Acupuncture detoxification

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Acupuncture detoxification is the use of auricular (outer ear) acupuncture to treat drug and alcohol addiction. Evidence supporting the use of auricular acupuncture to treat 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.[1][2]

A five-point Acupuncture auricular (outer ear) protocol was developed and taught by Michael Smith, MD, of Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Bronx, NY, during a period of high heroin use in the 1970s. Dr. Smith says that auricular acupuncture should be considered an adjunctive therapy to standard treatments for addiction, not an alternative to them.[3] 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.[4]

The NADA protocol relies on concepts in 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.