Acupuncture History: 475 B.C. China: Ear points were not systematized.

All 6 Yang meridians were said to be directly connected to the ear while all 6 Yin meridians were indirectly connected. 400 B.C. Egyptian auricular stimulation for pain management Hippocrates mentions auricular blood-lettings to treat impotence; ear stimulation also for menstrual disorders. 200 A.D. Persia sciatica treated by ear cauterization. 1500 A.D. Dutch East India Company brings Chinese acupuncture, including ear acupuncture, back to Europe In 1637, the Portuguese doctor Zactus Lusitanus described auricular cauterization for sciatic neuralgia In 1717, Valsalva mentions cauterization for paroxysmal toothache. In 1810, Professor Ignaz Colla of Palma mentions an auricular bee sting causing temporary lameness and cauterization behind the ear successfully treating sciatic pain. In 1850, Dr. Rulker of Cincinnati mentions successful cauterization of the helix for sciatica. Dr. Lucciani of Bastia promoted such treatments and Professor Malgaigne of Saint Louis corroborated these results. In France, between 1850 and 1857 this therapy was reviewed in many articles and became quite the fad. 1950s: Dr. Paul Nogier, French neurologist, develops the Somatotropic map based on inverted fetus, eventually re-exported back to China. 1960s: Nanking Army Ear Acupuncture Research Team verifies Nogiers findings. 1980s: UCLA double-blind research demonstrated that musculoskeletal pain is accurately diagnosed (through increased tenderness and reduced cutaneous electrical resistance) by Auricular Diagnosis 75% of the time. Nogiers differentiates the various auricular regions according to their innervation: Concha innervated by the Pneumogastric (vagus) nerve and is a projection of the endoderm. The Vagus (parasympathetic) nerve lies near the auricular orifice; the sympathetic innervation distributes from the spinal area along the anti-helix wall. The Antihelix is essentially sympathetic and is innervated by the 3rd (Mandibular) branch of the trigeminal (which has both sensory and motor functions). It provides a hologram for the innervation of the majority of the musculoskeletal system and the heart. The trigeminal also innervates part of the anti-tragus (skull area) and all of the helix (genital and kidney areas) but its tail (which is innervated by the superficial cervical plexus). The helical tail corresponds to the peripheral nervous system, the upper of the tail corresponds to the cerebral body; the lower to the medulla. The lobule of the ear corresponds to the encephalon or the central nervous system. Overall, the tragus, lobule, and helical tail correspond to the ectoderm; the primitive reticular system is mirrored on the tragus over the auditory meatus (orifice). Above this, there is a region corresponding to the structures that join to the two hemispheres of the brain (inter-hemispherical fibers, white commissures, & corpus callosum)