Ear acupuncture has its roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Just as this ancient healing art defines acupuncture points on the body for treatment of various conditions, similar points are defined on the ear. In the 1950's, Dr. Paul Nogier of Lyon, France expanded the original Chinese charts into a more comprehensive system. Dr. Nogier's work demonstrated the ear is actually a micro-map of the entire body (an inverted fetus), with all body parts represented. Thus, all parts of the body can be treated by means of the external ear. Proponents believe that auriculotherapy works because many of the nerve endings in the ear connect to hormonal parts of the brain and organs within the body.

Each spot on the ear is stimulated to treat specific problems. Not only does your acupuncturist know what to address when they do an auricular analysis, but they can directly target areas to treat various health conditions. Your practitioner will begin your treatment by inspecting points that may be related to your health condition. After these points have been located, they will be treated with various treatment methods such as acupuncture needles, ear seeds/pellets, or mild electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation has the advantage of also providing electrical detection of active points for precise treatment.

Ear acupuncture is used widely for pain control and addictions of all kinds. It has also been clinically proven to help with stress and anxiety, depression, PTSD, insomnia and so much more. 

Ear Acupuncture role as an adjunctive therapy for addiction rehabilitation support it´s especially linked to Withdrawal management (detox), because it helps people who are physically dependent on alcohol or other drugs safely withdraw from them. 

Withdrawal from alcohol and some prescription medications can be dangerous and even life threatening. A doctor should always supervise withdrawal. Withdrawal by itself is not treatment, but can be an important starting point.

Like other chronic health conditions, addiction requires care and support, so it is critical that you seek help from a professional with skills and expertise in treating addiction.

Acupuncture is safe and potentially valuable as an adjunctive holistic therapy to conventional addiction rehabilitation programs.
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If you are undertaking a rehabilitation program, both traditional whole body acupuncture and auricular acupuncture may be useful to treat problems with substance abuse.

​Using ear acupuncture in combination with whole body acupuncture may help to relieve withdrawal symptoms and cravings and to improve general relaxation, mental and physical functioning while in rehab therapy. 

Based on your health assessment and the TCM Diagnosis, we will create a personalized treatment plan for you!

For information about where to get help visit the following links.
​www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help/get-help-problematic-substance-use.html

Crisis and Help Line Ontario
Drug and Alcohol Helpline (24/7)
Phone: 1-800-565-8603
Phone: 1-519-439-0174
If you are in an immediate crisis or danger, please call 9-1-1. 

References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822281/

https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/180/5/582/4161830?login=true

http://www.haydenhealth.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?PostID=661634&A=SearchResult&SearchID=12475935&ObjectID=661634&ObjectType=55​​

Gua Sha is a healing technique of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The practitioner scrapes the skin with short or long strokes to stimulate microcirculation of the soft tissue, which increases blood flow. These strokes are made with a smooth-edged instrument known as a Gua Sha massage tool.

Gua Sha is an instrument-assisted unidirectional “press-stroking” of a lubricated area of the body surface that intentionally creates transitory therapeutic petechiae. 

Gua Sha may help to break down scar tissue and connective tissue, improving movement in the joints. The treatment is a supplementary therapy, and it´s always use in combination with other TCM modalities to treat acute or chronic pain in muscles, to reduce inflammation, and promote healing.

Also, Gua Sha is used to treat and prevent asthma, chest congestion, colds and flu and promotes the free flow of Qi and blood (other conditions that may benefit from Gua Sha are arthritis and fibromyalgia). Gua Sha is most often used to relieve muscle and joint pain.

Gua Sha does not have any serious side effects but is not suitable for those with certain medical conditions. Always consult with a professional!

Despite the looks, Gua Sha is not a painful therapy. The pressure or pull one may feel is much less than that of cupping. There is very little pain, if any felt but, may feel uncomfortable.

The procedure may temporarily change the appearance of your skin because it involves rubbing or scraping of the skin with a massage tool, tiny blood vessels known as capillaries near the surface of your skin can burst. Any marks left behind from treatment fade within 2-4 days. If longer than 4 days, and if the erythema (redness of the skin) is still visible or slow to fade, this would represent a poor blood circulation or a deficiency according to Traditional Chinese Medicine evaluation of signs and symptoms.

​Reference: Gua sha: A Traditional Technique for Modern Practice by Arya Nielsen (Dec 26, 2012)

People have used herbal medicine for centuries to treat many health conditions. Like acupuncture, herbal medicine aims to restore your body, so that it can protect, regulate and heal itself. Chinese herbal medicine is part of our holistic medical system that looks at your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It is an integral body approach, and a key to good outcomes in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the treatment of each patient as an individual. 

