During my recent seminar, one of the topics that the teacher explained was how to help people quit smoking using auriculotherapy. One common question shared, that kept being raised by patients was whether this therapy could really help overcome addiction?
What I found in the internet
At the time of writing, searching for “auriculotherapy” on the internet, 3 top responses from google.com, presented the following entries:
“Auriculotherapy is based on the understanding that the external ear represents all parts of the human body, including the internal organs, and provides acupuncture points corresponding to these parts.” – ScienceDirect
Following the link you may find some articles introduction, overview, history, efficacy and safety of auriculotherapy for some treatments, case studies, clinical studies .e.g. for back pain or weight loss. Especially for the last one, conclusion was the following:
“Both auricular acupuncture and auricular acupressure were effective for weight loss, particularly for decreasing overweight patients’ BMI” – ScienceDirect
On the other side, “Does auriculotherapy really work?”, answered by Healthline was answered in slightly different way, showing that it may only work with some other treatments:
“There’s limited evidence that auricular acupuncture can treat health conditions on its own. However, there’s promising research suggesting it can be beneficial for a range of health conditions, especially when combined with other treatments”
Wikipedia tells us that it is only some kind of idea:
“Auriculotherapy is a form of alternative medicine based on the idea that the ear is a micro system and an external organ, which reflects the entire body, represented on the auricle, the outer portion of the ear”.
There are many more articles, studies and if you change country or language you may get different results and stories. The will be always a battle between what works what does not and all trying to find justification or presenting their experiences.
From some other perspective
Auriculotherapy is a microsystem within TCM that can be used separately or in combination with other techniques. It allows for a fairly fast restoration of balance to the affected area. It was started 4000 years B.C. (over 6000 years old).
There are various references in different cultures and ages using various zones of the ears. In Egypt, Greece and Rome (400 B.C.) Hippocrates with other s were using bloodletting at the ear to cure e.g. impotence. Various references indicate use of stimulation of ears to cure and help people exist from Persia (200 B.C.), China (200 A.C.) and middle ages.
There is even a French version, which was created by neurologist Paul Nogier in 1957, that sharers and amplifies the idea of ear micro system from TCM, adding various aspects related to emotions and slightly updating the concept.
Auriculotherapy – my experience
I started being a patient of acupuncture over 4 years ago, which included auriculotherapy during the session and wearing small stitches after on my ear and body to reinforce the session. Over the last few years, I have used needles to cure various ailments, and recently started using needles to put them into my ears. One time, I had a terrible ankle pain that had been with me for three days. I decided to use my tools for ear testing to see if there was any imbalance (after studying all the theory). I found a painful area in my right ear. Using the French auriculotherapy schema, I found that the painful area of my ear was exactly related to the zone of the ankle. Five minutes after putting my needle there, the pain in my ankle was gone!
Later on I did the same for my wife, where she had back pain around cervical zone. Using couple of needles for ear
This is just one example where using needles in my autotherapy showed immediate results and relief. During various sessions with other students the day after the sessions, all were reporting clear feedback related to symptoms treated during the seminar. Pains and insomnia were gone after just one session
Does it work?
Definitely yes. All however requires case by case study and diagnostic to match the approach and assign correct way of treatment. All on top of real willingness of person to recover or get better, as without this effect will be temporary.
I know auriculotherapy can be used for problems with weight, insomnia, various pains. Will keep updating this post with my new experiences and findings.
