Watch
Its symbols are → two small ear marks with arrows.
Stand near the patient's left ear and place your left hand on their forehead with light pressure, so that their forehead does not move during the treatment. The treatment has the following stages: (Figure 19.6)
Open the fingers of your right hand so that the thumb is downward and the other four fingers upward. Then with the soft part of your thumb, stroke the soft skin behind their ear 6 times, from above downward.
Then stroke the skin of the cheek near the ear-hole 6 times, from above downward.
With the middle part of the thumb, giving some pressure, press the cartilage in front of the hole and press it into the hole; pause for a few moments and release. On doing this, immediately, for a few moments, one begins to hear better from that ear.
With your first finger, press the cartilage at the edge of the hole at an angle of 45°, inward and upward.
Then do this whole process on the right ear also.
| Patient's position | Seated; the therapist standing near the patient's left ear, the left hand on the forehead with light pressure so that the forehead does not move Seated Left |
|---|---|
| Where the hands are placed | The right hand opened, thumb downward and the other four fingers upward; the four stations are set out separately below |
| Duration and repetitions | Stages 1 and 2: 6 strokes each, from above downward. Stage 3: press, pause a few moments, release. Stage 4: the angled press. Then the whole process on the right ear also Left Right |
| What it is for | On stage 3, immediately, for a few moments, one begins to hear better from that ear |
Each station has its own placement and its own purpose, and they are given in order on one ear before the other is begun.
| Where the hand goes | How | What it is for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Behind the ear | The soft part of the thumb on the soft skin behind the ear | Stroke from above downward — 6 times | The opening station: the skin behind the ear, worked downward |
| 2 · In front of the ear | The soft part of the thumb on the skin of the cheek near the ear-hole | Stroke from above downward — 6 times | The matching station in front of the ear |
| 3 · The flap in front of the hole | The middle part of the thumb on the cartilage in front of the hole, giving some pressure, pressing it into the hole | Press, pause a few moments, release | Immediately, for a few moments, one begins to hear better from that ear |
| 4 · The rim of the hole | The first finger on the cartilage at the edge of the hole | Press at an angle of 45°, inward and upward | The closing station, given at the stated angle |
| 5 · The other ear | The whole process, on the right ear | In the same order | Both ears are done — the left first |
Where you stand is part of it — near the patient's left ear, left hand on the forehead, right hand working, then across for the right. An opened hand cannot grip an ear, so all the pressure comes from the one working thumb; and the 45°, inward and upward of stage 4 is given with the first finger, which follows the way the canal runs.
Tell the patient before stage 3, and say what it will do. "I am going to press the little flap in front of your ear inward for a few seconds. Everything will sound muffled while I hold it. When I let go it will sound clearer for a moment."
What lies beneath — and here the anatomy is remarkable. The outer ear is the only patch of skin on the whole body supplied by a branch of the great wandering nerve of the body's quiet housekeeping. Stimulating that hollow has been shown to reach the brainstem — though the body effects claimed for ear stimulation have largely not held up when tested carefully.
Stage 3's effect has a plain explanation. The flap is springy cartilage; pressed inward it closes the canal, released it opens again. It is not a change in the hearing organ, and nothing lasting should be promised.