Ear to the Ground (news & ideas that integrate auricular)

Pain can be challenging to treat, it is often a highly multivariate problem involving several stages of neural processing in multiple areas of involvement;[1] it inextricably involves both psychological and physiological aspects of being;[2] and, the feeling of pain is subjective, with high variability between individuals.[3,4]

For Pain Management Programs (PMPs), the auricular microsystem can help clinicians quickly access specific relevant neural pathways to regulate processing. In fact, leading medical institutions are using auricular methods to reduce the need for opioids by up to 60%.[5-9] Auricular Medicine practitioners would argue that they could achieve even better outcomes owing to active point finding using Vascular Autonomic Signal (VAS) palpation, such as in the pain treatment study presented by Dr. Muriel Agnes.[10]

By identifying dynamically active auricular points on a patient, practitioners of Auricular Medicine can quickly identify all of the active neural states involved in an individual’s multivariate, highly complex, pain condition. More importantly, the practitioner can then reduce the complexity with neural insight. Auricular Medicine approaches help prioritize points for auricular neuromodulation in order to achieve the most effective treatment path toward a regulated state of homeostasis in the system. These approaches address the underlying neural disturbances of a condition. For this reason, Auricular Medicine is known to be highly effective in treating complex health conditions and cases of therapy resistance.[11]

As reported in Hektoen International, Journal of Medical Humanities, Frank Yurasek presents a research poster on clinical auricular methods 
at the SAR Conference hosted by the Stanford Anesthesiology Department.

From the Division of Pain Management at Cook County Hospital — a hospital with a history for innovative teaching — the Director of Acupuncture, Dr. Frank Yurasek, is leading the call for training in German Auricular Medicine to be integrated in all fields of medical practice, “this training may very well transform your approach to pain management.” His call is being answered by the Canadian Institute of Auricular Medicine (CIAM), a global online leader in continuing education for the field of Auricular Medicine, and endorsed by the German Academy for Acupuncture (Deutsche Akademie für Akupunktur | DAA). CIAM has joined in collaboration with Dr. Yurasek to provide training, and support Dr. Yurasek’s call for greater integration of Auricular Medicine in pain management settings. The first training being piloted in this effort will be presented at the Chicago College of Oriental Medicine, October 28-30. This training is an accelerated, pain-management-focused, presentation of CIAM’s online Level 1 training (enrollment includes the online Ear Point Guide). 

Please visit: www.ccoom.org

References

[1] Taesler, P., Rose, M. Multivariate prediction of pain perception based on pre-stimulus activity. Sci Rep 12, 3199 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07208-1

[2] Lumley MA, Cohen JL, Borszcz GS, Cano A, Radcliffe AM, Porter LS, Schubiner H, Keefe FJ. Pain and emotion: a biopsychosocial review of recent research. J Clin Psychol. 2011 Sep;67(9):942-68. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20816. Epub 2011 Jun 6. PMID: 21647882; PMCID: PMC3152687.

[3] Boly, M. et al. Baseline brain activity fluctuations predict somatosensory perception in humans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104, 12187–12192 (2007).
CAS

[4] Coghill, R. C., McHaffie, J. G. & Yen, Y.-F. Neural correlates of interindividual differences in the subjective experience of pain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 100, 8538–8542 (2003).

[5] Bestoun AH, Courcoulas AP, Monroe AL, Gourash WF, Chelly JE. Auricular nerve stimulation using the NSS-2 BRIDGE device to reduce opioid requirement following laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2021;17(12):2040-2046. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2021.08.003

[6] Krish B, Patel V, Baldawi M, Patel P, et. al. Traditional Acupuncture And Battlefield Acupuncture Use In Mutimodal Perioperative Anesthesia Care For Our Veteran Patients. Presented at The Anesthesiology Annual Meeting Oct. 2-5, 2020. http://www.asaabstracts.com/strands/asaabstracts/abstract.htm?year=2020&index=18&absnum=6004

[7] Acupuncture reduces pain and opioid use for total knee replacement surgery patients. Newsroom of the American Society of Anesthesiologists website. October 10, 2021. Accessed February 8, 2022. https://www.asahq.org/about-asa/newsroom/news-releases/2021/10/acupuncture-reduces-pain-and-opioid-use-for-total-knee-replacement-surgery-patients

[8] Murali Chakravarthy, Anitha Prashanth, and Antony George. Medical Acupuncture. Oct 2019.281-288.http://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2019.1352

[9] Ye XX, Gao YZ, Xu ZB, Liu QX, Zhan CJ. Effectiveness of Perioperative Auricular Therapy on Postoperative Pain after Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:2979780. Published 2019 Mar 3. doi:10.1155/2019/2979780 

[10] Agnes M. Toward an Integral Energy Medicine Model for Understanding the Vascular Autonomic Signal. [Masters Thesis]. https://holosuniversity.org: Holos University Graduate Seminary; 2002.

[11] Strittmatter B. Identifying and Treating Blockages to Healing: New Approaches to Therapy-Resistant Patients. Stuttgart, Germany: Thieme; 2004: V