I have heard of some crazy approaches to weight loss and this one might just take the cake – ear stapling. 
A stainless steel staple is placed on the inner cartilage of the ear to constantly stimulate the acupuncture point associated with the stomach. The staple is supposed to decrease hunger as well as cravings. The cost is generally around $60 and you can keep the surgical staples in your ears for months. "Placing the staple" is a little euphemistic since the action is more like a piercing and infection rates can be as high as 20 percent. While acupuncture has been around for centuries (and you don't walk around with a needle in your ear cartilage), the stapling procedure is quite new and many states have no regulations regarding the procedure. Mississippi was the first state to require a practitioner to be licensed to perform the stapling and Ohio now requires it too.
According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no evidence that stapling works. There is no magic pill or magic staple for weight loss. Even proponents of ear stapling admit that to lose weight you need to lead an active lifestyle and actively want to lose weight.
Looking to lose weight and need some guidance. These diet tips might just help. Or join Diet Support Group for a little community support.
H. Eich
Dior Homme
Beyond The Valley
Really, that is faaaaaar out there...
1ew sick!
2I already have piercings... why not, you know? But the gun in that picture... lord NO. Do not get your ears pierced (in any location) with a gun. Those things help cause infections. Sterile needles are the best bet.
3ok, now i've heard it all?
4um, NO! I actually had a piercing there before and didn't loose any weight! I'd get it re-pierced only for asthetics, not health reasons. I just like the way it looks.
5oh, and 110% agreed with thedingo. NEVER get pierced with a gun. Get a professional piercing with a sterilized needle in a sterile environment.
6Yeah right!
7Just exercise & eat right
Um, I am not in favor of this, but a woman who works in our of offices lost 35 lbs from this already. It looks painful and it does not teach you the habits you need to lose weight. I will stick to my eating right and working out!
8i dont get how puttin a hole in your ear makes you loose weight?!
9Wow, and I thought I'd heard it all before.
10This reminds me of a cousin of mine who bought some really expensive herbal weight loss stuff. The package said that in order for it to work you have to drink atleast 8 glasses of water a day, excercise 30 min everyday, and try to cut out processed white flour and sugar while upping veggies etc. In the end She couldn't stop talking about how these herbals helped her lose weight. I'm guessing for people who do lose weight with this thing its the same situation. Save your money - eat right and exercize regularly!
11Diet and exercise is the best way to go.
12In WA this cannot be done, legally acupunctures cannot leave anything in you after the sesion is done.
13This is weird, my nephew Jeff got that area of his ear pierced about two years ago simply because he wanted to. And oddly enough he did lose weight and his appetite, we never made a connection until just now. I called him and asked him about this and if he's ever removed his piercing and found that his appetite returned, he did and it did for him. The thing is he didn't need to lose weight or want to lose weight. Very weird indeed.
It's reflexology. I know that when I start to get a migraine if I intensely rub my earlobe I can lessen or defer the migraine for a while and some people can actually stop their migraines altogether by putting pressure on their earlobes. It's actually not so odd to think that nerve endings controlling appetite maybe relayed through other parts of the body like the ear or foot or gut.
14wow.... this is creepy
15The really funny and ironic thing... I took the piercing I had there out about a year ago and have since gained 20 pounds! I haven't changed my eating habits, either!
I never would have made that connection.
16I heard this on the radio the other day. I think people have lost their minds. Ear Stapling. Yeesh.
17I have actually had it done, and although it didn't really do much for me, my sister has lost about 20 lbs. It didn't hurt any more than an ear piercing, and it had the same after effects (the redness and burning), but after a while you forget it's there.
And I did. I moved to Florida and forgot it was in there. It got infected and I had no insurance to go to the doctor to have it removed, so I ended up having my boyfriend yank it out, and then it got MORE infected because it was a surgical staple and nearly took off my entire ear.
Moral - just exercise, there aren't shortcuts.
