Auriculotherapy — Nogier inverted-fetus ear map
Auriculotherapy — Nogier inverted-fetus ear map is a Chinese / TCM & Modern Auriculotherapy — Nogier ear microsystem body system as transmitted through the lineage Modern auriculotherapy treats the external ear as a somatotopic microsystem, with Paul Nogier’s 1957 inverted-fetus map as its principal Western point of departure. Chinese auricular acupuncture and later clinical charts add organ, autonomic, endocrine, and pain correspondences alongside the earlier TCM ear-vessel references in the Huangdi Neijing.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- Paul Nogier, first auricular somatotopy map (Deutsche Zeitschrift für Akupunktur, 1957 map publication) — Original publication of the inverted-fetus auricular somatotopy attributed to Nogier.
- Paul Nogier, From Auriculotherapy to Auricular Medicine (Maisonneuve, 1981) — Nogier account of auriculotherapy and later auriculomedicine terminology and point framework.
- Terry Oleson, Auriculotherapy Manual: Chinese and Western Systems of Ear Acupuncture (4th ed., Elsevier, 2014) — Modern clinical synthesis of Chinese and Western auricular point nomenclature and locations.
- Huangdi Neijing · Lingshu (transl. Unschuld, California UP 2016) — Classical ear-vessel and ear-channel references; supports the TCM historical lineage, not the modern Nogier point coordinates.
- Andreas Wirz-Ridolfi, The History of Ear Acupuncture and Ear Cartography (Medical Acupuncture 31(3), 2019, pp. 145–156, doi:10.1089/acu.2019.1349) — Historical review documenting the 1957 Nogier map, later Chinese/WHO charts, and cartographic variation.
Known lineage variants
- The body coordinate is an editorial rendering host: each bilateral 13-point cluster is drawn as a small schematic inset inside the corresponding ear region of the front-view silhouette, not as a literal projection of ear anatomy onto the torso.
- Nogier’s inverted-fetus somatotopy has phase variants and an ongoing inversion/orientation controversy; later Chinese, WHO, and Oleson charts differ in names, boundaries, and exact point locations. The JSON keeps a shared clinical subset and widens uncertainty rather than selecting one disputed chart as uniquely authoritative.
- Anatomical right is rendered at x < 0.5 and anatomical left at x > 0.5, while therapist-facing ear charts may use a different laterality convention.
- The spinal line is compressed to cervical, thoracic, and lumbar-sacral points to meet the inset scale; it is a cartographic shorthand, not a claim that every vertebral level is represented.
Cross-tradition overlaps
- Liver — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.006)
- Stomach — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.007)
- Sciatica — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.010)
- Lung — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.013)
- Endocrine — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.013)
- Heart — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.013)
- Kidney — left ear ↔ ♂ Mars — left ear (variant) (distance 0.019)
Related systems
No other systems share this tradition label.
Points
- Shen Men — right ear — Spirit gate / calming point
- Sympathetic / autonomic point — right ear — Autonomic regulation point
- Zero point — right ear — Ear-axis reference point
- Lung — right ear — Pulmonary organ point
- Heart — right ear — Cardiac organ point
- Kidney — right ear — Renal organ point
- Liver — right ear — Hepatic organ point
- Stomach — right ear — Digestive organ point
- Cervical spine — right ear — Neck-spine segment
- Thoracic spine — right ear — Upper trunk-spine segment
- Lumbar-sacral spine — right ear — Lower trunk-spine segment
- Sciatica — right ear — Lower-back and sciatic pain point
- Endocrine — right ear — Endocrine-system point
- Shen Men — left ear — Spirit gate / calming point
- Sympathetic / autonomic point — left ear — Autonomic regulation point
- Zero point — left ear — Ear-axis reference point
- Lung — left ear — Pulmonary organ point
- Heart — left ear — Cardiac organ point
- Kidney — left ear — Renal organ point
- Liver — left ear — Hepatic organ point
- Stomach — left ear — Digestive organ point
- Cervical spine — left ear — Neck-spine segment
- Thoracic spine — left ear — Upper trunk-spine segment
- Lumbar-sacral spine — left ear — Lower trunk-spine segment
- Sciatica — left ear — Lower-back and sciatic pain point
- Endocrine — left ear — Endocrine-system point
Frequently asked
What is Shen Men — right ear?
Shen Men is a standard auricular point used in modern Chinese and Western ear-acupuncture charts. In this inset it marks the superior inner-ear cluster and is not a claim about a discrete anatomical organ.
What is Sympathetic / autonomic point — right ear?
The sympathetic point is a modern auricular functional point associated with autonomic regulation in clinical auriculotherapy. Its label varies across Nogier-derived and Chinese chart traditions, so this rendering uses the shared functional name.
What is Zero point — right ear?
