Research
The following is the first research paper by Dr.Kokubo
on clinical testing of PressPoint Ear Acupressure System,
which was contributed to a Japanese acupuncture medicine
journal in 1991. This is the English translation by Dr.kokubo.
A NEW AURICULAR ACUPRESSURE TREATMENT FOR SMOKING AND
OVERWEIGHT PROBLEMS
BY DR. JUNZO KOKUBO, D.AC.
As a model for acupuncture treatments, auricular or ear
acupuncture has been used in China, Japan and adjacent
Asian countries for the past millennium. It has gained
recognition as one of the most effective therapies to
treat overweight problems and smoking habits since the
mid 1970s, and now it is widely used by medical
professionals all over the world including the USA and
Canada.
As a professional acupuncturist, who was licensed to
practice acupuncture by the Ministry of Health of Japan
in 1974, and has been practising since, both in Japan and
in Canada, I have successfully treated numerous patients
for their overweight and smoking problems.
Although traditional ear acupuncture treatment has proven
to be extremely effective, there are certain drawbacks.
More specifically, the following:
1. Many people have in-bred fear of needles, which
is a deterrent to this form of treatment.
2. Thumb-tack type needles and intracutaneous needles
that are widely used by acupuncturists and medical
professionals can cause pain or discomfort when, for
instance, using the telephone or sleeping.
3. Satisfactory results require weekly visits to the
acupuncturist by the patients over periods of 2 to 3
months. This requires a real investment of time and
money, and can lead to de-motivation on the part of
the patient, and subsequent failure to complete the
course of treatments.
4. Access to professional acupuncturists may be
difficult or non-existent.
To solve these drawbacks of traditional ear
acupuncture treatment, I have developed a new method of
ear acupressure for the same purpose.
First, as the solution for the above-mentioned problems
of (1) and (2), no needles are used. Instead, tiny steel
alloy balls (1 mm in diameter) are placed on the ear
acupoints for stimulation to obtain the same
effectiveness as the traditional needling techniques. A
tiny ball, attached to a transparent adhesive tape, is
placed on a specified ear acupoint to give constant
pressure. It does not puncture the skin at all, nor cause
any pain or discomfort while in use. This is a great
advantage for patients who have an in-bred fear of
needles.
To verify the effectiveness of this ear acupressure
treatment utilizing the tiny alloy balls, I first
conducted experiments on 45 volunteers (including one
medical doctor) who wanted to quit smoking and lose
weight. The following is the summary of the results of
the tests which extended over a period of two months.
Treatment Procedure
I. For smoking cessation, the C point in the Fossa
of Antihelix and the D point in the Concha of both
ears were used.
II. For weight reduction, A point in the Fossa of
Antihelix and B point in the Concha of both ears were
used.
III. Each subject had a treatment once a week, the
tiny alloy balls were kept on between each session,
and the old balls were replaced with new ones at each
session. I instructed the subjects to press those
tiny balls on each ear with their fingertips several
times or for several seconds whenever they felt a
craving for cigarettes or food; this was to aid the
reduction of craving immediately.
Smoking Group
14 people tried ear acupressure treatment for smoking
cessation. Their age ranged from 20s to late 70s. Most of
them had been smoking 10 to 20 cigarettes every day for
the past 10 to 20 years, and one man was a heavy smoker
who had been smoking 2 packs every day for the past 60
years, and one woman said she would go crazy if she did
not smoke 60 cigarettes every day.
Almost everyone knew that smoking can be very harmful to
one's health, and they had tried to quit smoking many
times by using various methods such as group counselling
and workshops, relaxation tapes, nicotine patches,
hypnosis, or just will power, etc. But none of these
methods worked successfully for them mainly due to the
uncontrollably strong withdrawal reactions from cigarette
smoking or nicotine addiction. Those withdrawal symptoms
are anxiety, palpitations, insomnia, erratic moods,
restlessness, etc. Peer pressure at social gatherings
where many people smoke is another factor for the failure
in their attempt to kick their smoking habits.
As for the response to the treatment, those smokers were
divided into two groups. One group had 10 smokers who
could notice various effects quickly within 24 hours
after the first placement of the tiny alloy balls on the
ear acupoints. The other group had 4 smokers who could
hardly notice any effect even after several sessions of
the treatment.
