“What draws me to auricular point acupressure (APA) is its alignment with nursing values: it is safe, empowering, low-cost, and designed to support patients in their everyday lives. APA transforms symptom management from something done to patients into something that can be practiced with them and eventually by them.” — Johns Hopkins nurse researcher Nada Lukkahatai, whose research focuses on developing non-pharmacological interventions to reduce pain and other symptom burden.
Short-circuiting chronic pain has become a tremendous medical challenge as the population ages, endures more illness (post-chemo neuropathy, Alzheimer’s/dementia, arthritis, etc.), and demands relief, too often in the form of opioids. (Chronic pain is among the top reasons people file claims for Social Security Disability Insurance.)
Now, practitioners can learn through a Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Executive Education course the first steps in bringing a newer type of healing touch as a holistic addition to their health care (and patient self-care) toolboxes.
Auricular Acupressure Training, an evidence-informed, five-module course from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON), offers learners an overview of how auricular acupressure, in which a practitioner presses small seeds against specific regions of the ear, may complement holistic approaches to health and wellness. (This introductory course provides a knowledge base that may support further hands-on training or supervised practice.)
[From Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine: Acupressure and the Ear: A Healing Path]
Through promising research at JHSON, auricular acupressure has been gaining traction as an alternative to controlling chronic pain through opioids, which carry dangerous addiction risks.
Through recorded lectures and guided activities, Auricular Acupressure Training learners develop an understanding of its core concepts and potential applications. The program is suitable for health care professionals, including nurses, other frontline clinical support personnel, health science students, and other individuals interested in holistic approaches to health and wellness. Course completion brings a micro credential and certificate of competency.
The Big Idea
The idea that energy channels course through the human body is an ancient one—that tapping such streams (qi, or life energy) could trigger healing bodily responses, including relief from chronic pain.
Descriptions of auricular acupressure might at first feel odd to the Western ear, though: Put a seed (or other small pellet) against the ear. Press, repeat, get welcome relief. But the simple, inexpensive treatment for chronic pain and a variety of cancer symptoms—fatigue, nausea, vomiting—as well as insomnia, depression, and various other ailments is erasing skepticism as it builds promise as an alternative to dangerously addictive opioids and other pharmaceuticals.
Auricular acupressure can trigger relief to different body parts: lower points on the ear control the head and neck area, for example, with higher points for the hip, knee, or heel.
The Details
In fact, JHSON auricular acupressure trials have found:
- 50 percent of participants achieved at least a 20 percent improvement in pain control;
- 40 percent achieved at least 25 percent improvement in function;
- 20 percent to 30 percent saw were able to reduce their opioid use.
Here’s your chance to start the process.
Auricular Acupressure Training learners will be able to:
- Explain the historical development and theoretical principles underlying auricular therapy.
- Identify major anatomical regions of the external ear and their corresponding auricular zones.
- Recognize commonly used auricular points, including master, correspondence, and functional points.
- Describe how auricular points are combined to create basic treatment protocols.
- Demonstrate the general procedures used for locating and stimulating auricular points.
- Apply key safety principles, precautions, and contraindications when using auricular acupressure.
Auricular Acupressure Training emphasizes evidence-informed concepts, and fundamental safety principles to support responsible learning and future skill development.
The cost is $800 (eligible for JHU Tuition Remission).
For registration questions, email the JHSON Office of Executive Education:
[email protected].