- - — Copyrighted Material — - -

The Essentials of Auriculomedicine

By Yves Rouxeville, MD

CHAPTER ONE
The Evolution of Auriculomedicine

1.1 Paul Nogier's Discovery

In 1966, Paul Nogier observed that the quality of the radial pulse changed instantly each time he would stimulate a subject's auricle. Meticulously, he studied palpation of the radial pulse and each category of stimulation likely to cause a change in the radial arterial pulse. He later termed his approach Auriculomedicine arguably, a somewhat inadequate term, but one that has nonetheless become universal.

Paul Nogier had studied traditional acupuncture. He had been trained in palpating the radial pulse as practiced in traditional Chinese medicine. In 1965, at the Congrès de Vichy¹, he presented a paper on his latest discovery of a special quality of the Chinese pulse that he had named the yu factor. This discovery represented a new contribution to the pulse qualities traditionally catalogued in Chinese medicine. Paul Nogier was thankful for the opportunity he had had to train in Chinese medicine because he felt it had, among other things, contributed to refining his digital, tactile perception.

One day, due to his training in Chinese medicine, and more particularly in its pulse taking technique, just as he happened to be stimulating one of his subject's auricles, Paul Nogier sensed a change in the amplitude of that subject's pulse. It was in that instant that Nogier had just chanced upon a phenomenon that he later named, Réflexe auriculo cardiaque, the auricular cardiac reflex. Later on, he noted that stimulating the skin anywhere on the surface of the body — and not exclusively on the dermis of the auricle — triggered the same phenomenon. The original terminology he applied to his discovery continues to be used today, especially in France, although, strictly speaking, it is inaccurate.

At a later date his pupil, Dr. Frank Bahr of Germany, suggested that the name Auriculomedicine might be applied to this discipline of studying the auricular dermis while simultaneously monitoring the auricular cardiac reflex. For various reasons, the descriptive accuracy of Dr. Bahr's new term has often come into question. On the one hand, it can be argued that there exists only one medicine and that a physician who practices reflexive medicine still practices medicine even if his way of examining and treating is not customary or academic, it has its place in the broader scope of medicine. On the other hand, the practice of this medical technique can be performed over the entire dermal layer, which is continuous to the body, but also on the scalp and on the auricle. Worldwide, the term Auriculomedicine has become established through general usage and, however debatable and equivocal a term, it is here to stay.

As it stands, Auriculomedicine is neither a medicine isolated on its own nor a practice exclusively circumscribed to the auricula or auricle.

By nature, Paul Nogier preferred conducted his research without worrying too much about the finicky aspects of terminology. His was a keen mind. He loved knowledge and thought deeply. He dared to study without holding back or setting limits. Once he had discovered something, he loved to review and establish the repetitive character of this new discovery. In fact, Paul Nogier was entirely attuned to the universe.

1.1.2 - Paul Nogier's First Published Paper: "The Ear Sees"

In 1969, Paul Nogier described the first results of his studies on the auricular cardiac reflex in his Treatise of Auriculotherapy², a book that was published worldwide. The chapter entitled, "Studies and perspectives of the Auricular Cardiac Reflex," covers the subject in roughly fifteen pages. At the end of this chapter, Nogier introduces the studies on laterality that he had conducted with the help of the RAC¹, later termed VAS, which he used as his standard of measurement.

The first article published by Paul Nogier on the auricular cardiac reflex and its possibilities, including an allusion to Auriculomedicine, appeared in numbers 5 and 6 (1969) of the magazine, Méridiens, published by the Association Scientifique des Médecins Acupuncteurs de France² and entitled, "L'oreille voit. Possibilities d'un réflexe nouveau"³

In the introduction to his ground-breaking paper, Nogier States:

"I have studied the auricula for over 18 years, and, in my opinion, this region appears as an increasingly important reflex zone. I have demonstrated that in this region a veritable somatotopia exists and that is is possible to act on various regions of the body by stimulating this or that point of the auricle itself.

In the course of my clinical observations on the auricle, I made the discovery, about one year ago, of a hitherto unknown process: the Auriculo Cardiac Reflex. Since this discovery, not a month has passed without my finding new applications for this reflex."

Concluding, Paul Nogier calls the reader's attention to the following interesting fact:

"One of my patients suffers from abdominal pains with very severe attending migraines. His abdominal pains, caused by intense cellulitis of the intestinal walls, are not always spontaneous. I can trigger them after shining a strong light on his right tragus for 45 seconds. I have reproduced this experiment at twenty days' interval and this observation is not isolated. In some patients, shining a focused light does trigger peripheral pains but, in others, it has the effect of calming their pain. The auriculo cardiac reflex (RAC) is precisely what led me to this research and observations."

¹For excellent insights in the history and evolution of the VAS, see Dr. Marc LeBel's Preface in A Course in Auriculomedicine, Expanded 4th Ed., Dux Lucis Books (Ottawa:2012) p. i.
²The French Association of Medical Acupuncturists.
³The Ear Sees. The Possibilities of a New Reflex." (ed.'s note.)

- - — Copyrighted Material — - -