TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma – The practice of sticking five needles in specific areas of the ear is being touted as a means of relieving illness, anxiety and depression – and the Black Panthers played a key role in its development.
Auricular Acutechnician Mickey Uppendahl presented the first free ear acupuncture clinics at the Tahlequah Public Library on Jan. 10, and clinics will be held every Tuesday. Similar clinics have popped up elsewhere in Northeastern Oklahoma, and across the country.
“Ear acupuncture was originally developed in the 1970s in the South Bronx to help people get off of heroin,” Uppendahl said. “It was the Black Panthers who were the driving force, which is a different side of the Panthers that I learned about in school.”
The Panthers wanted to help people get off heroin, which was a huge problem in the Bronx.
“The government’s solution at the time was methadone, which works, but you have to get shot up with methadone every day,” Uppendahl said. “From their perspective, this was just a way to be controlled by the man.”
The Panthers wanted something without ongoing chemical involvement, and they arranged for several people to be trained as acupuncturists, Uppendahl said.
“They narrowed it down to just five points in the ear and found it effective both for the withdrawal and cravings. [It] could teach people how to do ear acupuncture way easier than full body acupuncture,” Uppendahl said.
Ear acupuncture focuses on five spots shown to be connected to other pathways of the body, states the handout given to participants.
The Sympathetic area, located along the outer edge of the ear, is connected to the stress response. Shen Men, an oval-shaped depression inside the ear, is also known as the “Spirit Gate.” Acupuncture in this area is believed to calm the mind and help with insomnia, pain management, hyperactivity, high blood pressure, fear and panic attacks.
The Kidney area, in the ear’s center, is known as the water element and is at the root of Chinese medicine’s yin and yang balance for optimal health.
The Liver area is found along the ridge inside the ear and is connected to regulating blood flow.
“Stimulating this area with acupuncture is also helpful in dealing with emotions of anger, violence, frustration and depression,” states the handout.
The Lung area is on the lower side of the ear ridge. it controls respiration and functions of the skin and is associated with clearing up imbalances of apathy, lethargy, lack of inspiration and grief, states the handout.
“In foot reflexology, there is a part of your foot that corresponds with every part of the body, and this is also true of the ear,” Uppendahl said.
In the years since the 1970s, it has been found to be good for other things besides addiction. It is helpful for stress, anxiety and depression, Uppendahl said.
“I suffer from depression and it helps me a great deal. One of the main reasons I learned to do it was to not just help other people, but it has helped me,” Uppendahl said.
Uppendahl heard of a class to learn the practice at the Tahlequah Unitarian Universalist Congregation that was contribution-based, taught by Shronn Schuelke, and he started going to it every Thursday.
Uppendahl was certified in November 2022 and joined the ranks of six or seven practitioners in Tahlequah.
“We help out Shronn when she has a conflict with her job at Help In Crisis,” Uppendahl said.
Help In Crisis is an agency that provides counseling, shelter and health care to battered women and their children, serving four counties in Northeastern Oklahoma.
Schuelke said she loves the practice. She started doing it for free in 2018 because it helped her mother after a brain aneurysm.
“It burst, and she was in the ICU for five weeks and when she came out, she had headaches. The acupuncture was helping a lot of her symptoms,” Schuelke said. “She’s not able to work, but she still has her personality, which is important to me.”
Schuelke got a community scholarship to offer “acudetox” for Help In Crisis staff and victims of sexual and domestic assault.
When women come in with bruised eyes, there is damage inside the head as well, and it helps overnight with swelling, Schuelke said.
“One lady came in and had not been able to use her hands for three years because of assault. After I gave her acudetox, she was able to wash her hair for the first time that night,” Schuelke said.