Ear acupuncture

Synonyms

"French ear acupuncture"
Auriculo Therapy or Auriculomedicine

definition

In the Ear acupuncture it is a completely different treatment concept than the Body acupuncture. In contrast to the latter, which has been practiced in China for many thousands of years, ear acupuncture is a European and relatively recent discovery. It goes back to the French Doctor dr Paul Nogier and is therefore often French ear acupuncture called. After the development in 1951, Nogier presented his method at an acupuncture congress five years later.

history

Nogier discovered the ear a patient a minor burn injury and learned that the man in an acute sciatica (most powerful nerve in the body, which in the event of injury, e.g. through entrapment or compression by a Intervertebral disc, can cause extreme pain) visited a shepherd, who stabbed his ear with a glowing needle. This supposedly made him painless. Fortunately, Nogier was not one of those doctors who simply dismissed knowledge from folk medicine as irrelevant. He investigated the matter and discovered that the point on the body stabbed by the shepherd in the ear corresponds exactly to the point at which the sciatic nerve, which was responsible for the patient's pain, emerges from the spinal cord.

Nogier and his team now concentrated on examining the ear and discovered the entire somatotopia of the auricle. They were able to demonstrate that the whole body projects into the auricle and that every part of the body, be it bones, joints, Muscles, annoy, Arteries, or internal organs have a projection point on the ear. In addition, one can also use projection sites for Interference fields, Deficiencies (Vitamins and Trace elements) and even emotional lapses (depression, Anger, jealousy, Anxiety) Find.

If one part of the body falls ill, a so-called ear acupuncture point is created on the ear, which has different properties from the rest skin differs. It is often no bigger than the point of a needle. In contrast to the Body acupuncture point, which is always detectable, an ear acupuncture point only arises when a part of the body is disturbed in its function. For this reason, a very precise diagnosis can be carried out via the ear. If one projects the image of an embryo in a huddled position, with the head pointing downwards into the ear, one finds a correspondence of the ear reflex points with the organs and body parts of the embryo.

application areas

But what does the Ear acupuncture and where are their limits?
All types of pain can be treated, especially those at the Spine and the joints, however, too migraine, Angina pectoris, convulsions of the bowels, functional disorders and stimulation of body functions (constipation, Heart failuretoo much stomach acid), Allergies (especially hay fever and allergic asthma), States according to stroke and other neurological disorders, mental disorders and psychosomatic diseases, as well as hormonal disorders (especially climacteric complaints). Ear acupuncture is of particular importance in addiction treatment. Various treatment programs to quit alcohol, drug or medication abuse, for Smoking cessation or when combating food addiction, give the practitioner the opportunity to face the individual situation of the addict.
However, it must be noted that alcohol and drug addiction only accompany one psychotherapy should be treated, otherwise the risk of relapse is too high. The success rates of the Ear acupuncture In addiction treatment, of course, depend on the experience of the practitioner. Nevertheless, the successes are generally very high and there are already drug centers in Germany and America that have these addiction programs as an integral part of their treatment concept.

Contraindications

Contraindications are emergencies, states of exhaustion, inflammations or injuries of the ear and exceptionally strong pressure sensitivity of the reflex points, as well as local inflammations, skin infections or scars in the acupuncture area. While the pain is treatable in certain cases, disease relationships are like a severe one hypertension, acute coronary heart disease or carcinomatous events are generally contraindicated. The severity of the disease determines the degree of contraindication.
Caution is advised with severe Infectious diseases, unclear pain conditions, some strong medication and after fasting cures.

Complications

Complications can circulatory reactions such as Collapse or syncope infection at the injection site and initial deterioration.

Diagnosis

If there are complaints or diseases in an organ or part of the body, the corresponding one will be contacted Ear reflex point prove to be particularly painful on pressure, maybe even visibly change through reddening, pale, flaking or roughness. The skin resistance at such points is reduced.
In this way, it is possible to use the ear as a diagnostic tool by touching the ear with a special tactile probe. This means that the practitioner can identify areas on the ear that differ from the rest of the ear by inspecting the ear or using electrical skin resistance measuring devices, etc. Using the "Ear humunculus" you can then find out which organ or which body region is affected. Projections of the head and sense organs can be found on the earlobe, for example.
Also developed in diagnostics Nogier another method by observing the change in radial pulse (wrist pulse) while palpating sensitive reflex points in the ear.

therapy

By needling the Ear reflex points gets involved therapeutic stimulus exercise on the corresponding organ or body area.
The number of ear acupuncture needles per ear should not exceed 5. As with body acupuncture, the following also applies here: at acute illness rather fewer needles with short dwell times and short treatment intervals, whereas chronic diseases tend to be treated with more needles, longer dwell times and longer treatment intervals. Very thin and short needles are used. The average length of stay is between 20 and 40 minutes.
In the therapy of chronic diseases or with addiction treatments will also be happy to Permanent needles used. These are about 2 mm long needles that are fixed with a small plaster, left in the ear for 2 to 5 days and regularly stimulated by the patient himself by pressing or moving.
For long-term treatment are also Sand grain pavement used, these are plasters with small grains that acupressure the ear reflex point. However, this effect is somewhat weaker than with acupuncture.
According to the handedness of the patient, the ear becomes the dominant side (left-handed people on the left and right-handed people on the right side) in diseases of paired or central organs and in parent / vegetative points treated. In the case of unpaired organs, the ear on the associated side is needled. For example, in the case of diseases of the spleen, the respective ear points are needled on the left side. Pain points are also treated on the affected side.
The application of ear acupuncture is relatively easy, as the ear reflex points are named after their indications, e.g .: "Liver point", "Blood pressure regulating point", "Sciatic zone" etc. Thus, the points to be needled result from the indication and / or from the palpation of tenderness.
A Chinese diagnosis, taking into account the 5 phases of change, the 8 guiding criteria, etc., does not play a role in ear acupuncture.
Of course, as with body acupuncture, there are proven point combinations for many complaints.