French medical doctor Paul Nogier, conducted an original work that led to a treatment that we now know as auriculotherapy. This is different from the ancient Chinese treatment of ear acupuncture or auricular acupuncture. Although auricular acupuncture is based on the use of needles stuck into certain acupuncture points in the auricle or outer ear, auriculotherapy does not use needles and does not use fixed acupoints. Auriculotherapy points are generated by stimulation of three cervical ganglia and four cranial nerves. These are not acupuncture points.
An auriculotherapy practitioner makes use of a pen shaped STIM PLUS PRO to:
1. Determine the location of an auriculotherapy point
2. Diagnose the point
3. Heal the point if found to be problematic
Auriculotherapy involves the position and healing of neurological points in the auricle through micro-electrical innervation. Affected points are painlessly treated by the pen-shaped manual device for half a minute. The ears of a patient are subjected to therapeutic procedures for up to five days each week, ten minutes a day for over four years. In auricular acupuncture, needles are left inserted on the ear for about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.
Studies Supporting Auriculotherapy and Auricular Acupuncture in Overland Park
During the decades of the 70’s and 80’s, many studies have been done regarding auriculotherapy and auricular acupuncture in an effort to assess their effectiveness in the treatment of addiction. A MEDLINE search yielded more than 9,785 studies dealing with all types of acupuncture for substance abuse disorder (SUD) that included heroin addiction, alcoholism, binge eating, stimulant abuse, and smoking addiction. The bulk of information came mostly from the treatment of acupuncture: the aim of the treatment is to lessen pain and other ailments related to opiate addiction. In 1977, several positive studies conducted by Wen showed a dramatic reduction of withdrawal symptoms within 15 minutes of the onset of the therapy. Follow up treatment a year after showed that 51 had been drug-free during the break. Research conducted by Oieson and Kroening in 1985 showed that the combination of declining opiate withdrawal was achieved, with 86 percent of subjects withdrawing within 5 days to a week with negligible side effects. The studies show several encouraging studies using auriculotherapy, auricular acupuncture, or acupuncture: alcoholism, smoking, and cocaine abuse that used the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) protocol.
Feedback from patients indicates a majority of extremely positive comments. Some of the comments include: “Less erratic moods,” “A change in attitude” “Full of energy.” “Feeling good from the inside,” “Headache is gone,” “Can actually sleep now,” “this was the fastest way I kicked heroin,” “it restored my natural energy,” “I’m calmer,” “I feel less stress,” etc.
Drug court lawyers commented that “The subjects who are getting treatment are becoming well-balanced physically, mentally, and emotionally.”