AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE

Auricular acupuncture is the stimulation of acupuncture points on the external ear surface for the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions in other areas of the body. The ear holds a microsystem of the body, consistent with the brain map discoveries of Canadian neuroscientist Wilder Penfield.

Dr. Penfield found that maps of the body exist on the surface, or sensory cortex, of the brain. This same brain map is also projected onto different areas of the body, “Microsystems”, and in particular precision, onto the ear.

Ear acupuncture has proven to be an efficient method of treating a wide variety of conditions, from headaches and allergies to addictions and pain disorders. Although acupuncture evolved in the context of Asian medicine, the specialty of ear acupuncture was developed in western Europe.

With its foundations laid by Dr. Paul Nogier, a neurologist working in France in the 1950’s, it was deepened and expanded by Frank Bahr M.D. and physical medicine specialists in Germany over the following decades.

The map on the ear is in the form of an inverted foetus with all the fine details of the anatomical, physiological, and emotional body represented. The tissue of the ear is unique and has functions in addition to our sense of hearing. The ear is the first organ to develop to its full size and become fully functional about 18 weeks after conception and is one of a few anatomical structures composed of tissue from each of the 3 primary types (endo, ecto, mesoderm) in the developing embryo.