This special form of acupuncture was developed in the 1950’s by Dr. Paul Nogier. He discovered that the surface of the outer ear (auricle) is a reflex area on which all parts of the body are represented. By examining these reflex zones it is possible to identify precisely where in the body pain is located or which of the organs are affected.
Examination is carried out by measuring voltage differences on the ear surface. The auricle can be regarded as the body’s own diagnostic center. For example an electrical charge at the Liver point on the ear indicates disturbance of the liver.
Treatment is performed by needling the respective points on the ear with very minute needles. The signals induced by ear acupuncture travel to a specific part of the brain, the diencephalon, to the corresponding body parts. The body parts obey these commands because they come straight from the body’s own control center – the brain.