Auriculotherapy

I met a new gal at work. We started chatting it up. She asked me if I've tried Auriculotherapy. I was lost as to what she was speaking about went home looked it up. It's done on the ears- acupuncture and it helps with many things. Including weight loss. 

Has anyone tried Auriculotherapy? If so how did it work for you? If you haven't tried it have you heard anyone talk or mention it. What did they say? 

Thoughts?! 

I've heard of it to quit smoking too. I don't know anybody personally that's done it to know any true results. I saw a booth at a fair that pierced the ear in a certain spot that was supposed to ease hunger when you rubbed it. It all sounds like gimmicks just like every other miracle weight loss fad.

One more thing...I've heard about the acupuncture for weight loss for years because I wanted to do it after having my son 15 years ago. I think if it worked then we would know about it.

I've had acupuncture on the ears years ago. Didn't work on weight loss, that's not what I was doing it for though. I went for side effects from chemo and it was wonderful and helped immensely. They did points all over the body and I had multiple points on the ears. I've never heard anything about acupuncture on the ears specifically for weight loss though.

I used to work for an outpatient substance abuse treatment clinic and we did acupuncture on the ears for people going through detox from opiates (including heroin). It seemed to help relieve anxiety and help promote relaxation. 

I get acupuncture for years. It it worked as well for weight loss I would not need RNY. 

I helps with cravings. And moods. And stress. And inflamation.  But is is not a miracle thing. 

From what I've seen of the science behind accupuncture, an EXTREMELY large portion, if not all, of the explanation for the alleged benefits are because of the "placebo effect." It seems to work because people think it does, not because it has any actual scientific benefit.

Some good discussion can be found here:

The evidence from the scientific studies also shows clearly that sham acupuncture is just as effective as true acupuncture... acupuncture most likely works by classical conditioning and other factors that are often lumped together and referred to as "the placebo effect."

The bottom line is that it's not really harmful (though it might end up being expensive?), so if you really want to try there's not a lot of risk. But it's highly unlikely that you're getting a legitimate medical benefit from it.

Besides, if putting needles in your ears was really a wonderful weight loss cure, you can bet it would be incredibly mainstream and people like the NIH and CDC would be promoting the heck out of it.

Well I started acupuncture. I've only noticed small things. Haven't tried anything as I described in my first post. I was going twice a week. Each appointment was an hour long. We will see what the next appointments do. He said ear acupuncture hurts.... I'm not a big weenie. So let's bring it on!