“What are these needles going to do for me?” This is the most commonly asked question from clients about to receive their initial acupuncture treatment, and over the course of the next three Alternative Therapies columns, answers will be given from three distinctly different approaches.

In this article, we examine the acupuncture technique most frequently used at modern in-patient addiction treatment facilities. Known as auricular acupuncture, it is performed by inserting ultra-fine needles into specific spots of the client’s outer ear. Bringing the body back into a state of balance — what western medicine refers to as homeostasis — the patient can be told to expect any number of responses. These may range from mental/emotional reactions — such as an immediate sense of calm or relief from cravings, or insomnia and anxiety — to the physical alleviation of aches, pains, digestive upset and other troubling symptoms.

The next question asked is, “How is this treatment going to do that?” There are two ways to answer this, with one being from a Western perspective and the other from a Traditional Oriental Medicine (TOM) viewpoint. Western medicine grapples with this foreign subject matter by making use of its more familiar language of standardized double-blind research tests. From these successful results, scientific organizations like the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization have endorsed the advantages acupuncture has achieved with regard to addiction. In addition, they also have found benefits on the body’s nervous, digestive, muscular-skeletal, cardiac and respiratory systems (WHO, 2002).

The biggest problem that Western medicine still has with acupuncture is that it remains unable to completely and adequately explain how the benefits are achieved. For a better understanding to occur, modern science will have to examine the concept of a microsystem. This is an ancient cross-cultural idea, which states that all areas of the body can be accessed through stimulation of specific spots on a particular part of the body. A popular example of this is how the sole of the foot is used in reflexology, or how the eye is a full-body diagnostic tool in iridology. This same theory can be applied to the ear, and when acupuncture needles are inserted into these points, it is called auricular acupuncture therapy.

Chinese auricular acupuncture has been continuously practiced for the last 2,500 years, but the present map of the ear was not fully developed until the 1950s by the French neurologist and acupuncturist Dr. Paul Nogier. His updated and detailed chart was experimented with and validated by the Chinese in the 1960s, and in the following decades at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). There, at the UCLA Pain Management Center, and under the supervision of the modern auriculotherapy pioneer Dr. Terry Oleson, patients were among the first to be successfully treated with the use of modern auricular acupuncture for chronic pain and withdrawal of opiate medications (Oleson, 1992).

Around this same time, Dr. Michael Smith was experimenting with a different treatment for addictions at Lennox Hill Hospital of the Bronx, New York. Through his staff’s experience and success, a standardized set of five specific bilateral ear points was formed. Under the name of the “NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) protocol,” this particular auricular acupuncture treatment has become a standard that is practiced in hundreds of addiction facilities worldwide (NADA, 2005).

There are a number of advantages with this particular procedure. A brief summary would be as follows:

• Easy to administer to clientele
• Cost-effective
• Can be performed on a large group in a single session
• Relaxing, non-cognitive form of therapy
• Alleviates stress, pain and other mental, emotional and physical symptoms

Another advantage of the NADA protocol is that one may not have to undertake long and advanced training to become a provider. Depending upon local and state laws, this simple and direct therapy may be administered by certified individuals who undertake only about 80 hours of training.

Obviously, this also can be a disadvantage; especially when the NADA protocol is considered by many to be a “one size fits all” or “shotgun” approach. In comparison, a National Board certified and state licensed acupuncturist, who generally completes about four years of training, can offer a wider range of treatment options. This is just as easily accomplished through the use of dozens of other points within the ear, as well as various traditional points found on the scalp, face and forehead.

Because of this, the licensed acupuncturist can offer the following additional benefits:
• Alleviation of individual physical concerns: headache, toothache and sinus pain
• Specific treatments for depression, anxiety and other co-existent diagnoses
• Specific treatments to aid the client for progress in psychotherapy
• A scientifically proven safe and effective procedure for these concerns

In closing, auricular acupuncture therapy is a simple and effective treatment that works for addictions. While providing the in-patient some “downtime” from confrontation, it simultaneously stimulates the insightful mental and emotional processes at one’s own pace. All of these health-promoting reasons are why this therapy is currently practiced with successful results in over 2,000 addiction treatment facilities worldwide.

Randal Lyons has been practicing Traditional Oriental Medicine for the past 17 years. He is a licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine in private practice in Boynton Beach, Fla., and works as a consultant to several in-patient addiction treatment facilities.

References
World Health Organization. (2002). ComprehensiveTraditional Medicine Strategy.
National Institute of Health. (1997). Consensus Development Conference Statement.
Oleson, Dr. Terrence D. (1992). Auriculotherapy Manual.
National Acupuncture Detoxification Association. (2005). Available at http://www.acudetox.com/

This article is published in Counselor,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, February 2006, v.7, n.1, pp.24-25.

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