Although allopathy has gained fame globally because of its numerous benefits and practices, there are also other old types of therapies which are practiced in corners of the world to keep the human body healthy. Similar to the types of ancient Chinese medicine like acupressure and acupuncture, auriculotherapy has also gained widespread fame in the Asian as well as European countries. The process involves using needles to stimulate specific organs in the body by making use of the external portion of the ear. In recent times, instead of needles the points on the ear are stimulated by means of lasers, ear pellets and magnets to apply manual pressure on specific points.
Ancient records point to the use of this method in 500 B.C. in China. The importance of this therapy was found by a Frenchman, Dr. Paul Nogier who found out that the points on the outer portion of the ear has connections with the internal organs. He compared the ear to be that of an inverted fetus with head representing the lower ear lobe, the rest of the body in-between and feet at the top of external ear.
Although considered as a part of alternative medicine, it works best when used with other types of medicine like acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic manipulation etc. It is used to effectively relieve body problems like stress, pain and tension. As in allopathy, body pain is controlled by use of painkiller tablets which have endomorphins, acupressure, acupuncture and auriculotherapy stimulate, balance and regulate the inner energy in the body which make the body release or generate endomorphins to relieve pain. A normal session would take between thirty minutes to one hour for the body to release endomorphins. These therapies balance the energy in the body by correcting reflex centers in brain thus reducing pain.
Auriculotherapy has been approved as a safe and effective treatment by the World Health Organization and is being used in recent days to treat addiction related to drugs and smoking. No side effects have been reported and it is considered as an alternative to acupuncture. To prevent smoking in addicts, the practitioner used different frequencies by means of micro stimulation device to stimulate the surface of the outer ears. The success rate related to this therapy is 80% as it reduces the withdrawal symptoms and craving of nicotine in smoking addicts.
Auriculotherapy for Addiction
The original work of Paul Nogier, M.D. of Lyon, France in 1956 provided the world with what is now called auriculotherapy. A common misconception is ear acupuncture. While ear acupuncture depends on the use of needles inserted among a fixed set of alleged acupuncture points, it does not involve fixed points and does not use needles. Auriculotherapy points are created by enervation of four cranial nerves and three cervical ganglia. These are not acupuncture points.
The professional uses a handheld STIM PLUS PRO (an FDA class 11 medical device) shaped like a pen to
(1) locate the auriculotherapy point,
(2) diagnose the located this point, and
(3) treat the point if measured to be abnormal.
Auriculotherapy is defined as the location and treatment of neurological points in the ear by micro-current stimulation. Each point is treated by the handheld pen-shaped device (described above) for 30 seconds. The procedure is painless. Both ears are treated five days a week for 1530 days for 10 minutes. In ear acupuncture, needles must be left in place for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR ACUPUNCTURE & AURICULOTHERAPY
Since the late 1970’s and the 1980’s numerous studies have been performed in order to evaluate acupuncture and recently auriculotherapy in the treatment of addictive behaviors. A recent MEDLINE search found over 9,780 studies dealing with the use of acupuncture (in all forms) for SUD including alcoholism, heroin addiction, stimulant abuse, binge eating and smoking behavior. The majority of data come from the most obvious application of acupuncture: the attempt to decrease the pain and other discomforts associated with opiate addiction. A number of positive studies by Wen in 1977 showed intense relief of withdrawal symptoms within 15 minutes of the beginning of the procedures. A subsequent one year follow up of the sample by Schuckit and associates revealed that 51 had been free of drugs during the interval. In 1985, Kroening and Oieson found that the combination of precipitous opiate withdrawal along with this was successful, with 86% of the patients withdrawing within five to seven days with a minimum of side effects. Currently the literature reveals a number of positive studies using acupuncture, ear acupuncture, or auriculotherapy including: smoking (He et al. 1997), alcoholism (Brewer 1995); cocaine addiction a five point approved and established protocol as defined by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA).
5. Patient Comments include a number of very positive responses. In this regard here are a few to consider: “A change in attitude.” “Moods are less erratic.” “Feeling good from within.” “Full of energy.” “Headache is gone.” “Now actually sleeping.” “This was the quickest I kicked heroin.” “It reduces my craving for booze, and it brought back my natural energy.” “I feel less stress.” “I’m calmer.” “Before acupuncture, even though I was clean I never once stopped craving drugs. Since acupuncture, I’ve stopped the craving.”
