Addiction Therapy History

Though acupuncture is of Chinese origin, modern auricular acupuncture came from France.
In 1957, Dr. Paul Nogier, from Lyon, France observed scars on the ears of a patient who was successfully treated for sciatic pain.
Research led him to develop a map of the ear based upon the inverted fetus concept.
Nogier's work was presented in France and then published by a German acupuncture society, then translated into Chinese.
In 1958, the Nanking Army Ear acupuncture research team in China verified the clinical accuracy of Dr. Nogier's concept of "the little man on the ear."
This easy concept spread to the masses and was further developed in China.

In 1974, Lincoln Hospital began a substance abuse program to replace methadone treatment with acupuncture.
Over the next 10 years, an auricular acupuncture protocol was developed and fine-tuned that eliminated withdrawal symptoms and significantly decreased relapse rates.
At first it was used solely on Methadone addicts, but then expanded in the treatment of all drug, alcohol, and smoking addictions.

In 1985, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was founded to extend the example of Lincoln Hospital into other treatment settings.
NADA uses the 5 needle protocol developed from the Lincoln Hospital research.
- Beneficial in the process of detoxification from substance abuse
- Helps with the emotional, physical, and psychological attributes involved in addictions
This particular protocol (now commonly called the NADA protocol) is perhaps the most widely researched aspect of acupuncture in the USA.

Oriental Medicine and Health Services