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Auriculotherapy Part 2: The Theories

© Dr. David L. Phillips

In my last article on the subject of auriculotherapy, (November 13, 2001) we looked at the history and development of this unique therapeutic treatment. In this edition of Chiropractic Health Care I will discuss auriculotherapy further. I believe a look into how and why it works would be useful.

Auriculotherapy is safe, effective and has no contraindications or adverse side effects, yet it is rarely practiced in North America. It can be learned by health practitioners in about 8 hours, and by lay persons in a few days. It requires few tools, only one of several texts, perhaps a wall chart and is not physically demanding to perform. I would urge any reader who is at all interested in helping others to look into taking a course in this wonderful new/old therapy.

If you will remember from the last article, the Father of modern auriculotherapy was Dr. Paul Nogier, a French orthopedist. He formulated, organized and advanced this therapy using scientific principles. One of his discoveries was that he could affect a change in the radial pulse by digitally stimulating parts of the external ear. He called this the Auricular Cardiac Reflex. Dr. Nogier went on to discover that he could affect vascular changes not just at the radial pulse, but throughout the body by applying mechanical pressure or electrical stimulation of different parts of the auricle. This he called the Vascular Autonomic Signal due to the fact that he felt the pathway was via autonomic nervous system.

There are currently five popular theories as to how auriculotherapy actually works. Briefly, I would like to outline them. This work is taken from the text, Auriculotherapy Manual by Dr. Terry Oleson, which I referenced, in my last article. I consider this book to be the best one available in the field. Although Oleson takes an academic viewpoint rather than a clinical one the book remains very useful in utilizing auriculotherapy in every day practice. It is colourful, well laid-out, and easy to read.

The Theories Behind the Practice of Auriculotherapy:

1) The Neurophysiological Theory: This theory relates to a systematic representation of the body in the neuronal pattern of the brain. Much like your computer keyboard works at accessing and affecting the functions of your computer's central processing chips, the ear has this same effect on the brain. 2) The Embryological Theory: I know that this is a little complicated for lay readers so I will try to simplify it. There are 3 different tissues in the embryo from which all organs and physical structures develop: ectodermal tissue (skin, nerves and the brain), mesodermal tissue (muscles and bones) and endodermal tissue (internal organs). The ear is innervated by 3 main nerves. Each of these nerves control different embryological tissues in the ear. Therefore, the theory goes that by stimulating various parts of the ear, you can stimulate changes in these embryological tissues and the body parts related to them.

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