Common Questions Regarding Auriculotherapy

What health conditions can auriculotherapy treat?

Auriculotherapy is an ideal treatment for painful acute ailments. Within 24 to 48 hours or almost instantaneously, it can help relieve pain. Auriculotherapy can also be used to treat painful and degenerative long term conditions such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. It is also effective in treating conditions include dysfunctions and diseases of the cardiovascular, urinary, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems. This type of treatment also works in treating addictions. In fact, it has a 75 to 80 percent rate of success in treating patients with nicotine or smoking addiction. Currently, there are over 150 conditions that can be treated with auriculotherapy.

Does it have any side effects?

Although this very rarely occurs, the main side effect of auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture is inflammation or tenderness to the ear itself. More often than not, acupuncture in Maitland and auriculotherapy produces no side effects, especially if the doctor uses electrical stimulation. If acupuncture needle is used, the patient can possibly have an infection because of the piercing of the skin which happens during an acupuncture procedure. In auriculotherapy, this problem never arises. Auriculotherapy can be used too if the patient is scared of needles. It is a painless alternative to auricular acupuncture. If the doctor is using the guidelines provided by the Electro-Therapy Association, he has practically no chance of experiencing negative side effects.

Auriculotherapy should not be administered on patients who have certain types of defibrillators or pacemakers or on pregnant women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy.

Does Auriculotherapy hurt?

Auriculotherapy is practically a painless form of treatment although the patient might feel a tiny sensation in the ear on the area where an acupoint is being treated. This is usually felt for just a second or two after which the sensation immediately disappears. The doctor can reduce the intensity to where the patient does not feel it at all if the treatment feels a bit uncomfortable. As the treatment is tolerable for almost all people, this usually isn’t necessary.

How often should a patient be treated?

Chronic conditions are almost always treated two or three times a week. However, in some very serious and acute conditions, auriculotherapy can be used every day for duration of one week to ten days. To treat smoking addictions, all one usually needs is a single or a couple of treatments to break the physical addiction to nicotine.