The History of Liquid Ear Acupuncture and the Current Scientific State of the Art

This short review article presents a current overview of existing publications and scientific results regarding liquid (ear) acupuncture. The injection of liquids into defined acupuncture points of the ear is not a method commonly used in the Western world. The term liquid acupuncture has different definitions, which makes understanding each definition and differentiating one from the other difficult. General terms like pharmacopuncture, homeosiniatry, and liquid acupuncture, which all describe the method of injecting different kinds of drugs into a defined body acupuncture point, are used. This article presents the history of liquid acupuncture, as well as the current scientific state of the art, from the point of view of two European researchers. Some articles are discussed and a few practical examples are presented.