Modern Chinese Ear Acupuncture

Book excerpt: This useful and well-organised text presents a great deal of information that can quickly be adapted for clinical facility. It precisely lays out the indications and applications for ear acupuncture, the characteristics of point selection, and the principles of prescription formation. Using charts and descriptions, anatomical areas and points on the external anterior and posterior surface of the ear are described and depicted. Each is identified with an English name and the international standard nomenclature for point reference. The distribution patterns and classification, and standard names, locations, and indications for roughly 87 ear points are provided. The theoretical basis and methods of ear diagnosis, including inspection, palpation, and electrical detection are described. Diagnostic indicators for 100 commonly seen internal and external diseases, OB/GYN diseases, dermal diseases, and EENT disorders are delineated. A variety of therapeutic methods are covered: seed acupressure, filiform needling, intradermal needle implantation, electroacupuncture, plum blossom needling, bloodletting, medicine injection, ear moxibustion, ear massage, medicated plasters, and magnet therapy. There is an extensive section dealing with treatments for more than 132 common disorders. Each includes a treatment prescription (primary and supplementary points), therapeutic methods (listed above, and selected according to appropriate indications), and clinical notes. Case studies with commentaries, from the clinical records of Dr. Yang Yun Bi, a physician at Huang Shan Medical School in Anhui Province, PRC, have been included where they correspond to the disorders presented.