Your Questions About Auricular Medicine (Ear Acupuncture) Answered

By Toni Eatros, MS, Dipl Ac, AP

I have had an influx of questions about the Auricular Medicine (using the ears to diagnose and treat the entire body) article that I wrote in the December 2014 issue of the SW Florida Health & Wellness Magazine.  That article can be found here, https://swfhealthandwellness.com/auricular-medicine-needle-free-method-diagnosing-
treating-entire-body-12/.  Many of the questions were the same, so I thought I would take the opportunity to answer some of those questions in this month’s article.

Q:  What illnesses can be treated using Auricular Medicine?
A:  There are eight main categories of disease that Auricular Medicine can effectively treat.

Pain:  Relieving pain is the most important characteristic of Auricular Therapy.
. Pain due to injuries such as a sprain, fracture, stab wound, whiplash, and burn.  For an acute ankle sprain or strain of the low back, the cure rate using Auricular Medicine is 67.2%; and significant improvement rate of 95.8%.
. Scar pain, phantom limb pain, pain after operations of the five sensory organs, brain, chest, abdomen or limbs.  It has been shown that there is a significant reduction of the amount of narcotic analgesic, such as morphine, required after these procedures when Auricular Therapy is used.
. Inflammatory pain such as tonsillitis, mastitis, phlebitis, prostatitis, and rheumatic arthritis.
. Nerve pain such as headache, rib pain, shingles, sciatic, or trigeminal neuralgia.
. Pain resulting from a tumor.  Auricular point injection of saline into the root of auricle has been shown to be 100% effective in relieving this type of pain.  It has also been shown that the analgesic effect of this therapy may begin 10 minutes after injection and last as long, if not longer, than dolantin.

Inflammatory Diseases:  This type of illness is due to infection and can treat all of the diseases that end with “itis”, such as gastritis, cervicitis, and arthritis.

Allergic Diseases:
. Nasal allergies
. Allergic asthma
. Skin allergies
Metabolic Disorders, Diseases of the Endocrine system Urogenital System:  Auricular Therapy can alleviate these symptoms and reduce the dosage of required drugs.
. Goiter
. Acute thyroiditis
. Hyperthyroidism
. Diabetes
. Obesity

Dysfunction Disease:
. Vertigo/Dizziness
. Arrhythmia
. High blood pressure
. Sexual disorders
. Menstrual disorders

Chronic Illness:  Auricular Medicine can frequently achieve improvement in these conditions that cannot be achieved using pharmaceutical treatment.
. Low Back Pain
. Neck and Shoulder Pain
. Hepatitis
. Gallbladder issues
. Ulcers/Gastritis

Infective Diseases:
. Flu
. Whooping Cough
. Parotitis
. Other Health Problems:
. Food Poisoning
. Anxiety
. Motion Sickness
. Common Cold
. Withdrawal from Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs
. Promoting the Expelling of Kidney and GallBladder Stones

Q:  Are there any contraindications to using Auricular Medicine to treat disease?
Auricular Medicine is comparatively safe with absolutely no contraindications.  However, during treatment, attention should be paid to the following:
. Strong stimulation of the ear seeds should not be used in patients who have suffered from severe heart disease.
. Strong stimulation should not be used in pregnant women between 40 days and 90 days.  In women with recurrent miscarriage, auricular medicine should not be used at all.
. Auricular Medicine is not indicated if there is disease of the actual ear, such as ulcerations, eczema or frostbite.

Q:  Can you explain the ear seed treatment in more detail?
Auricular seed therapy, also called seed-pressure method, refers to applying a hard and smooth seed on tape to a selected point on the ear.  Frequent and proper pressing of the seed stimulates the point to treat disease.  Ear seed therapy is safe and simple to apply, and may be the treatment of choice in weak and debilitated patients, children and those that are afraid of needles or cannot be treated every day.

Points are selected by using an electrical detector, palpation and visual inspection of the ear.  If the illness only involves one side of the body, then the ear on the same side is used for treatment.  If it is a bilateral disorder, then seeds are applied to both ears.

The seeds should be pressed/squeezed frequently.  The more intense the illness, the stronger the stimulation of the ear seeds should be.  Use strong stimulation for acute illness, inflammation, pain, fever, or a strong constitution.  The seeds should be pressed for a few minutes until the corresponding body pain has reduced.  Generally, moderate stimulation is used.  It is important for there to be a sensation of warmness, distension or an electric shock feeling to achieve better therapeutic effect.

Q:  What is the treatment frequency when using only Auricular Medicine?
Generally, the seeds are left in place for 3-7 days.  First time patients or those with painful diseases should be treated again 3-4 days after first treatment.  Starting with the third treatment, appointments can be spaced out to every 5-7 days depending on symptom severity.  Five treatments make up one course of treatment.  After the first course, the ears should be seed free for two days before a second course of treatment begins, if necessary.

Restore your inner balance today with Auricular Medicine.  Whatever your needs, we offer a complete range of auricular medicine diagnosis, treatment and therapy to address these concerns.

Call now, 239-260-4566, to schedule a treatment session and start feeling better immediately or schedule online at www.AcupunctureSolutionsOnline.com.

Adult and Pediatric Acupuncture
239-260-4566
www.AcupunctureSolutionsOnline.com