Ear acupuncture is the stimulation of acupuncture points on the external ear surface for the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions in other parts of the body. It is quite clear that there are some ancient Chinese manuscripts that mention the use of the external ear for acupuncture, but classical Chinese acupuncture applies to the body rather than the ear. The detailed ear map that is now being used by most acupuncturists was developed by Dr. Paul Nogier in France in the early 1950's.
Dr. Nogier was born in Lyon, France, the son of a professor of medical physics on the medical faculty there, who was one of the pioneers of radiotherapy in France. After having studied engineering at the local Institute of Technology for three years Paul Nogier switched to medical studies and finally received his Medical Diploma. In the early years of his medical practice, he was exposed to homeopathy, which appealed to him due to its originality and humanity. Later on he developed an interest in Chinese acupuncture, spread in France by George Soulie de Morant, and in manipulative medicine. He was one of the founders of GLEM, a French group of physicians that shared a common interest in these medical branches.
Ear cauteries have been found in the pyramids; these were used for burning or scarring specific ear points for conditions like sciatica. In 1637 a Portuguese doctor, Zactus Lusitanus, described the use of auricular cautery for sciatica, and in 1717 Valsalva demonstrated the use of ear acupuncture for toothache. It was this crude form of acupuncture that interested Dr. Nogier in the early 1950's. Some of his patients had received ear cautery and obtained relief from pain, and therefore Dr. Nogier began to develop and investigate this form of treatment. One of his earliest findings was that if there was pain in the body then the equivalent part of the ear also became painful. For instance, if the hand is painful then the part of the ear representing the hand also becomes painful when slight pressure is applied to the relevant part of the ear. Furthermore, if the painful ear point is punctured with a needle then the hand pain will be relieved. Through trial and error, Dr. Nogier developed a theory that the shape of the ear was likened to that of an inverted fetus. The head of the fetus is located at the lobe of the ear, the body curls around the inside of the ear with the feet at the apex, with all of the fine details of every part of the emotional and physical body represented. The picture of a pirate with a gold ear ring through his ear lobe is a well remembered childhood image; according to folklore the gold ring is supposed to increase the visual ability of the pirate, so that he can see ships to plunder before he is seen by them! Strangely enough, the ear ring usually seems to be placed in the eye point on the ear lobe.
The Chinese Translation of Dr. Nogier's first ear map in 1958
Dr. Nogier called this inverted fetus map as "little man in the ear", which is consistent with the brain map discoveries of Canadian neuroscientist Wilder Penfield in the 1940's1. Later on, he developed different techniques to detect these points on the ear by demonstrating their increased local sensitivity to pressure and their different electrical conductivity as compared to their surroundings. His work first received acclaim in France, then the German Acupuncture Society and eventually made its way into Chinese translation in 19582.
In the early 70's it was discovered that specific ear acupuncture treatments helped with the withdrawal from addictive substances, such as heroin, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco. Two Clinics, one in the South Bronx and the other in Haight Ashbury began utilizing ear acupuncture in their detoxification centers with great success. They discovered five specific points in the ear that alleviated pain, decreased withdrawal symptoms and had a strong sedative effect. These points; shen men (spirit gate), sympathetic, kidney, liver and lung were referred to as the "five-point protocol". In 1985, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was established to train chemical dependency clinicians in the NADA ear acupuncture protocol. It now remains one of the most effective therapies in the treatment of addictive substances.
In 1989 the World Health Organization of the United Nations declared that auricular therapy is a viable medical therapy. Recent studies and clinical trials have also verified the benefits of ear acupuncture to treat a wide variety of illness and disorders.
Notes and references
1. Dr. Penfield found that maps of the body exist on the surface of the brain, known as the "homunculus", or "little man". This same brain map is also projected onto different areas of the body, the ear being one place that the brain projects its "homunculus".
2. Ye Xiaolin. New discovery of acupuncture abroad: an introduction to ear acupuncture. Shanghai Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1958;(12)
