Dr. Donald Liebell
Chronic Pain & Wellness Solutions:

"In the beginning, many people were skeptical, but after seeing it demonstrated on patients and the benefits achieved -- especially in the area of pain -- the majority of physicians embraced it and learned how to use it in their practices as an adunctive therapy.

Colonel (Dr.) Richard Niemztow, M.D., PhD., M.P.H.

(Air Force Print News 3/14/08)

“Pain management through three-phase auricular therapy is commonly very effective and occasionally is miraculous."

Dr. Nader Soliman, M.D.,
Anesthesiologist,
President of the American Academy of Medical Acupunture (2003-2005)
President, Alternative Medicine Seminars
The World’s Foremost Authority on Auricular Medicine

 "Auricular therapy can reduce the tension, stress, and pain not fully relieved by other medical procedures” 

Dr. Terry Oleson, PhD., Psychobiology,
- Pioneer on auricular  diagnosis at the UCLA Pain Management Center
- Research Director at the American University of Complementary Medicine 




"For chronic conditions, auricular therapy is better than [body] acupuncture… The body heals pain through the brain rather than by pharmacological methods that only suppress the pain signal (along with other vital functions).”

Darrell Stoddard, Board Certified Auricular Therapist, Founder, the Pain Research Institute
- Author, "Pain Free For Life"



"Auricolotherapy is a treatment diffusing in all over the World"


“In the last years modern clinical and basic research is confirming the efficacy of ear acupuncture mostly in the treatment of pain both acute and chronic, and of anxiety related disorders…

Dr. Luigi Gori, M.D., Dr. Fabio Firenzuoli, M.D.
– “Ear Acupuncture in European Traditional Medicine"
 - Center of Natural Medicine, S. Giuseppe Hospital, Empoli, Italy.

Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine
(Vol. 9, No. 3, 1994)


“At the Center [for Improvement for Human Functioning, Wichita, Kansas], auricular therapy is used as a diagnostic and therapeutic option. 
It is relatively painless, inexpensive, easy to use in experienced hands and may give immediate results.  We recommend its use.

Dr. James Jackson, PhD, MT,
- Professor and Assistant Dean, Wichita State University Graduate School



"There is increasing evidence that ear acupuncture can be helpful in the treatment of migraine”


Marco Romoli, M.D. 
- "Ear acupuncture in the control of migraine pain: selecting the right
acupoints by the “needle-contact test” 
From: Neurological sciences: official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology

Neck and Back Pain Studies In Auricular Medicine


“We believe that substantial savings in medical health care can be made through the adjuvant use of [auricular] electroacupuncture...  significant improvement in pain intensity, mobility, psychological wellbeing, and sleep”

“In this [back] study we demonstrated significant additional and long-lasting pain relief through adjunctive ear acupuncture in patients suffering from chronic low back pain…”

Sabine M. Sator-Katzenschlager, MD, etal.,
"Electrical Stimulation of Auricular Acupuncture Points Is More Effective Than Conventional Manual Auricular
Acupuncture in Chronic Cervical Pain: A Pilot Study"

- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care B, Outpatient Pain Center, University of ienna, Vienna, Austria

Auriculotherapy is a sophisticated discipline of acu- puncture that can be studied to a refined level of precision”


 “Used in an integrated medical model, acupuncture is well suited to deal with many of the functional problems that allopathic medicine is not equipped to address. The result is patient and physician satisfaction."

Dr. Farshad Ahadian, M.D.
- Medical Director, the Center for Pain Medicine at University of California, San Diego

By Dr. Donald Liebell

 

      If you’ve got chronic dry mouth, eating has become a major chore.  Simply swallowing is a nightmare.  It causes bad breath, nutritional problems and can even cause cavities and other dental problems.  The medical term for dry mouth is Xerostomia.  If you suffer its miserable effects, this will be the most exciting and literally “mouth-watering” article you will read.

     Contrary to popular belief, dry mouth is not a normal part of aging.  It’s actually an extremely common side effect of more than 1,800 prescription and over-the-counter medications.  Dry mouth is an expected side effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer.   While these drugs typically do not harm the salivary glands directly; they do impair their nerve supply.   Xerostomia can also be caused by underlying disease, such as Sjogren’s  syndrome, Lupus,  rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid dysfunction, or poorly controlled diabetes.  Head or neck trauma, or direct injury to the salivary glands can be a factor.  Treatment failure rate of Xerostomia has been notoriously high.

     But there’s good news. 

     Radiation oncologist, Dr. Richard Niemtzow revealed a simple, yet stunningly effective treatment protocol, which involves ear and hand acupuncture.   He found it to be effective even after treatments with the traditional medication, Pilocarpine had failed.  The treatment can be done with or without needles.  Although it certainly does not work for every patient, the success rate is extraordinarily high.  Most cases require two initial treatment sessions within a 24-hour period.  Some patients require additional treatment, while others none at all. 

     This acupuncture protocol has been studied at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas.  It has been published in several medical journals including, Cancer, the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics , Clinical Journal of Oncological Nursing, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and the Journal of Palliative Care.

     Origins of the New Treatment

     During the Vietnam War, there was some American exposure to acupuncture, but never an official government program to make use of the ancient healing art.  Colonel (Dr.) Richard Niemtzow is actually a traditionally trained radiation oncologist, researcher, forensic examiner and has served as a Chief Flight Surgeon in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm.  But around 1994, while stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, he began studying acupuncture.  In 1998 the Colonel was appointed as the United States Military’s first full-time acupuncturist.  

     In the year 2000 Dr. Niemztow was invited by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to go to Shanghai to introduce his Xerostomia approach to the Chinese.  This was a historic event—an American doctor showing the Chinese how to do acupuncture!  The Chinese’s reception to Dr. Niemtzow was cold, even mocking—until he delivered stunning results on some of their worst cases of dry mouth!  Dr. Niemtzow told me that through his interpreters the Chinese remarked, “We should be ashamed of ourselves… after 3,000 years, it took an American to discover this!”  This actually wasn't the first time the Chinese were exposed to a new application of acupuncture by a foreigner.  In the 1950s, Paul Nogier, M.D. of France introduced the Chinese to the principles of ear acupuncture, or Auricular Therapy, as a total-body system of treatment.

     By 2002, Dr. Niemtzow became Consultant for Alternative and Complementary Medicine to the Air Force Surgeon General.  He established the acupuncture clinic at Andrews Air Force Base.  I have been privileged to one of the few civilian doctors to be personally trained by Dr. Niemtzow.  When I met the Colonel in February of 2010, I had been successfully practicing ear acupuncture for several years, under the tutelage of Nader Soliman, M.D., America’s foremost authority on the specialty of ear acupuncture.  I was thrilled how relatively easy it was for me to implement Dr. Niemtzow’s Xerostomia protocol immediately in my practice.  I didn't need to acquire a new skill; it was like already knowing how to cook, but being given a new "recipe."  It is always thrilling to be able to have new applications for old, or in the case of acupuncture, ancient technologies, as part of a holistic approach to health care.  Anybody who is considering this treatment for dry mouth should understand that it is a complementary or supportive treatment and not a replacement for comprehensive medical evaluation and treatment.