Auricular acupuncture
The auricular acupuncture that is done in the ear. The acupuncture is an ancient medical practice that originated in China. The name comes from the Latin acus, or “needle” and pungere or “prick” and involves inserting needles into specific body points. Once inserted, the needles can be manipulated to stimulate the body with healing effects. In auricular acupuncture, needle insertion is done in the ear, it is believed that there are a variety of acupuncture points and potentially important therapeutics.
Today acupuncture is more closely related to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). However, the ancient practice has received much attention in the Western world, and sometimes incorporated into the Western-style medical practices. Acupuncture is practiced worldwide and is common to see doctors that include acupuncture in their therapies.
An acupuncturist headset must be familiar with almost two hundred acupuncture points that exist in the outer ear. It should be noted that acupuncture needles are not inserted into the ear canal, the hole leading to the inner ear. The workspace is the ear, or outer ear cartilage, also called the pinna.
As with all forms of acupuncture, acupuncture points found in the outer ear are other places in the body. By stimulating these points, called acupuncture points for short, the acupuncture needle as impulses sends electrical messages to the brain. Thus, auricular acupuncture can relieve pain in joints and muscles, stimulate organs and brain, and achieve a number of other therapeutic effects for the patient. The outer ear is thought to be a particularly rich source of these points, which may explain the need for expertise in auricular acupuncture.
In the more westernized style of ear acupuncture, a particularly interesting tool has come into use. This is the acupunctoscope electro, power tools used by acupuncturists to locate and stimulate acupuncture points on the outer ear. This tool is also used in acupuncture throughout the body, acupuncture stimulates the points through what is known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). The acupunctoscope replaces the inserted needles with electrical impulses, and is believed to be equally effective. It is, however, a tool used in traditional acupuncture. In fact, due to the absence of needles puncturing the skin, this therapy is not really considered acupuncture. You might think, rather, as a Western therapy, which focuses on acupuncture points and meridians of the body itself as traditional acupuncture, but has access to these points in a different way.
Auricular acupuncture is effective in treating mental and emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression and insomnia. Also used to treat physical pain, including arthritis, back pain, migraine, headaches, tendinitis, and sciatic pain. Through the stimulation of corresponding points in the brain and body, auricular acupuncture therapy is also used to treat digestive problems such as colitis and indigestion, as well as respiratory problems like asthma and sinusitis and rhinitis allergic. Therapy can also be used to treat obesity, premenstrual syndrome, and addiction to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.