eCAM 2007;4(S1)13–16 doi:10.1093/ecam/nem106 Original Article Ear Acupuncture in European Traditional Medicine Luigi Gori and Fabio Firenzuoli Center of Natural Medicine, S. Giuseppe Hospital, Empoli, Italy Auricular acupuncture is a diagnostic and treatment system based on normalizing the body’s dysfunction through stimulation of definite points on the ear. Rudimentary forms of acupuncture which probably arose during the Stone Age have survived in many parts of the world right down to present day. It was used in the ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece and all the Mediterranean area. It is a microacupuncture technique similar to reflexology, and was first described in France in 1950 by Paul Nogier who is considered the Father of modern ear acupuncture. It was speculated that the technique works because groups of pluripotent cells contain information from the whole organism and create regional organization centers representing different parts of the body. Nevertheless stimulation of a reflex point in the ear seems relieve symptoms of distant pathologies. Modern research is confirming the efficacy of ear acupuncture for analgesia and anxiety related disease, while tobacco dependence and other substance abuse still need confirmation. Actually main methodological problems with auricular acupuncture are that exist too many maps with little agreement regarding point location in the ear, and that the correspondence or reflex systems does not correlated with modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Keywords: auricolotherapy – ear acupuncture – Nogier – reflexology What is Ear Acupuncture? Auricular acupuncture is a diagnostic and treatment system based on normalizing the body’s dysfunction through stimulation of points on the ear. Resulting amelioration of pain and illness is believed to be through the reticular formation and the sympathetic and para- sympathetic nervous systems (1). Ear acupuncture, is an acupuncture technique similar to reflexology, and is speculated that the technique works because groups of pluripotent cells contain information from the whole organism and create regional organiza- tion centers representing different parts of the body, through recruitment of more cortex cells dedicated to specific areas of the body. Thus stimulation of a reflex For reprints and all correspondence: Luigi Gori, Service of Auricolotherapy, Center of Natural Medicine, S. Giuseppe Hospital, via Paladini, 40 – 50053 Empoli, Italy. Tel: +39-0571-702601; Fax: +39- 0571-702639; E-mail: l.gori@usl11.toscana.it point in the ear can relieve symptoms of distant pathology with a reliable duration. Ancient History of Ear Acupuncture Rudimentary forms of acupuncture which probably arose during the Stone Age have survived in many parts of the world right down to present day. Primitive sharp stones and bamboo were replaced by fish bones, bamboo clips and later various shapes of needles made of metal. When stones and arrows were the only tools of war, warriors wounded in war found that some diseases that affected them for many years were gone, as probably testify scars on the skin of the mummified body of Similaun, Italy. The Eskimos, are still using sharpened stones for treating their illness. The Bantus of South Africa scratch certain areas of their skin to allay the symptoms of many illnesses, while in Brazil there is a tribe whose method of treating illness is to shoot tiny arrows from a blowpipe to specific areas of the skin. The practice of cauterizing 2007 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.