Ear acupuncture therapy, anyone?

Ear acupuncture therapy, also called auricular therapy or auriculotherapy, treats and prevents diseases by stimulating certain points on the auricle, or the external ear, with needles.

According to practitioners of ear acupuncture, the auricle is a complete microsystem of the human body, with every nerve and organ and many functional points represented on the ear. It is believed that there are more than 200 specific acupuncture points on the ear.

Acupuncture, the ancient form of therapy developed by the Chinese some 4,000 years ago, has established itself as an effective complement to conventional forms of treatment.

Alternative forms of therapy, like acupressure, acupuncture, reflexology and herbal medicine, have been rediscovered in recent years as a result of people’s disenchantment with the unwanted side-effects of Western medicine.

Treatment with acupuncture is based on the premise that the body’s vital energy – referred to as "chi" in traditional Chinese medicine – should be allowed to flow freely. When the flow of chi is blocked, a person experiences pain and diseases. To correct the imbalance, practitioners of acupuncture insert fine needles in various pressure points all over the body to relieve pain and cure diseases.

Practitioners of ear acupuncture claim that when disorders occur in the internal organs or other parts of the body, various reactions may appear at corresponding areas of the auricle.

Auricular reactions may vary from discoloration, tenderness, decreased cetaceous electric resistance, flakiness to other morphological changes.

Like in body acupuncture, ear acupuncture can be used to alleviate pain and is a good therapy for degenerative conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, as well as in painful conditions like spinal stenosis and multiple sclerosis.

Both body and ear acupuncture can be used as a safe and effective complement to conventional medicine to cure a variety of conditions and diseases such as headaches, neck, shoulder and back pains; hypertension and asthma, among other conditions.

At SynergyMed Center, where the best of Western medical practice is combined with traditional Eastern therapies, ear acupuncture is a relatively new treatment in their roster of exceptional services that include acupuncture, acupressure and the use of herbal medicines.

Doctors from Beijing University’s College of Traditional Chinese Medicine whose expertise lies on traditional Oriental therapies, work hand in hand with local Western trained doctors to ensure a safe and effective treatment.

SynergyMed offers two choices to use in ear acupuncture therapy: thumbtack needle and ear-seed therapy. Thumbtack needle therapy uses small thumbtack-like needles to stimulate specific acupoints. Ear-seeds, on the other hand, are used for needle-less therapy.

Small seeds, such as the seed of Vaccaria segetalis and radish seeds, are pressed tightly to a particular ear acupoint to produce various sensations for therapeutic purpose.

For further inquiries on ear acupuncture, call 631-2611 or visit SynergyMed Center at the 23/F, Discovery Suites, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.