There were several noticeable common effects among those
smokers who responded well to the treatment: a drastic
reduction in the craving for smoking, a change in the
taste of cigarettes when they smoked (most of them
described it as a rusty metallic taste which discouraged
them from smoking ), much less withdrawal symptoms from
the nicotine addiction. Therefore, they could forget
about smoking for a long time every day during the course
of the treatments.
Thanks to these effects, those smokers could cut down
cigarette consumption by more than half or quit smoking
completely. The most dramatic case was a man who had been
smoking 2 packs every day for the past 60 years. He could
stop smoking completely after only two treatments, and in
the following two months he smoked only 6 cigarettes that
were offered from his friends at parties.
It is a well known fact that the intensity of withdrawal
symptoms from nicotine addiction usually reaches its peak
within 3 to 5 days after smoking cessation, and most
would-be quitters fail at this critical phase. However,
those 14 smokers who could get satisfactory results from
the ear acupressure treatments agreed unanimously that
they could go through this critical phase so easily
because of much fewer withdrawal symptoms than usual.
Some of them mentioned that after a few days of smoking
cessation, they coughed up a lot of very yellowish phlegm,
which indicates the active detoxifying and excretive
function of the lung and bronchia due to ear acupressure
treatment.
Weight Reduction Group
31 people had ear acupressure treatment for weight
reduction, of them 29 were female and only 2 were male
subjects. These female subjects were divided into two
distinctive age groups; those from teens to 20s who did
not look obese as much as they thought or claimed , and
those from 30s to 40s whose obesity was as obvious as
they claimed. There were 16 females in the former group,
and 13 in the latter. Two females were in their 50s.
Most of them wanted to lose between 5 to 10 kg (10-20 lbs),
but one lady said she wanted to lose 50 kg (90 lbs.)
As for the effects of the treatment, 24 out of 31
subjects (or 77%) of them reported various kinds of
reactions within a week after the first placement of the
tiny alloy balls on the ear acupoints. The following were
those reactions;
* A substantial reduction in the appetite and they
felt full easily with less amount of food than before.
* They could stop nibbling completely between meals.
* Their bowel movements improved. Four people
reported that they started normal bowel movements
twice a day.
* No desire to drink coffee in the morning any more.
* One lady who had been diagnosed to have a slight
stomach ulcer, said that the constant hunger pain in
her stomach stopped.
* Their appetite went down quite a bit and hardly had
any food for the first few days, but felt more
energetic than usual.
* Three reported that they vomited after eating too
much at parties. ( This was not due to food poisoning
, for each attended a different party.)
* Once man said that de could not drink as much
alcohol as he used to.
Despite the above mentioned reactions in the first
week of the treatment, they could see very little or no
weight loss in this period. Only 2 subjects reported that
they lost 3 kg (about 6 lbs) in the first week. Most subjects noticed that weight loss
started from the second week on, and it was a slow but
steady weight reduction ranging from 0.5 to 1kg (1 to 2
lbs) per week. That weight reduction was
manifested in various forms of physical changes in each
in each subject;
- Reduction of puffiness in the hands and
fingers , which caused a ring to become very
loose.
- No more bloating of the belly after meals,
and it is flatter than before.
- The waist line became smaller, so the belt
was fastened an inch shorter.
- There appeared a gap between the thighs while
standing straight , which could not be seen
before.
- Flabbiness of the cheeks disappeared.
- No more sudden increase of nibbling and the
consequent weight increase at least 2kg (4
lbs) one week before menstruation.
Their weight loss advanced slowly but steadily, and
the average weight loss during the 2 months treatments
was 4.5 kg (9 lbs) among those 24 subjects. Two of them
said that they regained weight while they were travelling
for two weeks without putting the alloy balls on the ear
acupoints.
Seven subjects could not see any weight loss.
As the result of this clinical testing, I developed a new
ear acupressure system "PressPoint"
as the brand name for a weekly self-application, and
thousands of people have used it safely and effectively.
Some people have reported release from migraine headache
as a beneficent side effect, a calmer mood, and an average weight loss about 4 to 5 kg (8
to 10 lbs) per month. Some people found that they
needed to use the applications consistently for a month
before weight loss began. No negative side effects have
been reported, aside from some people with allergic
sensitive skin, who reported slight itchiness around the
adhesive patch. These people may have had an allergic
reaction to the glue used on the adhesive tapes.
|
