Auriculotherapy fails to relieve chronic pain. A controlled crossover study
R. Melzack and J. Katz
Enthusiastic reports of the effectiveness of electrical stimulation of the
outer ear for the relief of pain ("auriculotherapy") have led to increasing
use of the procedure. In the present study, auriculotherapy was evaluated
in 36 patients suffering from chronic pain, using a controlled crossover
design. The first experiment compared the effects of stimulation of
designated auriculotherapy points, and of control points unrelated to the
painful area. A second experiment compared stimulation of designated points
with a no-stimulation placebo control. Pain-relief scores obtained with the
McGill Pain Questionnaire failed to show any differences in either
experiment. It is concluded that auriculotherapy is not an effective
therapeutic procedure for chronic pain.
