AURICULOTHERAPY

Investigator 154, 2014 January

Auriculotherapy is a variant of acupuncture positing the same notion that points on the ear correspond with areas of the body and its organs.

By electrically stimulating a specific point on the ear, proponents claim that pain can be relieved.

In 1994, The Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a controlled study of thirty-six patients given auriculotherapy for chronic pain.

The researchers found that stimulating locations recommended by auriculotherapists was no more effective than an ad hoc touching remote points with or without electrical stimulation.

The experiment demonstrated that any relief produced by auriculotherapy would be due to a placebo effect.

Another  point worth considering is the fact that individual ears vary in shape and size from person to person, and that in the relatively small surface area offered by the appendage, there are over two hundred acupoints.

Even if the theory were valid it would require pin-point accuracy to affect the required organ or area being targeted.

From: Edwards, H. 1999 Alternative, Complementary, Holistic & Spiritual Healing, Australian Skeptics Inc.

http://ed5015.tripod.com//