There is great power in simplicity. It is said that the most masterful acupuncturists can effectively treat patients using only a few needles. The purpose of this article is to detail a simple, but remarkably powerful, microcurrent pain-control method I call the auricular micro-macro technique. This simple technique can provide significant relief for cancer pain. It also can be used for relieving pain from most other causes. This technique utilizes the holographic principle of "as above, so below."
"As above, so below" is manifested in the human body in the microsystems. Microsystems are regions of the body that contain "maps" of the entire organism with specific acupoints that correspond to each part. Auricular, or ear, acupuncture is the best-known system. Ear acupuncture points were first written about in the ancient Chinese text Nei Jing. In modern times, additional microsystems on the hands, face, nose, feet and many other regions have been charted. Because these points have such a rapid and powerful regulatory effect on qi and blood balance in the corresponding part of the body, they can be successfully used to control acute pain. It is well-known that auricular acupuncture can reduce cravings for addictive substances such as tobacco, drugs and alcohol, and have an appetite-suppressive effect. There also are master auricular points that have a general balancing and regulating effect on the entire body through the endocrine and nervous systems.
According to J. Gleditsch: "The principle of fractalization has been recognized as the fundamental feature of self-organization in nature. ... In living systems, fractalization leads to organisms creating a number of quantum copies of themselves. These replicas seem to provide information exchange between the inner organs and the environment. In terms of cybernetics, therefore, micro-acupuncture systems are homeostats. The biological significance of these multiple copies is to guarantee greater internal stability and regulation resources."2
In my practice, I primarily have used auricular micro-macro technique to control a wide range of acute myofascial or musculoskeletal pain conditions, for treatment of addictions and as a supplement to treatment of various internal organ imbalances. I am focusing on the treatment of cancer pain in this article due to the great need for improved pain-relief methods for cancer patients.
Here are instructions for performing the auricular micro-macro technique for cancer pain:
Setup
Steps
Set up the microcurrent unit with probes polarized. If available, place a 2-3 mm auricular probe tip on the trigger probe, which should be negative. In most cases, it is appropriate to place the negative probe (with auricular tip) on the microsystem point and the positive probe on the macro body point. The microsystem point is acting as the distal point in this system, which usually requires the negative polarity. In some rare cases, the polarity may need to be reversed. This can be verified by kinesiology.
Place wetted Q-tip of counterprobe (positive) on one or more painful zones, either directly over the cancer tumor or in areas of referred pain. For treating other forms of pain, place the + probe on the symptomatic part of the body or on the acupoint that directly registers the qi of that body part. For autonomic regulation, you may place the + probe on a back-shu point that corresponds to the affected body system. The patient can hold the counterprobe. Just tell them to touch where their body hurts the most.
Use searching feature of device to find the exact microsystem point with the highest conductivity reading. You can then search with the counterprobe on the body area to locate the most conductive point.
You have now created an electrical circuit between the macro (body) and micro (ear) point. Treat until the reading on the unit meter goes as high as possible. You can then move onto other applicable point combinations and repeat the procedure.
It can be valuable to have the patient move or exercise the affected body region while performing this technique. Movement draws more qi and blood to the area for correction of stasis, and helps re-educate the neuromuscular system through proprioception.
References
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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