Did you hear that? Did you hear the soft ticking of your watch? Or the familiar sound of your keyboard? The loud music of your mp3? Sounds are everywhere, fortunately, we have two cool parts on our body that let us hear them all: the ears! Every ear is unique and no two are alike, they are like fingerprints and can be read to reveal our inner nature. In oriental philosophy the ears reveal a person’s understanding of life itself. The ears reveal the constitutional strength of the circulatory, digestive and nervous systems. In China they believe that people with long thick ears will have a long healthy life. Buddha is often depicted with ears that are round at the top, wide at the middle, and long lobes reflecting his strong constitution, love, wisdom and peace. The ears in traditional medicine are associated with the kidneys and they are the same size and shape as the kidneys. And it has been also said that by massaging pressure points and examining the texture of the ear the chi that is blocked can be detected. Simple pressure can release these blockages and allow the chi to flow through the organs.

Ear reflexology is the most recent development in reflexology, and it has evolved out of “Auricular Therapy” or acupuncture of the ears. The ears contain reflexology areas that when stimulated by acupuncture needles or finger pressure, influence corresponding body parts, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is a complete medical system which has developed continuously over at least 2500 years and has been proven one of the effective methods for pain relief.

Ear reflexology refers to physical stimulation of the reflex areas of the ears without the use of needles. The techniques used in ear reflexology are different to those used with the feet and hands, primarily because of the different size of the ears. Ear Reflexology is a fast-growing therapy that, like Hand Reflexology, can be applied quickly and easily where other forms of reflexology may not be appropriate.

There is a recorded story from the Egyptians 3000 years ago who treated people with back pains by using a red hot needle on a point in the ear and the pain disappeared.

The points for Ear Reflexology are similar to those in auricular therapy or ear acupuncture. A sensitive point is identified with either a finger or a small blunt stick. By attaching a seed with a plaster on to a sensitive defined point, the patient can easily work when required between treatments. It is believed that Ear Reflexology works by directly stimulating the central nervous system, as opposed to traditional reflexology which relaxes the body to allow balancing of the systems. Unlike traditional reflexology, each ear represents the whole body so only one ear is worked on at a time.

Ear Reflexology is applied for the instant pain relief such as clearing infections, lowering blood pressure and balancing hormones. Modern Chinese ear reflexologists believe that special ear reflexology treatment is good for the skin and has slimming effects, and provides pain relief during menstrual period.

Ear Reflexology is commonly used with foot and hand reflexology and can confirm a diagnosis suggested by imbalances in the feet and hand reflex points.