THE FOLLOWING ARE SYMPTOMS AND CONDITIONS COMMONLY TREATED BY THE WASHINGTON ACUPUNCTURE CENTER. OBESITY Inserting acupuncture needles superficially into various parts of the body can facilitate weight loss by giving the person a feeling of well-being which can suppress the desire for excess food. Acupuncture also can stimulate metaboliscm and thereby enable the body to utilize food efficiently instead of storing it as fat. The specific points used for each patient at each treatment depend on many individual factors. The acupuncture physician determines which points should be used with regard to the patient's fat distribution, emotional status, eating habits and other factors. The use of staples in the ear for weight control is an American innovation which is often ineffective and dangerous. Only two points -- one in the upper outer part of each ear - are used by this method in contrast to the ten or twenty points used in regular acupuncture treatments. The cartilage of the ear does not replace itself after injury and has little resistance to infection. Staples left in place for many days promote infection and sometimes fall out and enter the ear canal, where they can damage the ear dmm or other structures. There have been cases of people having permanent holes in the upper parts of their ear as the result of infected staples with sloughing. For these reasons, we do not recommend the use of ear staples for weight reduction. Diet and exercise are helpful in any program of weight reduction. Most people who come for acupuncture treatments, however, have been given diets and exercise regimens before. They may have good knowledge of what they should and shouldn't eat but they feel depressed or irritable when they try to stay on a diet. Acupuncture should relieve such problems and improve will power along with aiding in weight loss. The actual weight loss to be expected is about two to four pounds a week. Six to ten acupuncture treatments are usually sufficient, and these can be given once or twice a week. Weight loss should continue after the treatments are completed until normal weight is achieved. The effects of acupuncture usually last at least six months and sometimes a year or more. If the desire to eat excessively returns at any time in the future, a few more acupuncture treatments should relieve it. next