Auriculotherapy

Auriculotherapy is the stimulation of specific points in the ear to assess and treat various health conditions. Though auriculotherapy is mainly used as a form of acupuncture by Chinese medicine practitioners, it was developed in France by Paul Nogier in the 1950’s. Nogier was a neurologist and acupuncturist, and he found that stimulating regions of the ear alleviated pain and other symptoms in the body. He dedicated his life to further developing auriculotherapy and understanding the mechanisms behind it.

Nogier found that the external ear is essentially a map or a microsystem of the human body. This means that the entire physical body is reflected in the ear. It’s easy to understand this mapping when an inverted fetus (A) or inverted somatotopic pattern (B) is superimposed on the external ear (See figure).

The study of embryological development helps to explain the way auriculotherapy can affect the whole body through cutaneous stimulation. There are 3 primary tissue types that all vertebral organisms develop from: endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. These 3 tissue types are important because each represents the foundation of all tissues and organs in the human body. The endoderm becomes our digestive and abdominal organs, the mesoderm becomes our musculoskeletal system, and the ectoderm becomes our skin and nervous system. The ear is remarkable because it is made of all 3 embryological tissues. Through innervation and brain stimulation, the somatotopic pattern shown above correlates to the same embryological tissue type in the ear and in the body.

Auriculotherapy is important because the embryologic and physiologic connections between the ear and the rest of the body through the brain give the ear effective assessment and treatment capabilities. Physical disease in the body is reflected in the related area of the ear. One study of 40 patients, showed a 75% correspondence between auricular diagnosis and the location of existing musculoskeletal disorders.3 Body pain and disease present in the ear as areas of tenderness and higher electrical conductivity. Other features that can indicate imbalance and disease are veins, redness, discoloration, texture and swelling.4 Stimulating these sites can improve pain symptoms and impaired organ function.

Auriculotherapy is a compelling and useful diagnostic and treatment modality for body pain and pathological disease. It’s clinically effective and it facilitates the body’s own healing mechanism. Auriculotherapy is employed in many treatment settings and is the basis for many research and clinical outreach programs.

Written By Jennifer Peterson, MSOM, LAc