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3 Methods and Techniques
Patients will find it reassuring and will feel more confident if the practitioner explains every
step of the examination and treatment at the first appointment.
3.1
Point Location
The best environment for safe and reliable point location is a treatment room without tech-
nical equipment, providing a relaxing atmosphere (tranquillity, some ornaments, flowers)
for both, therapist and patient.
All pathological points should be located before needling since needling of the first point
may change all other points. Pathological points may reinforce each other and are there-
fore easier to locate before the start of the actual treatment.
3.1.1 Mechanical Point Location
This is the oldest method for locating pathological ear points; correlating findings on the ear
with existing disease patterns formed the basis for the auricular topography.
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Principle:
systematic palpation of the entire surface of the ear with a probe (
›
2.2.3).
Important: constant and unchanging pressure! Points that are tender in comparison to
their environment are classified as pathological and require treatment.
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Advantage:
easy to use
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Disadvantage:
– painful and inaccurate; findings depend, among other things, on the patient’s sensi-
tivity to pain
– detailed examination of the ear or repeated checking of a particular point are not
possible due to the painful nature of this method
– difficulty in differentiating painful points located close to each other
This method is not suitable for a comprehensive examination of the whole ear but is useful
for verifying results obtained by other point location methods.
3.1.2 ‘Very-Point-Technique’
This technique developed by J Gleditsch represents a further development of the mechan-
ical point location method. It was initially developed as part of mouth acupuncture for lo-
cating pathological points on the oral mucosa since direct palpation is hardly possible in the
damp environment of the oral cavity. Today this technique is also used in auricular acupunc-
ture as a direct method.
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Principle:
Auricular areas suspected to be pathological are scanned with an acupunc-
ture needle for increased sensitivity by very lightly tapping or very gently brushing over
the surface. Points with increased pain sensitivity and reduced skin turgor (the ‘very
point’ after Gleditsch) can be needled without any resistance of the tissue.
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Advantage:
quick and elegant method since it does not require a change of equipment
between point location and needling
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Disadvantage:
risk of injury during scanning if the technique is not adequately per-
formed
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