If you've ever noticed tiny studs or seeds on someone's ear after an acupuncture visit, you've seen auricular acupuncture. It's a focused form of treatment that uses points on the ear to influence the rest of the body, and it's something we're excited to bring into the clinic.
Where It Came From
The modern version of ear acupuncture traces back to Dr. Paul Nogier (1908 to 1996), a French neurologist and physician. In the 1950s he noticed that points on the ear seemed to correspond to different parts of the body, and in 1957 he presented what became a famous ear map: the outer ear laid out like an upside-down fetus, with the earlobe standing in for the head and the upper ear for the lower body. His work was soon picked up by Chinese practitioners, and it grew into the ear acupuncture used around the world today.
How It Works
The ear is small, but it's richly wired. Different parts of it are supplied by several nerves, including a branch of the vagus nerve, the long nerve that helps regulate your stress response, digestion, and inflammation.
Researchers have found that most of the ear points commonly used for pain sit in areas supplied by that vagus branch. One idea is that stimulating those points sends signals through the nervous system that dampen pain and calm the body's stress response. Other proposed explanations include the same "gate control" effect seen with body acupuncture, which can quiet pain signals.
What the Research Shows
Pain is where the evidence is strongest. Randomized trials, many of them around surgery-related pain, have reported lower pain and less opioid use with ear acupuncture compared with placebo treatment.
Sleep shows early promise. In a large 2025 analysis of insomnia trials, combining acupuncture with ear acupuncture was among the best-performing approaches compared with sleep medication.
Allergies have some early support too. For hay fever and year-round nasal allergies, a 2021 analysis found ear acupuncture outperformed comparison treatments, and beat placebo for overall nasal symptoms, sneezing, and quality of life.
What to Expect
Ear acupuncture can be done on its own or added to a regular acupuncture session. Treatment is gentle, uses sterile single-use materials, and is aimed at the points that match what's going on for you. Let us know ahead of time if you have an ear infection or a skin condition on or around your ears.
I'm so grateful to have spent last week at an auricular acupuncture seminar in Boston, taught my Dr. Paul Nogier’s son. I came home with so many nuggets of wisdom that I'm excited to bring into the clinic. There's always more to learn in this field, and I love that what I learn can go straight back to helping the people I treat.
Hawthornes Ear Acupuncture Special
We are offering a special on auricular acupuncture sessions so you can try it and see how your body responds. Visit our online booking and instagram to get details!
We're located in Centennial and see patients throughout the south Denver metro area, including Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker, and Aurora. Book a visit.