WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Investigators Target Ear Stapling Free-Lancers: Acupuncturist Reacts To Ear Stapling
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By Stephanie Bell Flynt
stephanie@wlbt.net
Investigators with the State Board of Medical Licensure are asking for your help in stopping the practice of ear stapling.
Establishments are being notified that the practice of acupuncture can only be done by a medical doctor and anyone else faces both civil and criminal charges.
Ear staplers say they target certain pressure points to help people lose weight. Much of the ear stapling is being done at private residences, which investigators say they are now targeting. If you have information that will help them, they're asking that you call their office at 601-987-3079.
Meanwhile, one acupuncturist says she knew the fad practice would eventually turn sour.
"They deviated a purpose of acupuncture. It was not properly used," said University of Mississippi Meidcal Center physician, Dr. Aena Payne, who is a certified and well respected acupuncturist.
Payne says the ear staplers misused one simple tool in acupuncture, a point finder, to convince people they were skilled in acupuncture.
"What they are saying, it is a very unproven. And picking one acupuncture point they borrowed from somewhere and expecting to lose weight. That is just not a proper way of using this technique," Payne said.
Dr. Payne says there are over 300 points in the ear.
"The instruments they are using are not proven and it's not going to tell you 'I am the stomach point' so it needs a lot of expertise in practice to find the right positions," Dr. Payne said.
Dr. Payne says when she first found out about ear stapling her first concern was infection. She says while there's almost a zero infection rate in true acupuncture, acupuncturists are well aware of the high risk areas, the hands and the ears.
"So when we go into specific locations we are extra careful of those places; the ear or the hand. You have to be a little bit more carful what you're doing, how long the needle should be in. Especially putting a foreign body into the human body when it's so close to the blood circulation going into your head is not very advisable. It's common sense in the medical field. It doesn't even need to be acupuncture. It just wasn't very sound practice," Payne said.
Dr. Payne says proper acupuncture can help in weight loss but people need to understand there is no quick fix to a weight problem.
"As I mentioned, exercise and diet, maybe psychological support and acupuncture can help. But it is going to be a continuation. It's not going to be one treatment and I control my craving, all gone. That is not what we are trying to teach," Payne said.
The following businesses have been closed by the state:
Staple-Away, LLC Hattiesburg
Staple-2-Lose, LLC Purvis
Sun Station Columbia
Rebecca & Co. Columbia
Southern Family Medicine Collins
Clinic name unknown Petal
Staple Therapy, LLC Brookhaven
Staple Trim, LLC Mendenhall
Staple Trim, LLC Byram
Clinic name unknown Byram
Staple Fit, LLC Raymond
Staple U, LLC Raymond
Staple Pro, LLC Florence
A New You, LLC Madison
Staple-Ease, LLC Brandon
Ear Stapling of MS, LLC Brandon
Staple Lean, LLC Ridgeland
Staple Me Too!, LLC Ridgeland
Staple Lite, LLC Jackson
Clinic name unknown - operating out of the Nail Gallery, Jackson
Staple Me Thin, LLC Jackson
MS Acu-Trim, LLC Greenville / Indianola
Reservoir Tanning Brandon
Staple Slim Vicksburg
Staple Solutions by Neil, LLC Vicksburg
Sensational Staples, LLC Horn Lake
Bethany's Day Spa & Salon Oxford
Hairport Styling Salon Oxford
Staple U, LLC Columbia
Appetite RX Grenada
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