Auriculotherapy against pain: what it is and how it works

Auriculotherapy is a techniquetherapy very versatile that can be used by both manual therapists (chiromassage therapists, physiotherapists, etc.) and those who practice traditional Chinese medicine. It has been shown to be effective, above all, against pain.

A study led by M. Murakami, published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, concluded that auriculotherapy it had been helpful in relieving the pain in a group of wounded soldiers. The nurses had applied the therapy with needles, not seeds, following a protocol involving five points on the ear devised by a military medic. Most of the soldiers stated that they would choose to receive this therapy again if necessary.

Other research, published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practicecame to the conclusion that auriculotherapy could quickly relieve chronic low back pain and that it worked at least as well as painkillers. Led by HJ Zhao, she applied seeds to her participants that she left attached with adhesive tape at certain points on the ear. After four weeks, these people reported feeling 70% less intense pain, 75% less the general intensity of the discomfort and 42% the limitations of back pain.

What is auriculotherapy based on?

The basis on which auriculotherapy is postulated is that a small part of the organism can reflect the whole organism. The ear, in this case, offers a mirror of the whole body.

That conclusion was reached both by ancient Chinese physicians and Dr Paul Nogier, that He produced his map of the ear in the 1950s. This map represents a prone fetus in which the lobe is the head. We see, then, that Western and Eastern medicine have converged in auriculotherapy.

What is it useful for?

Auriculotherapy allows to treat specific symptoms. For example, the headache: By stimulating certain points in the ear, the discomfort decreases. But, in addition, by feeling the ear and discovering its most painful areas, information is obtained if something is wrong in the reflex areas.

How is a treatment with auriculotherapy?

auriculotherapy It deals above all with manifestations of the organism: pain, a skin rash, an anxiety attack… It does not address the cause but, in many cases, serves as a emergency remedy. You can reduce a toothache, for example, but then you have to go to the dentist if a filling is necessary.

What to expect when you go to a professional

In the consultation, the auriculotherapist listens to the symptoms that are exposed to him and decides which point or points to stimulate. In fact, it is more about areas than points. Look for these areas in the ear using a manual palpator or electrical, and is helped by point maps.

prolong the effect. During the session, acupuncture needles are applied, which when finished can be replaced by mini-pins, seeds, or magnets that stick to the ear with an adhesive so that the person can wear them for days.Oneself. After treatment in the office, the patient can activate the points by pinching each of the seeds with their fingers and squeezing 10 times, two or three times a day for a maximum of 15 days. This self-treatment gives a lot of value to the technique, since the stimulus can be maintained outside the consultation.

More than 200 acupoints are located in the ear. A dozen of them are part of almost all auriculotherapy treatments due to their versatility. For this reason they have been called master points.

Auriculotherapy treats above all pain. If our right elbow hurts, the professional looks for the point of the elbow in the ear. In this case, he does it in the right ear. However, if the person suffers an alteration of laterality due to a high level of stress or another cause, you have to look for the point in the opposite ear (and also the point called “master oscillation” would be stimulated).

Find the point. Within the area of ​​the ear that represents the elbow, when palpating there is a point that is more painful than the others. It is stimulated with a needle and the person is asked if they have improved. This is another aspect of auriculotherapy of inestimable importance: it allows you to check the result instantly, to continue with the stimulation or to review other points if necessary. There is no need to complete a twenty minute acupuncture or massage treatment; atrial pacing provides almost automatic responses.If it’s sciatica A pain that is frequently treated is that caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve. In this case we will look for the painful point in the helix, which is the outer contour of the ear.

Other uses of auriculotherapy

Beyond physical pain, auriculotherapy can help address other issues:

It can be useful against stress. Auriculotherapy helps against anguish, stress or the habit of turning things around obsessively. There are several points that when stimulated offer a greater energy balance, more peace. This is also important: an auriculotherapy treatment balances, it does not fight against anything.Effective with addictions. One of the most important developments made with this technique was carried out at the University of Colorado in order to help to get rid of dependencies (alcohol, drugs, tobacco). For 40 years there have been protocols in this sense that work successfully in Western countries.Helps against hypertension. A January 2020 study, published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, led by Dr. JL Gao, reviewed more than 40 pieces of research and concluded that atrial therapy could be used in conjunction with antihypertensive drugs to improve the efficacy of treatment.

Why has the use of auriculotherapy spread?

Auriculotherapy has been spreading throughout the West and continues to be very important to traditional Chinese medicine. This success is due to two determining factors:

It is easy to apply. It is a simple technique to apply. If you’ve learned the basic ideas and techniques, you can even carry the mini thumbtacks in your pocket in case an “emergency” arises. In addition, it is not necessary for the receiver to do anything: he does not have to remove his clothes or stretch on a stretcher. Of course, he must be sitting down, because a lot of energy moves and the person could lose consciousness if he is standing up.Is easy to learn. The symptom-solution relationship is very direct. If the problem is in the ankle, the professional looks for an answer at the ankle point. This implies that learning is easy. To this must be added the possibility of maintaining stimulation outside the consultation room. Finally, although the punctures can bother, the technique has no side effects, as it only moves energy.