Sympathicotherapy

Sympathicotherapy is a form of endonasal reflexotherapy. It involves stimulating reflex points inside the nose with special round-tipped styli.

It acts particularly on the autonomic nervous system, i.e. the ortho- and parasympathetic systems, hence the name "sympathicotherapy". Its formidable effectiveness is due to the fact that the nasal cavities are made up of numerous highly sensitive nerve endings... and very close to the brain.

 

A very ancient therapeutic method, it seems that the ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Indians were already practicing it, using little sticks. The technique then seems to have been forgotten for many centuries, before being "resurrected" by two pioneers :

• German ENT specialist Wilhelm Fliess (1858 - 1920), author of Relationship between the nose and the female genitalia, and

• French neurologist, psychiatrist and otologist Pierre Bonnier (1861 - 1918), author of L'action directe sur les centers nerveux: centrothérapie (Direct action on nerve centers: centrotherapy), a work in which he proposed a mapping of endonasal reflex zones.

 

Research into sympathicotherapy flourished in the 1930s, particularly in Germany, France and Spain, before falling into oblivion until the 1970s, when it enjoyed renewed interest.

Sympathicotherapy therefore represents a royal approach to the treatment of stress (and all stress-related pathologies) as well as nasal pathologies, particularly sinusitis.

Sympathicotherapy is particularly useful for treating insomnia, headaches and migraines, anxiety, dysmenorrhea and ENT disorders (sinusitis, allergic rhinitis and asthma).

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Sympathicotherapy therapy is therefore an excellent complement to the methods of Chinese medicine, and can easily be integrated with acupuncture or tuina treatments.