Auricular Acupuncture

Auricular or Ear Acupuncture is part of the ancient art of acupuncture and a complete system in and of itself. Three thousand years ago a text called The Yellow Emperors Classic details how the shape of the ear can be used to refer to the shape of the human body (in the fetal position, head down) and therefore, the organs, limbs, spine and nervous system. As in meridian acupuncture, when the correct point is stimulated it causes a cascade of responses in the body to facilitate healing.

One of the first clinical trials in the United States using auricular acupuncture was for severe heroin addiction in New York. In 1974 Dr. Michael O. Smith, director of the Detox Program at Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Bronx New York supervised a pilot project for the use of auricular acupuncture in the heroin addiction/Methadone program there. Participants had daily ear acupuncture treatments, lasting 45 minutes in a group setting and were observed for their behavior in relation to cravings for heroin and withdrawal symptoms.

The project continued for the next 4 years at Lincoln Hospital. During that time several hundred patients on the Methadone maintenance program were detoxified using gradual tapered doses of both methadone and auricular acupuncture. Eventually auricular acupuncture was found to be so effective for heroin addiction and withdrawal that it replaced methadone in the program, which itself is a very addictive drug. This was the beginning of what is now known as “harm reduction” addictions treatment.

Many other drugs such as barbiturates, cocaine, methamphetamines and alcohol are also successfully treated with auricular acupuncture and it is being used extensively in the prison system in both the U.S. and Canada for inmates with addictions problems.

Cigarette smoking is also treated with auricular acupuncture and with counselling therapy there is real hope to those who are addicted to cigarettes.
It is my hope that auricular acupuncture will become more mainstream and can be included as part of school programs for youth at risk.

Auricular acupuncture is used extensively for other ailments and painful conditions alone or as an adjunct treatment with meridian acupuncture on the body.

For more information on auricular acupuncture for addictions please contact the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association. (NADA)