18I think I might have had this done. I was just trying acupuncture for stress relief, and I mentioned that I gain a lot of weight when I'm stressed because I get insane cravings. So he popped one of the needles into that area and put a bandaid over it and said it would help. It wasnt pierced or anything though, it was like all other acupuncture and he removed it the next time I went. I guess it worked fine, really what worked best was reducing my stress! And actually I don't think I had it in the exact spot that pic is pointing to.
19I think anyone who HAS lost weight doing this lost it because of the placebo effect it has. I mean, come on, if you have a staple in your ear that's supposed to make you less hungry, you're going to constantly be thinking about that. I think this is just a big scam to get $60 out of desperate dieters.
20i have a piercing there [daith] where the staple would go and it hasn't affected my eating habits.
hMMMM?
21Far out. People will believe ANYTHING if it means getting out of healthy eating and exercise.
22ok, i dont know about ear stapling, but i DO know about accupuncture. I have accupuncture twice a week for chronic pain (long story). The ear is a very sensitive part of the body, and different locations of the ear correspond to different points which do different things (for example, there is a spot on the ear that when given accupuncture helps people get over addiction by curbing that desire). There are also points on the ear to help diminish ones appetite.
HOWEVER, all responsible accupuncturists who do give patients accupuncture for weight loss also put their patients on a diet.
The ear stapling much be a take off of the accupuncture thing. Much like that guy in the 90s who was having people roll magnetic balls behind their ears to lose weight.
23oh, and as for leaving accupuncture needles in after a session - there are special tiny needles covered with bandaids that can be left in the ear for one week at a time.
legally.
i know, because i get them once a week to help with my pain and to help me not need as many pain killers.
but after a week you have to take them out, air out the area - to prevent infection for a few days, and then you can have new ones put it.
24I actually had this done a couple years ago. It really did work.
25I also have a piercing there (daith) and I deffinitly didn't lose weight or my appetite.
26And I also agree witht the above comments, never, ever get pierced with a gun! Always use a needle, it causes way less trauma to the skin and ear (therefore less likely to become infected or form keloid scars).
Not to be the sole person in disagreeance, but here is another perspective on the ear staple.
Ear Stapling has actually been around for many years and is founded in the principles of auricular therapy. What does this mean? It means there are stimulation points located all around your ear that correspond to different parts of your body. With ear stapling, a tiny surgical staple is placed in one of those points.
The staple can be used along the ear ridge (because of it's size)which includes three points: weight loss, smoking cessation, and wellness. While the staple itself does not cause a weight loss, it provides assistance in modifying your eating behaviors. It can provide effects such as feeling full faster, breads and pastas can taste tacky or sticky, soda and beer can taste rusty or salty, chocolate may become bitter. It can also help you sleep better (several recent medical studies have found a link between weight gain and lack of sleep).
Some people report no effects, however the point is very small so it may require you to have the first set repositioned to be more effective.
My colleague has received training and has been stapling for around 6 months and has seen clients loose significant amounts of weight. The key is still you and your choices, some people have lost no weight because they choose to still eat things that no longer taste good and “just get used to it.”
If you would like more information you can view her website at
www.athensrelaxationstation.net
Carey
27You're not the only one who disagrees. I think accupressure might be a better idea, though. I think it might be safer than the needle/staples, too.
Naturally, one who wants to lose weight needs to exercise and eat right, but there's no reason acupressure/acupuncture can't help.
28The staple by itself does not make you lose weight. It controls your appetite and if it is placed well it also targets the aggression pressure point so it makes it easier for a person to eat less, to let go of overeating and to stick to some decreased calorie intake. I'm not talking about starving, I'm talking about eating normally which let's face it, most people (not all) who are overweight, if they're honest with themselves, have to admit they overeat beyond the point of fullness. The "permanent" accupuncture staple helps control what drives us to overeating. If you don't change the diet and don't exercise, nothing is going to "make" you lose weight. Well, there is one thing, a MIRACLE...
29Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.