6. Counselors of drug court had this to say: “Patients are coming in more balanced emotionally, mentally and physically.” “L has seen tremendous results with acupuncture for my patients.”
Auriculotherapy For Smoking Cessation
Auriculotherapy was developed in the 1940s in France by Dr. Paul Nogier, a neurologist. It is a hybrid medical system used to reduce tension, enable the body to relax and increase circulation. It works on the principle of traditional acupressure and acupuncture utilizing today’s medical science. This is a noninvasive treatment which has been used for years to treat nicotine addiction. Auriculotherapy is a safe and effective treatment accepted by the World Health Organization and approved by the FDA.
Smoking is harmful and addictive, a habit leading to poor health and early death. Those who wish to give up their smoking addiction can choose auriculotherapy, which has the capability to correct the energy flow between points called meridians. It is a painless treatment used to balance and normalize psychological functions. Studies have proved that this method is seven times more powerful than other methods used for smoking cessation.
To detect the meridians, a noninvasive micro stimulation device recommended by the ACI (Auriculotherapy Certification Institute) is used to stimulate the surface of the outer ears. Depending on the different zones of the ear, the auriculotherapy practitioner uses various frequency specific patterns. Normally, the procedure of auriculotherapy takes 30 minutes to about an hour to activate the release of endorphins, a naturally occurring substance. This eliminates the symptoms of nicotine craving and the treatment works well in cigarette users after a few follow-up visits. If the treatment plan is strictly followed, auriculotherapy treatment will have a success rate of 80%.
In almost all the cases, those undergoing auriculotherapy treatment reported no side effects. The treatment is beneficial in that it relieves you from your harmful addiction and enables a healthy lifestyle. If you need an auriculotherapy practitioner for smoking cessation, select one who is well experienced in this field.
Auriculotherapy And Phytotherapy Used in Cancer Treatment
Auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture is a therapy based on the piling of needles in the ear. Its historical roots date back to classical antiquity of Mediterranean people, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, described the scarifications of the posterior ear against sexual impotence and treat sciatica. And again, Galen described the therapeutic use of scarifications in some diseases of the ear. Auriculotherapy is based on the principles of conventional medicine and Western uses of specific points of the ear that correspond to somatotopic areas distant parts of the body, such as the stomach, the muscles of the spine, and so on. By insertion of needles or other stimuli can cause reflexes that induce stimulation of neurogenic type in organs and tissues of the human body. In this discipline the therapeutic concept of the disease remains the same medicine, the only thing that changes is the way of doing therapy, then gastritis or gallstones are the same disease described in the treaties of Medicine officer, have nothing to do with particular beliefs or philosophies, and the same condition is given the same treatment.
The acupoint used to treat nausea in all these diseases is always the same and does not vary according to personality the patient’s eating habits, etc. Scientific research in this field is developing rapidly, although at the moment auriculotherapy in cancer patients has proved especially useful for pain treatment.
Phytotherapy deserves a separate mention because herbal medicine is the discipline that comes closest to the natural conventional medicine as it is based of course on the use of chemicals present in plants, with organic farming activities. Besides, just think that 30 – 40% of conventional drugs derived from herbal substances. Herbal medicine is the medical discipline so using medicinal plants and derivatives in prevention and treatment of diseases, in relation to the pharmacological properties of chemical constituents present in the plant, or better in the preparation used. It does not follow diagnostic or therapeutic methods different from those of scientific medicine. The medicinal plant, so it can simply be considered, a container of chemicals, sometimes isolated and used as such in therapy, in other cases the source of raw material for the production of drugs or as a basis for the production of herbal medicines themselves. Herbal medicine is a discipline particularly promising for the cure cancer, both as a preventive measure or as a complementary therapy to chemo and radiotherapy or surgery. It is used as an immunostimulant, for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and radiodermatitis and to combat certain symptoms such as fatigue, depression, constipation, etc.
There are also many studies that confirm the pre-clinical anticancer activities of substances present of many plants. The substances of plant origin may also be toxic, causing serious interactions with pharmaceutical drugs taken concurrently, or be responsible for allergic reactions. For these reasons, suitable extracts must always be used, quality controlled, standardized active ingredients, purified from useless or dangerous, and used only with medical prescription. For example, cancer patients often use honey and aloe smoothies (presented as a miracle cure for cancer!), not knowing that just some substances present in the plant cut the effectiveness of Chemotherapy.
Please consult an oncologist or more than one before you begin a cancer treatment.