Auricular Therapy (ear
acupuncture, auriculo acupuncture) is a clinically effective treatment modality
utilized for the relief of chronic pain and the alleviation of substance abuse.
The external ear has been
shown to have a somatotopic organization in an inverted fetus pattern, wherein
each part of the auricle corresponds to a specific part of the body. Ailments
of the entire body may be treatable by stimulation of the surface of the ear
exclusively. Detection of tenderness through palpation can reveal specific
auricular reflex points which can be stimulated to alter pathological reflex
patterns in the brain, in internal organs, and in different peripheral regions
of the musculoskeletal body.
The earliest written records
of ear acupuncture date back to the Yellow Emperor's classic of Internal
Medicine, a compilation of acupuncture procedures that were in practice in 500
BC. However, the manner in which auricular acupuncture is practiced today in
China is actually based upon more recent discoveries that occurred in France in
the 1950's.