Effects of auricular therapy to body composition in young asian women

This study investigated the efficacy of auricular therapy using semen vaccariae (SV) via auricular point sticking on weight loss, changes to waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio. The study used a randomized design with one control group and one experimental group consisting of young Asian women with waist circumferences ≥ 80 cm. The total sample size was 50 young women who ranged in age from 18 to 20 years-old. Each participant attended weekly ten-minute sessions during which auricular acupressure treatment was performed. During treatment, the control group had 0.5 cm2 adhesive tape placed onto their auricular acupoints, while the experimental group had the SV stick applied to the auricular acupoints. Dependent variables were collected at baseline and follow-up for four weeks. The control group showed significantly increased body weight (+0.08 kg, p ≤ 0.05) and waist circumference (+0.20 cm, p ≤ 0.05); however, the SV group showed significantly decreased body weight (-1.9120 kg, p ≤ 0.05), waist circumference (-4.9200 cm, p ≤ 0.05) and waist-to-hip ratio (-0.0297, p ≤ 0.05) during four weeks of treatment. Auricular acupressure with SV may be an efficacious option to include in weight loss programs for young women.