How Ear Seeding Could Help Solve Your Insomnia Woes
. Dr. Cho, who uses ear seeding with her patients, explains what you need to know about this noninvasive therapy.It’s a way to stimulate pressure points in the ear. This technique has been used for thousands of years to alleviate insomnia, pain, stress, and other issues. Small metallic beads or plant seeds are adhered to pressure points in the ear’s microsystem that is linked to other body systems, including the nervous, digestive, and respiratory systems.
A 2015 meta-analysis of 15 studies on auricular acupressure found a positive effect for primary insomnia: There was significant improvement in sleep duration, number of awakenings, and sleep onset compared with placebo. This is an Eastern medicine whose validation tends to be based on time-tested results, and doing studies with controlled variables can be challenging, so more research may be needed. However, current data and clinical experience show that it has promise.