Roman Abramovich, the flamboyant Russian billionaire, was recently seen sporting a bizarre accessory — a 1in needle sticking out of his ear. He is apparently the latest devotee of an alternative-health therapy that claims to offer a cure for everything from weight problems, cocaine addiction, alcoholism, smoking and insomnia to chronic pain. Ear acupuncture — or auricular acupuncture to use the medical term — has attracted a large following that includes Kate Moss, Salma Hayek, Cherie Blair and Sadie Frost.

“The ear has a concentrated area of acupuncture points — more than 300 — and Chinese medicine believes that each point has a physiological connection with every organ and function in the body,” says Professor Man Fong Mei, an acupuncture specialist who runs the Acumedic Clinic in London and has been giving GPs acupuncture training for several years. Devotees claim that auricular acupuncture works on the ear in much the same way that reflexology works on the foot, by targeting specific energy points and stimulating them to rebalance mind and body. For example, to stimulate weight loss, needles might be placed in the ear at points that target the spleen, stomach and kidneys.

“In Chinese medicine, we see the ear as being the same shape as an upside-down foetus, with the head near the lobe and the toes near the top,” says Mei. During the procedure, fine needles are inserted into key points in the ear for up to 40 minutes. Between sessions, patients can have acupressure balls placed on the acupuncture points to keep them stimulated, or tiny needles can be left in, held in place with sticking plaster.

Style’s alternative-health columnist, Jennifer Harper-Deacon, who is a practising acupuncturist, says: “There are a number of key acupuncture points in the ear that can treat specific conditions. For example, three-quarters of the way up the outer edge of the ear is what’s known as Darwin’s point: that’s where we treat sleep disturbance. At the top of the ear is the allergy point, and there’s even a fear point, which is used to treat anxiety.”

One of the most powerful points is the shen men, known in Chinese medicine as the gate of godliness. “This is a magical point,” says Harper-Deacon. “Targeting it can be hugely beneficial to anyone suffering from anxiety or stress. Between treatments, I get patients to leave in ‘ear seeds’, which are like tiny ball bearings, which they can press if they feel stressed.”

Some people find the treatment extremely painful, and others might have a needle phobia, but there are alternatives. Francis Cassidy, an Edinburgh-based auricular acupuncturist, works with an electro-acupunctoscope, a hand-held probe that triggers electrical pulses to pressure points on the ear.

“Your acupuncture points give off a charge,” he says. “The machine picks that up and sounds a particular tone when it finds the point. This can be a useful diagnostic tool. For example, if someone is suffering from arthritis in the knees, they will feel a sharp twinge, rather like a needle, when the machine sends a charge to the corresponding point on their ear. If the organ is balanced, then a person won’t feel much. With acupuncture, you’re aiming to bring everything in the body and mind into balance.”

Cassidy favours ear acupuncture because it is a non-invasive procedure: “People don’t have to remove clothing, and they are generally more relaxed and comfortable with it than with other alternatives.” He claims his greatest success has been with patients suffering from chronic pain, particularly lower-back pain and sciatica. He also treats many people with stress and anxiety disorders such as panic attacks and insomnia, but these conditions more problematic. “If the stress in a person’s life is learnt behaviour and relates to events in their past, then acupuncture is effective in breaking that. But if you’re dealing with something that’s current, such as a difficult job or relationship, it’s much harder. At best, acupuncture will make their minds clearer.”

Auricular acupuncture is also popular in the treatment of addictions. Kate Moss was reported to have had the therapy to break her cocaine habit. The use of acupuncture in detox involves needling the shen men point, another known as the sympathetic point, plus the kidney, liver and lung points. A number of studies, including landmark research at the University of Minnesota, have shown that acupuncture substantially reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings. When an addict gets hooked on opiates, then stops taking drugs, there is a deficiency of endorphins, the brain’s feelgood chemicals. Acupuncture is known to stimulate endorphins, and so can reduce cravings and restore emotional balance.

Sue Cox, director of Smart UK, which provides auricular acupuncture to addicts across the prison service and the NHS, has seen the positive results of the treatment first-hand: “Acupuncture stimulates the limbic system, the pleasure circuit in the brain, which relieves a lot of the withdrawal and anxiety symptoms of addiction. However, there is no magic bullet: it works in conjunction with all the other support for addicts, including counselling.”

Dr George Lewith, senior research fellow at the University of Southampton Complementary Medicine Research Unit, has been researching acupuncture for many years. “There is no doubt that acupuncture works for certain conditions. Take smoking: the success rate for people giving up is 15% after six months, compared to 10%-15% for some nicotine substitutes. That’s not bad — it suggests acupuncture is as good a method as any. With neck and back pain, there is a bigger success rate than with conventional medicine.”

Lewith believes there is something in the experience of acupuncture, rather than in the specific pressure points, that makes it effective. This is backed up by a study of drug addicts at New York’s Lincoln Hospital, where half the patients were given acupuncture at sham points in the ear. Those patients saw almost the same reduction in drug use as the ones who had real acupuncture.

“Medicine is like religion: it is based on ritual and on what we believe,” says Lewith. “We can see that acupuncture works, but we don’t know exactly why. It may be something in the enthusiasm and intensity of the people performing the therapy. It’s not a placebo effect, because our research has ruled that out, but it may not rely as much on these corresponding body points as people believe.”

For more information, visit www.auricularacupuncture.org.uk

Times recommends

• Are eldest children really a cut above?
• Peaches Geldof: censored
• Top 10 style-setting films of all time