Ear Stapling for Weight Loss

I found this article from my hometown news station and thought it was interesting. Has anyone ever heard of this procedure before? I'll stick to my lapband!!! http://www.ketv.com/health/13325656/detail.html (with video) Woman Loses 90 Pounds After Ear Stapling OMAHA, Neb. -- Kelly Lyman recently stopped by the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a new photo for her driver's license. She didn't look much like the old photo after losing 90 pounds. "I want to leave the house now. I want to be outside. I want to do things. The depression is gone. I'm happy," Lyman said. Lyman said she is eating less and walking more, but she credits small metal loops in her ear for controlling the cravings for unhealthy foods. It's called ear stapling. When Lyman is hungry, she just rubs the staples for 30 seconds. "What these treatments do is help bring those cravings down, help balance what we call chi energy," said acupuncturist and chiropractor Dr. Shelly Schochenmaier of the Advanced Pain and Balance Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Schochnmaier said she has inserted thousands of ear staples and just opened a new clinic in Omaha. She said that most acupuncturists believe the workings of the human body can be controlled through points on the ear to control the stomach, the small intestine and the large intestine. "When you have the staples in, you really start to realize how much you been living to eat, rather than eating to live. You start to be able to manage your food intake more easily," she said. Schochnmaier said 85 to 90 percent of her weight-loss patients are successful. She charges $70 for the procedure. Not everyone is an ear-stapling believer. Dr. Laeth Nasir is a family physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a former acupuncturist who practiced ear stapling. "I don't think it works very well. If this treatment were highly effective, as we are led to believe, people would be flocking to these places and everybody in the United States would be slim," Nasir said. Another concern in the medical community is safety. In February, the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners issued a statement calling ear stapling an "improper practice of acupuncture," citing a higher chance of infection. The American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine disagrees, but said it does feel that only licensed acupuncturists should perform ear stapling. Acupuncture is completely unregulated in Nebraska, allowing just about anyone to practice ear stapling. Still, Lyman is so satisfied she said she has just set a new goal to lose another 60 pounds "Some people say, 'Oh, it's all in your head.' Well, they are, but even if they do believe that, whatever it is, it works," she said. Those who perform the ear stapling procedure require patients to exercise and watch what they eat.

No, but after losing 160lbs, I realized my ears were HUGE.....LMAO For real. I need them, what's it called? Pinned closer to my head......lol

Girl, you are too silly!!!

Unfortunately, I have to admit I tried that about 30 years ago (it's not a new procedure).  It was the worst thing I have ever dont.  It hurt like hell and every time I got hungry I was supposed to twist the pins.  It hurt so badly that it made me nauseous, so yes, I couldn't eat under those conditions, but it was awful.  After just a few days, I removed them.   It's crazy what we will try to lose weight.  Thank God for wls--the first thing that has worked for me.

Hi Vicki, When I read this I knew it was too good to be true. 

Hi there: As I have stated to folks on this and other forums, there is a lot of bad information in the press and internet about weight loss. Ear stapling has been around for years. It was developed on the principles of accupuncture/acupressure. The theory is trying to stimulate an energy channel or nevre pathway to generate diminished appetite or early satiety (get full quickly when eating). The thought was if constant pressure was maintained on this pressure point, a person would loes their appetite or get full quickly when they eat, thus enabling them to lose weight.

As all the educated WLS patients already know, it takes the 3 tools of bariatrics to lose weight, surgery, change in nutrition and exercise to lose weight successfully. I always recommend to everyone on these forums to go to credible sources for information about weight loss. If any site promises you that "this one thing" is all you need, pass on it. Find the best information you can from bariatric surgeons that have a complete program - more than one WLS operation, a complete bariatric nutrition program and exercise counselling. If it sounds to good to be true, it very likely is not true.

In my many years of being obese willing to try anything to lose weight.  I had the Ear Stapling done.  I can tell you that the moment I walked out of the office I realized I wasted my money, money I truely didn't have at the time.  If I only had every penny I wasted on the gimmicks out there.  I don't think there is anything I hadn't tried.  From shots, Jenny Craig, NutriSystems, Weigh****ches, pills, yadda yadda yadda.  Each time I ended up even more depressed. I would suggest anyone who is thinking about this, ask to speak to some of their clients..Like weight loss surgery patients we will tell anyone and everyone about this surgery..Even those who don't want to hear it!!  lol Just my two cents. Dr. Rodriguez..;-)