Auricular Medicine
What Is Auricular Medicine?
Auricular Medicine is a form of alternative medicine based on the idea that the ear is a microsystem reflecting the entire body, used to diagnose and treat various conditions. It involves stimulating specific points on the ear with seeds, needles, lasers, or electrical stimulation to affect the central nervous system and treat issues like pain, stress, or other physical and psychological conditions. The ear is viewed as a map of the body, including organs and the musculoskeletal system.
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What are ear seeds?
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Ear seeding, or auriculotherapy—a practice from traditional Chinese medicine that involves placing a small vaccaria seed (or metal or ceramic bead) with adhesive on your cartilage and outer ear. Most people do not even notice they are there and they are very discreet looking. They can stay in the ear for up to 10 days, after which they can just be peeled off like a bandaid.
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How do they work?
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Ear seeds apply pressure on specific pressure points, or acu-points, on the ear, the same way that acupuncture needles stimulate healing at acu-points (where blood, nerve, lymph and connective tissue meet) on the body. Stimulating an acupoint, whether via acupuncture or acupressure with ear seeds, sends a message to the brain that alters brain chemistry, and tells the body to react to achieve a desired result.
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Ear seeds are often used in conjunction with your acupuncture treatment and other modalities to enhance the effects. However they may also be used on their own as a treatment. Many people experience great results from their treatment alone.
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What can they treat?
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The benefits of ear seeds are endless. Common conditions treated by ears seeds are stress/anxiety, chronic pain, digestion issues, insomnia, addictions, sleep problems and overall imbalances in the body.
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