An auricular medicine session begins by the practitioner inspecting certain points on your ear(s) that may be related to your health issue. Inspections may be visual, palpation, or electrical testing. When therapeutically active points are located, they will be treated with one of several possible treatment methods: electrical stimulation, pressure, or taping on a tack or seed to the skin. None of these stimulations are painful or uncomfortable. At Westboro Spine & Holistic Health Center, Dr. Moncton uses an auricular treatment device that has a measurement mode to locate active points, and a treatment mode to treat the points when located. Electrical stimulation has the advantage of also providing electrical detection of active points for precise treatment. Dr. Moncton completed a post graduate program in Auricular medicine.

The science of auricular medicine has been well documented, internationally researched, and published in medical journals. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists 150 conditions for which auricular medicine is appropriate. Examples include: various neurological and orthopedic disorders such as: headaches, migraines, trigeminal neuralgia, facial paralysis, peripheral neuropathy, meniere’s disease, intercostal neuralgia, tennis elbow, sciatica, lumbar pain, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer pain, dry mouth, hot flashes, etc. It has also been successful in helping people with chronic allergies.

Auricular Medicine is most commonly used for pain control, addiction and cravings, weight loss, and help with mental or emotional problems. Points and protocols exist for the treatment of many internal disorders as well. Because auricular medicine can address any part of the body, nearly any problem can be treated by auricular medicine as a primary or complimentary form of care. The conditions listed are not comprehensive but merely examples of what can be treated successfully.

Body acupuncture works with fixed meridians – channels which are exactly mapped and defined in the body, as well as fixed acupuncture points situated along these meridians. They can always be detected because they are always electrically active.

Auricular Medicine is a specialized acupuncture “microsystem” of the entire human body, which involves diagnosis of electrically active acupuncture points, which are ONLY detectable if there is something wrong in the body. Many consider this to be an advantage that Auricular Medicine has over traditional body acupuncture.

Current technology enables modern Auricular practitioners to not only locate active points but also detect polarity. The most sophisticated instruments are used at Westboro Spine & Holistic Health Center and can determine which points are most active in identifying energetic blockages/foci, and the type of treatment that is needed for those points. Specific electrical frequencies are then used for various points and conditions.

Frequency is extremely case dependent. There is no set number of treatments for any health condition treated through auricular medicine. In some cases only one treatment is necessary. Others may require more. It depends on what is being treated. As a general rule, most people with protracted issues can plan on coming in for 6-12 sessions. Perhaps twice a week at first and then tapering off as symptoms improve. Some chronic conditions such as alcoholism or other addictions may take 12 weeks to 6 months of regular treatments followed by ongoing supportive maintenance.

A typical session may take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. It really all depends on the age of the client, how much educating is taking place in the session along with the extent of evaluation needed and other supportive modalities being used in addition to the auricular medicine.

Because tenderness of ear points is one of the primary diagnostic features of this method, soreness on the ear points can sometimes continue for a while after the treatment. Also, in the case of a chronic condition, one may experience a “retracing” of symptoms. In other words, in some cases a patient may feel their body going through symptoms that took place during a condition’s development – a reversal of symptoms, rather than immediate pain relief. Remember, that “Eastern” medicine seeks to trigger natural healing responses, rather than mask symptoms.