Auricular acupuncture

Neither the study by Taras Usichenko1 on auricular acupuncture for pain relief nor the accompanying commentary2 provide any information on the nature of the treatment that was being tested. One might be forgiven for assuming that auricular acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine, like body acupuncture. Few readers are probably aware that it was developed only in the 1950s by a French physician, Paul Nogier.3 Although some experts believe that ear points were also used in traditional Chinese acupuncture, Nogier's auricular acupuncture is not based on traditional Chinese medical theory. Instead, an assumption that all internal organs are represented in the ear is the basis for auricular acupuncture. Therapists use maps that demonstrate these representations. One of the many problems with auricular acupuncture is that many such maps exist and little agreement exists regarding point location. Another problem is that all correspondence or reflex systems (e.g., auricular acupuncture, iridology and reflexology) fly in the face of our knowledge of anatomy and physiology.