Patterns of sensitive ear points and somatic pain locations

[Guest guest]

Hi Alon & All,

 

Re the recent disappointing results ... No statistically significant agreements

were found between the painful body regions and the corresponding tender

ear zones, as described in the paper " Are auricular maps reliable for chronic

musculoskeletal pain disorders? A double-blind evaluation. Acupunct Med.

2007 Sep;25(3):72-9 " :

 

(1) The abstract gave no address but the study probably was done in

Sweden by Andersson E, Persson AL, Carlsson CP.

 

As regards the credentials of the research team, the first two authors

(Anderson E and Persson AL) have published on other topics may not be

acupuncturists because neither has hits on acupuncture on Medline before

this paper.

 

However the TEAM probably was competent to conduct the study because

Carlsson CP has published 9 atricles on acupuncture (with good results in

some) from the address: Clinical Science, Department of Neurosurgery,

Lund University, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. See Carlsson's

acupuncture papers at http://tinyurl.com/2lkwkz

 

(2) It is a pity that the study design included PAST areas of pain. IMO the

test should have been to see if the patterns of earpoint sensitivity correlated

with CURRENT or current + very recent pain locations.

 

The original study in California by Oleson TD, Kroening RJ, Bresler DE

(1980) gave very significant results:

 

Oleson TD, Kroening RJ, Bresler DE (1980) An experimental evaluation of

auricular diagnosis: the somatotopic mapping or musculoskeletal pain at ear

acupuncture points.Pain. 1980 Apr;8(2):217-29. The present study was

designed to experimentally evaluate the claims by French and Chinese

acupuncturists that a somatotopic mapping of the body is represented upon

the external ear. According to this system of diagnosis, areas of the auricle

where there is increased electrical conductivity and heightened tenderness

to touch correspond to specific areas of the body where there is some

pathological condition. The hypothetical map of different bodily regions

appears on the external ear as an inverted fetus, with the head represented

towards the lower lobule, the hands and feet represented at the uppermost

portion of the auricle, and the body in between. Forty patients were medically

examined to determine areas of their body where there was musculoskeletal

pain. Each patient was then draped with a sheet to conceal any visible

physical problems. The physician conducting the auricular diagnosis had no

prior knowledge of the patient's medical condition, but simply examined the

patient's ear for areas of elevated skin conductivity or tenderness. The

concordance between the established medical diagnosis and the auricular

diagnoses was 75.2%. Both quantified readings of electrical current flow and

subjective ratings of dermal tenderness were statistically significant in

arriving at accurate diagnoses. These results thus support the hypothesis

that there is a somatotopoic organization of the body represented upon the

human auricle. PMID: 7402685 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

http://www.acupuncture.com/conditions/drugdetxear.htm says: " Besides

being the author of numerous scientific articles, Dr. Oleson is the Chair of

the Department of Psychology and the Division of Behavior Medicine at the

California Graduate Institute. Dr. Oleson also serves on the faculty of

Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine and as President of the

Center for Oriental Medical Research and Education (COMRE) " .

 

Is Terry still active? His homepage www.auriculotherapy.com/ did not

respond today and I could not find his name listed on the Emoeror's faculty:

http://www.emperors.edu/faculty.html

 

If Terry is active, it is a pity that the Swedish group did not involve him in

the

design of their project. Terry received the Auricular Acupuncture of the Year

Award from the International Congress of in 1998.

 

Best regards,