapy?
The earliest written records of ear acupuncture date back to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, a compilation of acupuncture procedures that were in practice in 500 BC. Within this extensive text that covers a variety of acupuncture treatments, there is mention of specific acupuncture points on the external ear for the relief of certain medical disorders. However, the manner in which auricular acupuncture is practiced today in China is actually based upon more recent discoveries that occurred in France in the 1950's. The Traditional Oriental Medicine practiced in ancient China included just a scattered array of acupoints on the auricle for just a few health problems. The current practice of auricular acupuncture shows a more complete organization of ear reflex points that can be used to relieve many health problems. In the West, the earliest references to ear treatments were referred to in medical records from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The most complete descriptions of medical treatments through the ear were recorded in ancient Persia. A trail of evidence of the use of auricular stimulation for the treatment of sciatica back pain can be followed from these Persian records through medieval Europe to modern France. Since the 1950's, the use of specific ear points as a complete reflex system that can alleviate many health problems has been utilized by clinical practitioners in other parts of Europe, in Asia, and in North and South America.
Who discovered Auriculotherapy?
While the earliest uses of ear acupuncture points dates back to ancient China, modern applications of auriculotherapy are based on the work of Dr. Paul Nogier of Lyon, France. In the 1950's, Dr. Nogier noticed a strange scar on the upper ear of some of his patients. He found that all of them had been treated for sciatica pain by a local lay practitioner. This woman had cauterized a specific area of the external ear in order to relieve their low back pain. Dr. Nogier conducted a similar procedure on his own sciatica patients and found that their back pain was also reduced. He then tried other means of stimulating this "sciatica point," including the use of acupuncture needles, and found that they too were effective in alleviating sciatica pain. The brilliance of Dr. Nogier was in extending this one observation into a more comprehensive model. Dr. Nogier theorized that if an area of the upper external ear is effective in treating low back pain, maybe other parts of the ear could treat other parts of the body. The ear is said to represent the whole anatomical body, but in an upside down orientation. Nogier's theory contended that the auricle could be compared to an inverted fetus, with the head represented on the lower ear lobe, the feet at the top of the external ear, and the rest of the body in-between. This model was first presented to naturopathic practitioners in France in 1957, then spread to acupuncturists in Germany, and finally was translated into Chinese. The Chinese seemed to have adopted the inverted fetus model of ear acupuncture in 1958.
How is Auriculotherapy related to other forms of Alternative Medicine?
Auriculotherapy is considered one form of alternative medicine, which also includes acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, homeopathy, and biofeedback. All of these techniques are also referred to as Complementary Medicine, in that they are not only an alternative to conventional Western medical treatments, they can serve as an additional procedure which complements the practice conventional medicine.
Auriculotherapy can reduce the tension, stress, and pain not fully relieved by other medical procedures, but works best when implemented as part of a multidisciplinary complement of multiple treatment approaches. While ear acupuncture is often used in conjunction with body acupuncture, auriculotherapy can also effectively relieve pain, stress and tension when used by itself.
Is Auriculotherapy accepted by Conventional Western Medicine?
While ear acupuncture has been practiced in Asia for over 2,000 years and auriculotherapy has been used in continental Europe for the past 50 years, it is only recently been considered by most medical doctors in the United States. Most MD's do not have sufficient information about auriculotherapy to make an informed comment on its effectiveness. In November of 1997, a consensus panel of the U.S National Institutes of Health gave conditional approval of the practice of acupuncture. They included an evaluation of those studies which supported the use of ear acupuncture for pain relief and addiction treatment. As more research accumulates on the efficacy of auriculotherapy, it is expected that even more physicians will acknowledge the benefits of auriculotherapy.
What is a Microsystem?
The word microsystem has also been referred to as a micro-acupuncture system or a micro-reflex system. The auricle serves as a microsystem in that the external ear is like a microcosm of the whole body, with one part of the body representing the whole body. This phrasing distinguishes a microsystem from the macro-acupuncture system of meridian channels that extend over the whole body and the nervous system connection of reflex pathways that inter-relate different parts of the body. Microsystems have been reported for foot reflexology, hand reflexology, face acupuncture, scalp acupuncture, and iridology. The term Microsystem was first popularized by the acupuncturist Ralph Alan Dale of Miami, Florida.
What are Remote Reflexes?
As with distal acupoints in body acupuncture, the auricular microsystem can be used to treat health conditions in distant parts of the body. Stimulating points on the ear not only can alleviate problems associated with nearby regions of the face and head but can also relieve pathological disorders in the chest, abdomen, lower back, and feet. According to microsystem theory, it is not that there are direct connections between the ear and the back or the ear and the foot. Rather, nerves from the ear connect to reflex centers in the brain which send neurological reflex pathways to the spinal cord and then to neurons going to the spine or to the foot.
What are Auricular-Somatic Reflexes?
The basic concept in auriculotherapy is that nerves in the skin overlying specific areas of the external ear correspond to specific parts of the brain which has reflex connections to the body. Organo-Cutaneous Reflexes are activated when organic pathology in a specific part of the body induce reflex reactions in the external ear, manifested as localized changes in tenderness, altered blood circulation, and electrodermal reactivity. Cutaneo-Organic Reflexes are activated when specific points on the auricle are stimulated in order to relieve organic pathology in another part of the body.
What is Somatotopic Inversion?
The inverted fetus pattern that is represented on the auricle is referred to as somatotopic inversion. The word "soma" means "body" and the word "topic" refers to a topographic "map." The auricle is a map of the body in an inverted or upside down pattern.
What is the role of Endorphins in Auriculotherapy?
The endorphins, endogenous morphine molecules that relieve pain in a manner similar to external opiate chemicals, have been used as one explanation for how auriculotherapy serves to relieve pain. Both animal research and human studies have shown that stimulation of ear acupuncture points appears to cause the systemic release of endorphins. Administration of the opiate antagonist naloxone partially blocks the analgesia produced by either auriculotherapy or by acupuncture.
What is the effect of wearing Earrings?
A common thought that occurs to many people is to question the consequence of wearing earrings when they are located at auricular acupuncture points. The classical location of earrings placed on the center of the ear lobe occurs at the eye point and has been reported to relieve visual disturbances. The response of ear reflex points to earrings depends on both the healing of the skin tissue where the ear has been pierced and the type of metal used in the ear ring. If the skin where the ear has been pierced has not completely healed, the metal in the ear ring can release electrically charged ions into the skin. Whether those ions help or harm any pathology in the corresponding part of the body depends upon whether the metal is gold, which releases positive ions, or silver, which releases negative ions.
Concerns
What type of health care practitioners provide auriculotherapy?
Auriculotherapy is conducted by a variety of practitioners, including acupuncturists, biofeeback therapists, chiropractic doctors, dentists, medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, nurses, osteopathic doctors, physical therapists, psychotherapists, and reflexology therapists.
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