Auricular Therapy: A New Modality for Health Care Professionals

By Michael Vahila, L. AC., LMT

As both an acupuncturist and massage therapist, I have a unique perspective on how to apply acupuncture modalities in therapy. Many American patients are uncomfortable with needles. I’m sensitive to this and have become a specialist in non-needle approaches to acupuncture.

Many techniques of Acupuncture, like Auricular Therapy, do not require the use of needles. In fact, this modality is in the scope of practice of many health care professionals. Massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, psychiatrists and others, can apply this adjunctive technique. Experience and research shows that Auricular Therapy without needles can be as effective as body acupuncture. It can relieve pain and tension more rapidly than conventional meridian treatment.

So what is Auricular Therapy and how can therapists incorporate this modality into their practice?

The ear is one of many reflex systems. A reflex system is where the whole body can be represented in a part of the body. Therapists may be familiar with the reflex systems seen in hand and foot reflexology.

Auricular Therapy utilizes the external ear for the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions in other parts of the body. Points on the ear can be stimulated by manual pressure, needles, lasers, magnets, and ear acupressure pellets.

The acupuncture points found on the ear help to regulate the body’s internal organs, structures, and functions. Reflex points are both diagnostic and therapeutic.

Auricular Therapy is not new. It has been used in acupuncture for thousands of years. Contemporary acupuncturists integrate its gifts into their treatments. Why haven’t other therapists taken advantage of this elegant and powerful modality? Perhaps because if they were familiar with it, they thought is wasn’t in their scope of practice. Most likely, they were unaware of it.

A search on the subject found at least 35 classes on Auricular Therapy offered to acupuncturists. There are over a dozen books on the subject, but most appear in catalogs marketed to acupuncturists.

History of Auricular Therapy

Auricular therapy has it’s roots in Chinese medicine but also had use in other cultures. It was discussed in Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (circa 200 BCE). Gold earrings worn by sailors, stimulating the “Eye” point in the lobe, were said to improve vision. Hippocrates bled points behind the ears for impotence and sciatic pain. And in Ancient Persia & European Middle Ages medical texts report cauterization of ear for sciatic pain.

Then, from 1950 to 1956, Dr. Paul Nogier of France, the “Father of Auriculotherapy” developed a complete somatotopic map of the ear as a reflex system. He had a patient whose ear had an unusual scar on it. When he asked the patient about this, she replied that she had been treated for sciatic pain by a practitioner who cauterized the ear at this particular point and her sciatic pain went away. He was intrigued. This was the spark that led him to devote his life to researching the reflexes of the ear.

After learning of the system of Dr. Nogier, the Chinese developed a research team to validate his work. Research in China has since established that Auricular Therapy is effective in 85% of cases and can treat over 200 diseases and disorders. They also discovered, that when using ear acupuncture for postoperative symptoms, patients no longer felt cravings for opiates. Along the same lines, Dr. Michael Smith, of New York, developed a protocol for withdrawal from substance abuse in 1973.

In 1990, the Director General of the World Health Organization stated - “Auricular acupuncture is probably the most developed and best documented, scientifically, of all the microsystems of acupuncture and is the most practical and widely used.” Acupressure achieves the same results as acupuncture on the ear.

Other interesting studies reveal applications of Auricular Therapy. In 1980, the UCLA Pain Management Center conducted a double blind study to verify the scientific accuracy of auricular diagnosis. It found a 75% accuracy rate in diagnosing Musculoskeletal pain problems through observation and palpation of the ear. This type of study is untainted by a placebo effect since it was only diagnostic.

A study at the University of Vienna, Austria found that patients with hip fracture who received auricular acupressure had less pain and anxiety and lower heart rate than those in the control group.

Auricular Therapy has excellent results in treating Musculoskeletal pain. Also, therapists are often asked to address issues that are not directly related to the musculoskeletal system. The reflex system of the ear allows access to a broad range of disorders. Stimulating appropriate points can support healing of any organ or system of the body. The implications for helping patients are enormous.

Advantages of Auricular Therapy

1. Easy to learn and apply. Any new modality has a learning curve, but this one is relatively short. Learning the basics and then having a good reference book, model or chart will start you on your way.
2. Improved therapeutic results. The most important advantage. Often, local treatment to injured areas is not enough to heal on a more holistic level. Auricular therapy can fill in the gap by stimulating a whole range of self-healing body processes. Anti-inflammatory chemicals can be stimulated. Gate control can block pain. The mind can be calmed and the whole body brought into a more balanced state. Using ear acupressure pellets, treatment time can be extended for several days.
3. Not physically demanding for the therapist. Therapy can be physically demanding work. Many therapist find themselves asking, “How can I get good results without so much effort?” Auricular Therapy is a good answer.
4. Easy access to the ear for treatment. Patients don’t even have to disrobe to receive an effective treatment. This is an advantage for the modest patient.
5. Increased referrals from satisfied clients. When results improve, referrals increase. Also, patients like to talk about new and interesting therapies they have experienced. Others may notice the small ear acupressure pellets in patients ears and inquire about them. Patients become freelance educators for prospective clients.
   

Stimulating Auricular Points

So how do therapists stimulate points on the ear if they don’t use needles? Three methods fall within the scope of practice of many therapists.

1. General massage of the ear. This is easy to incorporate into a full body massage. A little extra time spent on specific reflex areas can prepare an area for specific local treatment.
2. Point massage. This requires the use of a special probe with a 1 to 2 mm tip. They are available from various suppliers like Golden Needle, Helio or Lhasa/OMS. These probes are used for both locating specific points and then applying massage to the point.
3. Acupressure pellets. These are held in place with tape and maintain continuous pressure on the reflex point. Patients can massage them for self-treatment. They must be removed after 3 to 5 days.

Don’t consider Auricular therapy a replacement for other modalities. While it can be used as an independent treatment, each therapeutic modality has it’s value in contributing to complete healing. See our seminar calendar for upcoming classes in Auricular Therapy.

Michael Vahila is a National Board Certified Acupuncturist, Licensed Massage Therapist and Traditional Reiki Master. He has been teaching massage therapy at Stark State College in Ohio since 1999 and Reiki seminars since 1993. In addition to his public seminars, he offers onsite seminars to physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors and other health care providers. Contact him at 330-477-0777 for more information.