Acupuncture is an productive rehabilitation For Addictions

Many alternative treatments for addictions have shown great promise including two linked traditional Chinese Methods (Tcm), acupuncture and auriculotherapy (ear acupuncture). These two treatments have been used for centuries to claim and restore health. More recently they have been used to treat contemporary drug addictions like cocaine, heroin, and crack as well as alcohol and cigarettes. Patients treated with this method often sense fewer relapses with no known negative side effects. It is inspiring that we, in the Western World, think of traditional Chinese treatment as "alternative health" when it has been colse to for thousands of years!

Acupuncture

Medicine For Addiction

This procedure originated in China over 5000 years ago. It is based on the trust that health is considered by a life power flow referred to as chi. Agreeing to this theory, power flow circulates along 12 pathways called meridians, each linked to specific organs. Over 1000 acupoints within the meridian theory can be stimulated to improve the chi. While a treatment, special needles are inserted into these acupoints, which are settled under the skin, to help definite any imbalance and restore health.

The Western World was largely unaware of this procedure until the 1970s. In 1997 the National Institutes of health (Nih) released a statement endorsing it for a variety of conditions. The World health organization has listed over 40 health conditions that acupuncture can improve including addictions.

Auriculotherapy

Auriculotherapy is the stimulation of the auricle of the external ear to diagnose and treat health conditions in other parts of the body. The auricle could be compared to an inverted fetus, with the head represented on the lower ear lobe, the feet at the top of the external ear, and the rest of the body in-between.

Modern applications of this method are based on the work of Dr. Paul Nogier from France who practiced in the 1950's. In recognition of Nogier's discoveries and research on the auricle, the Chinese Government honored him by awarding him a formal title "Father of contemporary Auricular Therapy."

Dr. Michael Smith is recognized internationally as the psychiatrist who pioneered the use of these procedures in the field of chemical dependency. He advanced an approved auricular therapy protocol at Lincoln Hospital, New York. In 1987, the agenda was redesigned to focus on court-related referrals. Based on the Lincoln Hospital model, Dr. Smith helped originate the Miami drug court treatment and court monitoring theory and has advised numerous other programs colse to the country. Dr. Smith founded the National Acupuncture Detoxification association (acudetox.com).

In Auriculotherapy, addictions are treated by addressing the specific ear points that deal with dependencies using varied tools such as needles, pellets/seeds, magnets, acupressure, electrostimulation, or laser. It is conducted by a variety of practitioners, including acupuncturists, chiropractic doctors, curative doctors, naturopathic doctors, nurses, bodily therapists, and psychotherapists.

One of the most prominent features of acupuncture or auriculotherapy is that they can be used safely with "high risk" patients. Pharmaceutical treatments are often itsybitsy by the patient's bodily conditions such as reproduction or high blood pressure. These two methods can be administered across a wide range of habitancy effectively and affordably.

Acupuncture is an productive rehabilitation For Addictions