Acupuncture on the ear, or Auriculotherapy, is a possible alternative therapy and it is feasible to try it considering the very low risk possibility.
what is ear acupuncture
The ear of any person is a small duplicate of his or her body. In other words, it is a scale map of your anatomy, which explains the rise of auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture.
This technique allows the stimulation of certain points located in the ear to alleviate ailments such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, vertigo or lumbago.
Experts put the number of points related to the human body found in the ear at about one hundred. It is also true that auriculotherapy cannot be applied to all types of people.
Ear acupuncture is not recommended for patients with symptoms of exhaustion or weakness, nor for people with severe asthma or hypertension and pregnant women during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
It is also not recommended for children under 7 years of age, while in the case of older people the professional has the last word.
Benefits and uses
- The Kidney point: which helps to reduce fear, anxiety, vertigo and insomnia.
- The liver point: which is used for detoxification and reduction of intense anger.
- The Lung point: which helps to achieve deeper breathing and release pain.
- The autonomic point: which helps to achieve calmness and relaxation, as well as to combat stress, depression, psychological and emotional disorders and also gynecological problems.
Auriculotherapy is also having a growing boom as a treatment to reduce overweight. Acupuncture in the ear manages to stop in these cases the feeling of anxiety that usually accompanies almost all slimming diets.
Acupuncture is a part of Chinese medicine that is also beneficial for many ailments, including weight loss and back pain relief.
How auriculotherapy is performed
Before starting the treatment, it is very important to have a consultation with a specialized therapist to identify the main symptoms and try to understand which organs are affected.
After this, the therapist selects the most suitable points and exerts pressure on that point.
The pressure can be done using:
- Filiform needles: they are applied on the points for 10 to 30 minutes;
- Intradermal needles: they are placed under the skin for approximately 7 days;
- Magnetic spheres: they are placed on the skin for about 5 days;
- Mustard seeds: they can be heated or not and are stuck on the skin for 5 days.
The stimulation of specific points of the ear to relieve pain or treat various physical or psychological problems such as: anxiety, migraine, obesity or muscle contractions.
In addition to this, auriculotherapy and ear acupuncture helps to diagnose and prevent some diseases by observing the specific points of the ear that are altered.
Possible feeling
The sensations that the patient perceives with this therapy are very varied.
We say that they are varied, since some patients feel:
- That they are floating.
- And others feel immediate relief. But others require more sessions to notice improvement.
In general we can say that the vast majority of our patients feel a great relief and a great sense of relaxation very significant.
It is very important to say that a great part of the success of the treatment with Auriculotherapy will depend on the degree of tension or stress that the patient has at the moment of starting the treatment.
Risk and side effects
Possible risks of ear acupuncture include:
- Please note that it should not be performed on children under 7 years of age.
- It is not recommended for those patients who have a severe case of hypertension.
- If you have a wound, inflammation, eczema or a burn in the ear, Auriculotherapy is not recommended.
- In case of severe cardiac insufficiency, it is totally contraindicated to apply this technique.
- It is not recommended to use this technique in patients suffering from any type of cancer. In the case that Auriculotherapy is performed, it must be with the consent of the specialist. But this technique could only be applied to alleviate the symptoms of pain that sometimes generate certain types of cancer.
- In the case that the patient has a very severe or serious asthma, it would also be contraindicated.
- When women have menstruation, it is very important to avoid stimulating certain points, as it would cause hormonal imbalances.
- In case the patient suffers from arrhythmias, has a pacemaker implanted or suffers from any other cardiac pathology, the use of the auriculotherapy stimulator is totally contraindicated. The technique could be performed, but using any other mechanism.
- And finally, it is contraindicated in women who are pregnant. This is because when Auriculotherapy is performed, certain hormones are stimulated. These hormones can be harmful to pregnancy, even causing miscarriage.
No matter what news you come into contact with on the Internet, it is necessary to accept the opinions of professionals.
