Auricular Acupuncture

Auricular or ear acupuncture is based on the premise that the ear is a microsystem on which the entire body is mapped. Auricular therapy can be applied as a stand-alone intervention or included as a component of a full-body treatment; needles may be applied, as well as non-insertive ear seeds (affixed with a small adhesive) at points located on the surface of the ear. Ear seeds provide the basis of stimulation to the point through gentle massage or acu-pressure.

The ear provide both a means of diagnosis and effective treatment for the benefit of physical, mental or emotional health. The system is concurrently based on Chinese medical theory, and the mapping of the somatotopic correspondence of the body formalized in both modern France and China.  Mechanisms theorized to contribute to the clinical benefit include the ear’s proximity and connection to the neurologic pathways, the correspondence of embryological tissue between the ear and the whole of the body, and the resultant endorphin release associated with acupuncture. 

Auricular therapy is used for a wide variety of conditions, including treatment to support addiction recovery (drug, alcohol, tobacco, food), PTSD and trauma recovery, insomnia, stress, and pain syndromes.

A specific 5-point auricular protocol, commonly referred to as NADA, was developed in the 1970’s at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, NY, to provide non-pharmacologic support to addiction recovery. The applicability of this protocol has expanded beyond the recovery community, and is widely used to benefit healing and wellness in any context. These points are: 神門 Shen Men (spirit gate), Sympathetic, Kidney, Liver and Lung.