Dr. Jared Hanson is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in New York. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Hanson at his New York City location, e-mail  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 917-267-WELL.

Ear Acupuncture in New York

Auriculotherapy in Manhattan, NYC

Using ear acupuncture in New York, Dr. Hanson has had excellent results treating chronic or acute pain, stress, anxiety and addictions, as well as helping patients lose weight.

Often called ear acupuncture, auriculotherapy is a distinct medical system developed in France. The nervous supply of the ear is related to the entire body through neural reflexes. By stimulating exact points on the ear, conditions on distant parts of the body can be positively influenced.

Auriculotherapy has ancient roots in European folk medicine, but it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that it became systematized and the ear was fully mapped. In 1951 Dr. Paul Nogier, a French physician, had a patient with sciatica who he was unable to help with conventional medicine. The patient was relieved by a folk healer who cauterized a specific point on the ear. After painstaking research and exploration, Nogier was able to draw up a map of the human ear and the corresponding areas of the body. Amazingly, this map resembled a fetus in the womb, with the head area projected on the lobe.

Instead of cauterization, Dr. Nogier substituted sterile needles similar to those used in acupuncture and, inserting these needles in the appropriate parts of the ear, he was able to relieve a wide variety of ailments. Due to the use of needles, auriculotherapy superficially resembles acupuncture. The underlying principles, however, are completely different. Acupuncture, as developed in Asia, attempts to manipulate the flow of an energy called qi and to balance the universal principles of yin and yang. Auriculotherapy, as developed by Nogier, works instead by influencing the nervous system. Nerves that supply the ear are thought to have reflex actions on the rest of the body.

Within the larger field of acupuncture, ear acupuncture is considered a microcosm system in which one part of the body is taken as a representation of the whole. There are several other microcosm systems including hand, foot, scalp and even tongue acupuncture!