Ear Acupuncture: Treatment and Potential Benefits – Greatist

Feeling anxious? Suffering from whiplash or tennis elbow? Why not stick a needle in your ear!

Yes, all these conditions and more can be managed by ear acupuncture or so its claimed. What does the science say? The buck stops ear, folks! Lets find out more.

Acupuncture is a pillar of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this system, youve got your life force energy called qi. Qi flows from your vital organs outwards through the body via channels called meridians. If the flow of qi is disrupted or imbalanced, so the theory goes, your health suffers.

By inserting fine needles into your body at certain points along the meridians (and a few other important places), acupuncturists say they can rebalance your qi and heal you.

Ear acupuncture is sometimes called auriculotherapy or auricular acupuncture. Its the same deal, but it focuses only on the acupuncture points found in your ears.

A typical ear acupuncture appointment could take up to an hour. And its vital to visit a licensed, qualified and experiences acupuncturist to ensure a safe experience.

Acupuncturists claim there are more than 200 individual points in the ear which each have a different effect when the needle is applied. Some schools of thought may differ, but youll typically see the five most important points listed as the:

Proper mapping of the ear is vital because some of these points have very different effects to their neighbors. The antihistamine point, for example, is right next to the one for testicular secretion. For the record, ovary secretions are next to the subcortex.

Some acupuncturists use the image of an inverted fetus (as it would be at about 34-ish weeks of pregnancy) and map it against the ear. This is because the lower ear pressure points deal with conditions affecting the head. Internal organs are in the middle of the ear, the spine and lower body are located at the top of the ear.

Others represent this by using an upside-down map of the ear so its easier to visualize how pressure points correlate to different areas on your body. Either way, there are some exceptions and contradictions; one of the highest points on the ear actually deals with the tonsils.

The most common conditions which ear acupuncturists claim to be able to treat include:

Some professionals also say they can use ear acupuncture for things like muscle spasms, whiplash, inflammation, tinnitus; the list goes on and on.

Obviously, thats a pretty broad range of conditions for one treatment to tackle. You might be wondering how much hard evidence there is backing it all up

Acupuncture often gets lumped in with other alternative medicines as pseudoscience or quackery. It wont shock you to hear that hard evidence is lacking for qi, meridians, or any associated mystical concept.

However, there are a number of small-scale studies out there which suggest ear acupuncture might have tangible medical value:

BUT, theres one common theme running through all these limited studies in the vast majority of cases, sample sizes were small and the resulting data wasnt of the highest quality. This is particularly true when it comes to the longer-term effects of ear acupuncture.

Efforts are being made to standardize and improve the quality of ear acupuncture trials. For the time being, there dont appear to be any safety risks posed by this type of alternative medicine, and its often delivered alongside other treatments.

If you feel it could help you, its highly recommended to seek qualified medical professionals advice first.

Your first ear acupuncture session could last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on what youre trying to fix. Every acupuncturist will work slightly differently, but most sessions should follow a loose format.

The therapist will start by asking a series of questions to get a sense of your medical status. Topics could include your sleeping pattern, sex life, stress levels, not everything might seem immediately relevant to the reason youre there.

Dont be alarmed. Acupuncture takes a holistic, interconnected view of the body. It connects systems which mainstream medicine might not think are actually linked. Answer as honestly as you can to get the best possible acupuncture experience.

Were assuming youre only here for ear acupuncture, in which case youll get your treatment while seated. If youre getting more points looked at, you may be invited to lie face-down.

From there, the therapist will use sterilized single-use needles to work the chosen pressure points. These are hella thin, so you should hardly feel them going in. The needles are left in for the duration of the treatment, which might feel odd for a moment while you get used to it.

Most people may experience deep relaxation during an acupuncture treatment due to the release of serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine naturally from your brain. New patients might even feel sleepy. For this reason, its often recommended to rest after a treatment.

Once the treatment is complete, the needles will be removed (again, usually painlessly) and disposed of.

You might get asked a few quick questions after the treatment to see how it went. If you book a second appointment, the therapist might offer you some other types of TCM to supplement the acupuncture.

When its done properly by a licensed provider, ear acupuncture is usually safe. But there are risks to acupuncture if its not performed right. These include:

More commonly, some people experience mild nausea or dizziness during acupuncture. Of course, theres also the possibility of pain and tenderness to the areas being treated. Cos, ya know needles.

It might be a good idea to speak with your health care provider if youre taking blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder like hemophilia.

Finally, there is one pressure point which is said to induce labor. Science has yet to make a firm ruling on that, but for now, pregnant people should speak with a health pro about acupuncture if youd like to go that route.

If youre going to try ear acupuncture, its vital to visit someones thats qualified and accredited by a reputable body, wherever in the world you live.

If youre in the US, the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) is the only organization who validates acupuncturists. They keep an updated list of licensed acupuncturists on their website.

Alternatively, your doctor or other mainstream health professional might be able to recommend an acupuncturist near you. The UKs National Health Service (NHS), for example, gives information on acupuncture and links to trusted providers.

Dont be afraid to ask your prospective new provider some questions to get a feel for their credibility. They should have no trouble talking about their qualifications and experience.

If needles arent your thing, consider using ear seeds instead. This is actually acupressure an alternative to acupuncture which uses the same qi-balancing points across the ear. A licensed therapist will use tiny little stickers with a seed attached to them, placing them on your ear so that the seeds press into the right points.

Youll then spent the next three to five days being able to gently massage those seeds, allegedly providing the same range of medical benefits as acupuncture. Theres a similar lack of quality evidence for how effective ear seeds really are at the moment, however, theres not a lot of reason to feel unsafe either.

Side effects of ear seeds are usually limited to skin irritation from the stickers.

If youre also following a proven course of medical treatment for a condition, theres usually no reason not to back it up with ear acupressure if you want.

Acupuncture has developed over time into a complex art. While we seriously need more hard scientific data on the specific mechanisms it uses, some (preliminary) evidence seems to support it as a valid treatment.

Millions whove tried it swear by its effectiveness. As long as it accompanies a proven form of mainstream treatment, ear acupuncture could offer you some much-needed relief from a range of conditions. But make sure youre visiting licensed acupuncturist only.

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Ear Acupuncture: Treatment and Potential Benefits - Greatist