Dry needling.  I completed an acupuncture course for manual medicine in 2002.

Including this approach can be of great help in accelerating treatment effectiveness. 

The body meridian system is a practical approach to dealing with a network of strains and tensions.

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Example: A patient complained of intense pain on her outside calf.  The usual suspects like blocked artery, low back disc compressing nerve, magnesium deficiency etc. did not apply.   It turned out to be her neck!   How can two such remote parts of the body relate?   The meridian system is one method to diagnose and effectively treat this cause and effect.   Doing so resolved her calf pain.

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The use of fine needles to stimulate points on the meridian systems are techniques that have been practiced in China (and other places) for centuries.   Today, some may view this as treating the body's Intranet system. 

(Of course, there are some people who are needle phobics.  If you’re one of them, dry needling

alternatives will be offered.)

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Auricular (ear) Therapy has, conceptually, taken a more neurological angle and was developed by a French Doctor - Paul Nogier in South of France.   In 1990, his system of Auricular Therapy received recognition by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Anecdotally, I occasionally use this system to help people with Parkinson disease and trigeminal neuralgia.  

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Decades of research (mainly in France, Germany and USA) has resulted in finding that ears have a vast network of nerve connections that lead straight to the brain:  If the brain is the computer, the ear is the keyboard or monitor.    So in Auricular Therapy, there are no meridians.

The proposal is that the ear contains a map, via the brain, of different parts of the body.  Once the problem has been mapped out via the ear, the corresponding disturbed points are then stimulated.  In other words, each ear point acts like a switch to stimulate the corresponding nerve connection and signal back to the central nervous system which, in turn, makes the corrections to heal the body.

Laser auricular therapy is painless and does not do any tissue damage.  However, some people may feel lethargic after treatment, for a short period. 

Science Reference:
http://aim.bmj.com/content/24/4/164.abstract

This article goes into much more detail on the anatomy of how the nerves link from the ears to specific parts of the brain.  This publication is aimed at neurology specialists.    

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Detailed presentation of Auricular Therapy - Part. 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd6y3dfyOyA&feature=relmfu

 Detailed presentation of Auricular Therapy - Part. 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW29ZJ-zTDQ&feature=relmfu