Chinese medicine practitioners prefer herbal formulas where the herbs work together synergistically to treat various patterns of disease in the body and, also treat the root cause of imbalance. Unlike western medications, we consider the balance and interaction of all the ingredients more important than the effect of an individual ingredient addressing a symptom.

Chinese herbalists choose the medicinals according to how they target a body part (tropism), their flavor, their temperature, the patient's constitution, and overall health. 

The practitioner uses different parts of plants (leaves, roots, tubers, stems, flowers, seeds, minerals, and some animal products), to tailor an herbal formula that targets the patients' presenting signs symptoms at the time of the consult. Usually, we combine different ingredients and you take them as teas, capsules, tinctures, or for external conditions, we use pastes, lotions, and medicated patches. Also, we use powders or decoctions for soaks (i.e. foot soak), and intimate washes.

Chinese herbs may decrease menopausal symptoms, different types of pain, increase energy, improve digestion, sleep quality, regulate menstrual cycles, strengthen immunity, and aid fertility and sexual dysfunction treatments.

When appropriate, we recommend herbal prescriptions as part of your personalized treatment plan. For the safety of our patients, a list of prescribed pharmaceutical drugs, over-the-counter medications, supplements, and herbal remedies that the patient is taking must be in the chart before an herbal medicine prescription can be recommended.

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have any medical condition, including cancer, or are due to have surgery in the next few weeks, you shouldn’t use herbal medicine without medical supervision.

Under supervision, herbal therapy can be valuable following cancer treatments to aid the body’s recovery from the after-effects of chemotherapy and/or radiation. In some cases, there is evidence that some herbal remedies might prevent or relieve symptoms during cancer treatments. As mentioned earlier, herbal medicine’s therapeutic effects are often achieved through the synergistic and combined actions of different compounds that may counteract pharmaceutical drug's side effects, offering a complementary therapy to the potentially toxic effects of medications.

However, there is no reliable evidence from human studies that herbal remedies alone can treat, prevent, or cure any type of cancer. You could harm your health if you stop your cancer treatment for an unproven alternative. Some clinical trials seem to show that certain Chinese herbs might reduce side effects, and help to prevent cancer from coming back. This is especially when combined with conventional treatment. It is difficult to know how reliable the research is, but there are trials looking into this.

Many people assume herbal products are safe to use when marketed as natural. Some herbal medicines might be safe. But others can have dangerous side effects.

Always follow the specific administration instructions by the prescribing Registered TCM Practitioner or qualified health care professional.

It is very important to avoid prescribing yourself, or following advice from unqualified sources, especially if you are taking pharmaceutical drugs, over-the-counter medicine, or other natural health products, such as supplements, and other natural remedies.

Once the patient starts herbal therapy, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners must have a follow up consult to determine if the herbs and the dose are working as intended. If necessary, the practitioner will adjust the ingredients/dosage to meet the individual response to the herbal prescription. 

At Unleashed Vitality Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, we monitor our patients closely while taking herbs, and a complimentary virtual 15 minutes follow-up is included during our herbal therapy treatments. Depending on the treatment goals, we may continue with the herbal formulation, modify it, or stop it altogether. In most cases, Chinese herbs are not meant to be taken long term. 
 
Health Canada regulates natural health products (NHPs) so that Canadians can have confidence that the products they use are safe, effective, and of high quality. Despite some negative remarks you might find on the internet, our responsibility as regulated health professionals is to keep our patients safe, and if herbal medicine is prescribed, it will be thoroughly discussed with each patient. We would only recommend suppliers that comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) requirements and the guidelines of Health Canada’s Food and Drugs Act (the Act).

*The cost of herbal prescriptions varies.
**Herbal medicine prescription prices are not included in the consultation or treatment fees.
***Chinese herbal medicine is not a substitute for conventional medical treatment.  

References

Health Canada

• Good Manufacturing Practices

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/compliance-enforcement/good-manufacturing-practices/guidance-documents/gmp-guidelines-0001/document.html

• Natural Health Products

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/natural-non-prescription.html

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency

https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food-safety-for-industry/archived-food-guidance/safe-food-production-systems/food-recall-and-emergency-response/food-manual/eng/1378402475724/1378403080658?chap=2

• College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturist of Ontario

https://www.ctcmpao.on.ca/

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/herbal-medicine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955605/