Acupuncture detoxification

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Acupuncture is widely used as an adjunctive treatment for addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. A five-point auricular (outer ear) protocol was developed and taught by Michael Smith, MD of Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Bronx, NY, during the heroin plague of the 1970s. Dr. Smith says that auricular acupuncture should be considered an adjunctive therapy to standard treatments for addiction, not an alternative to them.[1]

The protocol is disseminated through the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) in the US and worldwide. Training and information is about acupuncture detoxification is available through NADA. According to Acupuncture Today, a trade journal for acupuncturists, NADA was established in 1985 and since then has trained more than 10,000 "acupuncture detoxification specialists" in use of the five-point protocol.[2]

Evidence supporting the use of auricular acupuncture in the treatment of addictions is largely based on anecdotal and clinical reports. Reviews of randomized controlled studies have concluded that there is insufficient evidence and/or a lack of properly-designed trials.[3][4]

The NADA protocol relies on the conceptual framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which some scholars have characterized as pseudoscientific. Proponents reply that TCM is a prescientific system that continues to have practical relevance. See Acupuncture: Criticism of TCM theory.