Point Zero is a Nogier-derived auricular reference point near the root of the helix. It is rendered as a local chart landmark rather than as the body midline or a systemic anatomical zero.
What is Lung — right ear?
The Lung point is an auricular representation of the lung in Chinese and Nogier-derived clinical charts. It belongs to the ear microsystem and must not be read as a front-view projection of the thoracic lung itself.
What is Heart — right ear?
The Heart point is an auricular representation used in Chinese ear acupuncture and modern auriculotherapy. This inset preserves the point identity while leaving exact ear subregion placement at medium fidelity.
What is Kidney — right ear?
The Kidney point is an auricular representation of the kidney network in modern ear charts. It is a microsystem correspondence, not a claim that the kidney lies at the external ear.
What is Liver — right ear?
The Liver point is included from the organ correspondences shared by Chinese and later auricular maps. Its position is schematic within the small ear inset because chart boundaries differ between lineages.
What is Stomach — right ear?
The Stomach point represents the stomach correspondence used in auricular acupuncture maps. The body-level organ relation is functional and microsystemic, so the ear coordinate carries a wider uncertainty radius.
What is Cervical spine — right ear?
The cervical spine point belongs to the auricular spinal line in the inverted-fetus arrangement. It is a compressed schematic segment rather than a full vertebral series.
What is Thoracic spine — right ear?
The thoracic spine point continues the auricular spinal line through the fetal trunk region. Its location follows the shared clinical chart convention and is not an anatomical cross-section of the ear.
What is Lumbar-sacral spine — right ear?
The lumbar-sacral spine point completes the three-point spinal shorthand used in this inset. Nogier-derived maps place the vertebral axis along the inverted fetal body, while exact subdivisions vary by chart.
What is Sciatica — right ear?
The Sciatica point records the pain correspondence historically associated with the anthelix root in the development of Nogier auriculotherapy. It is a therapeutic chart label, not a diagnosis or proof of a single nerve locus.
What is Endocrine — right ear?
The Endocrine point is a modern auricular functional addition used in Chinese and Western clinical charts. The broad system label reflects chart practice and does not identify one gland or a single anatomical structure.
What is Shen Men — left ear?
Shen Men is a standard auricular point used in modern Chinese and Western ear-acupuncture charts. In this inset it marks the superior inner-ear cluster and is not a claim about a discrete anatomical organ.
What is Sympathetic / autonomic point — left ear?
The sympathetic point is a modern auricular functional point associated with autonomic regulation in clinical auriculotherapy. Its label varies across Nogier-derived and Chinese chart traditions, so this rendering uses the shared functional name.
What is Zero point — left ear?
Point Zero is a Nogier-derived auricular reference point near the root of the helix. It is rendered as a local chart landmark rather than as the body midline or a systemic anatomical zero.
What is Lung — left ear?
The Lung point is an auricular representation of the lung in Chinese and Nogier-derived clinical charts. It belongs to the ear microsystem and must not be read as a front-view projection of the thoracic lung itself.
What is Heart — left ear?
The Heart point is an auricular representation used in Chinese ear acupuncture and modern auriculotherapy. This inset preserves the point identity while leaving exact ear subregion placement at medium fidelity.
What is Kidney — left ear?
The Kidney point is an auricular representation of the kidney network in modern ear charts. It is a microsystem correspondence, not a claim that the kidney lies at the external ear.
What is Liver — left ear?
The Liver point is included from the organ correspondences shared by Chinese and later auricular maps. Its position is schematic within the small ear inset because chart boundaries differ between lineages.
What is Stomach — left ear?
The Stomach point represents the stomach correspondence used in auricular acupuncture maps. The body-level organ relation is functional and microsystemic, so the ear coordinate carries a wider uncertainty radius.
What is Cervical spine — left ear?
The cervical spine point belongs to the auricular spinal line in the inverted-fetus arrangement. It is a compressed schematic segment rather than a full vertebral series.
What is Thoracic spine — left ear?
The thoracic spine point continues the auricular spinal line through the fetal trunk region. Its location follows the shared clinical chart convention and is not an anatomical cross-section of the ear.
What is Lumbar-sacral spine — left ear?
The lumbar-sacral spine point completes the three-point spinal shorthand used in this inset. Nogier-derived maps place the vertebral axis along the inverted fetal body, while exact subdivisions vary by chart.
What is Sciatica — left ear?
The Sciatica point records the pain correspondence historically associated with the anthelix root in the development of Nogier auriculotherapy. It is a therapeutic chart label, not a diagnosis or proof of a single nerve locus.
What is Endocrine — left ear?
The Endocrine point is a modern auricular functional addition used in Chinese and Western clinical charts. The broad system label reflects chart practice and does not identify one gland or a single anatomical structure.