People who are looking for weight loss programs in their fight against obesity can turn to auriculotherapy as an option. Being overweight has an adverse effect on a person’s self confidence and can damage one’s self-esteem. Auriculotherapy is an effective solution to this problem. Auriculotherapy weight loss programs aids in decreasing your appetite; a lower appetite means you can patiently wait until the time you can eat healthy food, instead of eating at your convenience.

Auriculotherapy has become a popular mode of treatment, with many people using it regularly to get relief from many other health conditions

Auriculotherapy for Weight loss
by Dr. Karla Miller

Auriculotherapy (acupuncture in the ear) suppresses the desire to binge. Patients report a decrease in appetite and in increase in satiety (fullness) while eating. For centuries the Chinese have know that the ear is an important switch board for controlling many body functions especially the appetite. The science behind acupuncture for weight loss shows that stimulating certain points regulates insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that is secreted from the pancreas and is responsible for the breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Higher levels of insulin lowers glucose levels which makes you feel hungry faster and cause you to over eat. Too much insulin will cause your body to store fat. Treatment will help stabilize your insulin levels and promote fat loss.

Stress can also play a part in the situation. Stress will cause an increase in cortisol, which will trigger food cravings. By helping to reduce stress and tension and promote proper hormone balance. Acupuncture triggers the release of endorphins, which are feel good Neuro-chemicals enhancing well being. If you feel good you are less prone to food cravings. Auriculotherapy speeds up the information from the stomach to the brain and increases the brains ability to recognize that the stomach is filling.

Weight Loss

It’s that time of the year.  Everyone is asking me if Chinese Medicine can help with weight loss. My answer is always: “Yes, we can help you, IF you are willing to help yourself also!” Acupuncture can help promote digestion, curb appetite, and deal with emotional eating.

Typically patients who come to me with weight issues (or even digestive disorders) show up with imbalances in the Spleen and Stomach meridians. Often they will also have some type of imbalance in the Triple Energizer (Sanjiao) channel. When I see all three of these channels out of balance I always ask how digestion and food choices have been lately. Usually this becomes confession time for the patient—parties over the weekend, pizza last night, etc.

How do you treat for weight loss with acupuncture? Great question… Here are some approaches that may help.

#1: AcuGraph basic treatment: Balance the graph and give dietary recommendations. It is much easier to tackle a weight loss goal when the body is functioning properly and the meridians are in balance.

#2: Auriculo PC treatment: Use the Weight Control protocol listed in the Auriculo PC program. This will help the patient with appetite control. For added benefit after the patient leaves your office, particularly to help with cravings, add ear seeds for the patient to stimulate as needed.

#3: Advanced TCM theories: Think outside the box. All of us have multiple approaches to treating patients because we have varied educational backgrounds. Analyze the graph in your own way.

Here is what I do:

I love to study points and channel pathways. With so many requests lately for helping patients to lose weight, I decided to do a little extra studying. My studies led me to two recurring thoughts I would like to share in relation to weight loss. The first is a new word that I learned. The second has to do with the function of the Triple Energizer.

New word: Huang

Huang means membranes or connective tissue, specifically relating to the spaces between the abdominal cavity and the abdominal muscles. Huang is the tissue that fills the abdominal cavity to surround the organs. According to Giovanni Maciocia, Qi tends to stagnate in the membranes of the abdomen.
Triple Energizer Function

The Triple Energizer refers to specific body areas composed of the head and trunk. This is an area of the body where fat accumulates. This channel is responsible for moving qi in and out of the membranes (Huang) which surround the organs. When the Triple Energizer is functioning smoothly it ensures the free flow of fluids through the Lung, Spleen, Kidney, Stomach, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, and Bladder channels.
One of my favorite things to study is points. The Chinese name of a point indicates why they were used historically. There are five acupuncture points that have the word “Huang” in them: Kidney 16, Bladder 43, Bladder 51, Bladder 53 and an extra point that I hadn’t heard of before…

I found this “Extra Point” called Huang Mu in Giovanni Maciocia’s book, The Channels of Acupuncture. Giovanni refers to this point as a ‘front collecting point’ for the membranes.

*This extra point (Huang Mu) is not yet in the AcuGraph or Points software. To locate it, draw a line from the nipple to the umbilicus. (For women the nipple doesn’t always fall into the designated location, so use a location in the 4th intercostal space, directly below the midpoint of the clavicle.) Now, from a point halfway along this line, move horizontally directly below the nipple. (See Maciocia, The Channels of Acupuncture, pg. 44).

What I am finding clinically:

I decided to go back and look at the graphs of my overweight patients to see if there were any commonalities in their Triple Energizer channels.  I found that most of my overweight patients almost always had an imbalance in this meridian.

Last week I conducted a little experiment, paying close attention to patients that showed up with an imbalance in the Triple Energizer. Two common factors showed up for each patient with an imbalance in the channel.  First, the point Huang Mu was tender to palpation for each of them. Second, their pulses felt choppy and sluggish.

The interesting thing is that after I needled Huang Mu, the pulse changed immediately from deep and choppy to even and balanced for every patient!

I feel confident that Chinese Medicine, along with current technology such as AcuGraph and Auriculo PC, can help a person in their weight loss journey.  Isn’t it great to live at a time when we can combine ancient Chinese wisdom with the modern technology of the 21st century?

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