The History of Ariculotherapy

The first mentioning of stimulating points on your ear to treat conditions elsewhere in the body was found in the text Huang-Di-Nei-Jing known as The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine and contains information that is over 4000 years old. Documentation of ear stimulation to treat varying issues was documented in Egypt, Greece as well a little later. Multiple references were made through out China all the way up to 1888. In a book on Chinese Medicine, Zhang Zhen wrote that stimulating the ear can have a therapeutic effect on the heart, lungs and kidneys. It is also known to treat symptoms of the common cold, back pain and headaches. In the 1950’s however, Dr. Paul Nogier after seeing a patient with a cauterized ear for back pain, dedicated his life to the research and study of Auriculotherapy. After a few years he made a profound discovery; the external ear is an outward projection of an upside down fetus where the corresponding body parts are super imposed on the ear. This information spread throughout Europe and China where they confirmed his findings and he became known as the Father of Auriculotherapy. At about the same time Dr. Lichen Huang was also studying Auriculotherapy and came up with the same results. She became known as the Mother of Auriculotherapy.