Treatment of the human system via the ear (whether by acupuncture, ear press seeds, Low Level Laser Therapy or electro-stimulation) offers access to detailed projections of the entire Central Nervous System. Auricular methods are applied in medical practices worldwide and recognized by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other institutional bodies.
Beyond Ear Points for Treatment, the Ear Offers a Portal for Assessment of Complex Conditions
CIAM recognizes that many of the auricular approaches applied in these settings are protocols and therapies (i.e. Auricular Stimulation Procedure, aka Battlefield Acupuncture, and forms of Auricular Therapy), or they are methods of ear acupuncture as directly originated from the practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) body acupuncture. However, the field of auricular practice goes well beyond protocol, therapy and TCM to also specifically include understanding of neurology and frequency-based concepts. Not only for treatment, but also for its assessment and prioritization. And, this is what is so exciting. Because, beyond the therapeutic protocols, attention to the the reflex zones of the ear provides great insight into neural states and the most effective means by which to regulate them.
"Therapists around the world [deal with] patients resistant to treatment despite all diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. The [Auricular Medicine] method of identifying a focus by means of active points in the reflex zones of the ear [to be] treated with ear acupuncture or neural therapy [results in] improvement in chronic ailments that previously resisted conventional treatment."(1) This approach to therapy-resistant patients, with use of dynamic pulse-guided assessment (Vascular Autonomic Signal or VAS) and treatment prioritization, is one of the key aspects that differentiate Auricular Medicine from ear acupuncture, auricular protocols, and Auricular Therapy.
The Auricular Toolbox
Each have their place (for example, Battlefield Acupuncture allows for effective, quick, temporary results in crisis situations. Acudetox, as taught throughout community-based acupuncture organizations, allows for the training of as many people as possible to become Auricular Acu-Technicians. And, ear acupuncture as practiced in TCM offers an effective extension of body acupuncture to address wide-ranging ailments from pain to obesity).
Toward a Deeper Understanding
Owing to research in neuroscience, vagus nerve stimulation, heart rate variability as a critical biomarker, neuro-auricular acupuncture, medical frequencies (i.e. electromagnetic waves, frequency-specific micro currents, pulsed low level laser) the field of Auricular Medicine is being continuously advanced.
Whether new to the field of auricular, or already versed in auricular therapy and/or ear acupuncture, students attend CIAM courses and clinical practicums in order to deepen their auricular knowledge. German Auricular Medicine offers a direct line between the origins of Auricular Therapy and Auricular Medicine (as based on the work of Dr. Paul Nogier) and the current developments of Auricular Medicine in Europe. Through a highly endorsed core curriculum (the only one of its kind offered in the English language), students extend their skillset — building upon and beyond protocol, therapy and acupuncture concepts — toward the concepts of Auricular Medicine for individualized assessment and dynamically prioritized treatment approaches.
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