quote:Unlike other more scientifically based procedures, no one is really quite sure how a staple can help people lose weight.
Perhaps because having staples in your ears makes it hurt to chew?
Seriously, though, it sounds psychological, and a great little boon for our registered nurse friend.
-------------------- The technical term is narcissism. You can't believe everything is your fault unless you also believe you're all powerful.--House Posts: 2684 | From: Budapest | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
JESUS. These are piercings, and I hope to god she's not literally stapling people's ears *shudder*. The one shown on the news report is just a daith piercing - with jewellery FAR too small for the piercing might I add - availble from any piercing shop and for a lot less than $60 (if US piercing prices are similar to UK ones).
Words fail me, actually. *speechless*
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: "Seventy-five percent of my patients complain of nausea when they over eat," said Gibson.
Gee, ya think?
-Tabby the princess with claws
-------------------- If you don't appreciate the irony, the irony appreciates.
"Sappiness and medieval violence: it's a wonderful combination. Like chocolate and peanut butter for the mind." -me on my fantasy novel-in-progress Posts: 2281 | From: Arizona | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Oh God, it's come back to life! This was popular in New England about 20 - 25 years ago. Like any technique, it will work for some people just thorugh the law of large numbers. Didn't do anything for me or my appetite. As I recall there was some bullcrap about "stimulating the vagus nerve" involved with the how and why it was supposed to work.
Sham "still pushing that beer belly around" rock
-------------------- Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Posts: 891 | From: New England | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: JESUS. These are piercings, and I hope to god she's not literally stapling people's ears *shudder*. The one shown on the news report is just a daith piercing - with jewellery FAR too small for the piercing might I add - availble from any piercing shop and for a lot less than $60 (if US piercing prices are similar to UK ones).
Words fail me, actually. *speechless*
I think that jewelry and piercing would probably add up to about $60 at a reputable shop.
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: JESUS. These are piercings, and I hope to god she's not literally stapling people's ears *shudder*. The one shown on the news report is just a daith piercing - with jewellery FAR too small for the piercing might I add - availble from any piercing shop and for a lot less than $60 (if US piercing prices are similar to UK ones).
Words fail me, actually. *speechless*
I think that jewelry and piercing would probably add up to about $60 at a reputable shop.
I believe it's $30 at my parlor of choice, and the place is reputable. Of course it is a college town in rural NC, so that probably could change the price. It might be $45.
My sister's workers (registered nurses at that) are getting together for a "stapling party". gah.
-------------------- "I still say Obi-wan Kenobi was The Force's bitch." Posts: 820 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Shamrock: Oh God, it's come back to life! This was popular in New England about 20 - 25 years ago.
This was my first thought, too. I seem to remember in the late 70s/early 80s, people were getting ear staples to lose weight, stop smoking, overcome insomnia, etc. It didn't seem to work then, and I'm willing to bet it doesn't work now.
Posts: 763 | From: Chicago | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I saw these advertised locally and looked into them. It turns out that a major acupuncture organization says it does not work and they feel it is unsafe. Of course, now I can't find it. I'll keep looking.
quote: Ear stapling is similar to true acupuncture in that its goal is to stimulate a nerve through piercing, but the similarities end there. Most acupuncture techniques make use of 10, 20 or even 100 needles and only stimulate the targeted meridian points for a few hours, not constantly. Also, a staple is relatively large when compared to an acupuncture needle and could do more damage to the flesh than is intended. Acupuncturists never pierce cartilage. The chance of serious infection is much higher with the stapling as well, and clients could experience nausea and other side effects.
(emphasis mine)
quote: Along with the stapling, the doctors are instructing patients to keep a 1,800-calorie diet and exercise 15 to 20 minutes a day. Most ear staplers say patients can expect a weight loss of 3 to 5 pounds a week. Those who are pregnant or have health problems such as recurring staph infections should not get the staple.
Interestingly, the projected weight loss for an unstapled person on a low calorie diet is about 3 to 5 pounds a week, a figure consistent with what staple proponents claim is result of vagus nerve stimulation. That similarity calls into question the staple’s effectiveness, according to JoBeth McElhanon of the Arkansas Dietetic Association.
I question this part a little because the low-calorie diet they talk about is more like 1200 calories, not 1800 and the whole point of the staple is that it supposedly makes it easier to eat less calories. If they claimed to increase metabolism while you ate the same the above paragraph would be more proof against the procedure. But instead it sort-of seems to confirm that it would work if, indeed, it reduced cravings.
-------------------- This used to be the life, but I don't need another one. MyBandwagon Posts: 3254 | From: small town Texas | Registered: Jan 2004
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I am dumbfounded when I see my fellow nurses falling for NFBSK like this.
Even worse, I get furious when I see a fellow nurse making money by promoting NFBSK like this.
The nursing board should sautee her license and make her eat it. No...maybe not. She would probably get the idea to sell cooked paper as a "miracle high-fiber weight loss aid."
-------------------- You fail to consider, for such is the tyranny of fashion, that the swan is not a slim animal... -Jincy Kornhauser, Melinda Falling Posts: 1762 | From: Charleston, West Virginia | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: JESUS. These are piercings, and I hope to god she's not literally stapling people's ears *shudder*. The one shown on the news report is just a daith piercing - with jewellery FAR too small for the piercing might I add - availble from any piercing shop and for a lot less than $60 (if US piercing prices are similar to UK ones).
Words fail me, actually. *speechless*
I think that jewelry and piercing would probably add up to about $60 at a reputable shop.
Hell's fire. That's about £35. I go to one of the best piercers in Britain and she charges I think £15, maybe £20 tops, for a daith piercing including titanium jewellery.
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Reading the topic title for this one, I got an image of an ear folded over and stapled. I was thinking, "that's only going to work on people who eat through their ears..."
-------------------- I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. Posts: 4495 | From: Surrey, UK | Registered: Jun 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: JESUS. These are piercings, and I hope to god she's not literally stapling people's ears *shudder*. The one shown on the news report is just a daith piercing - with jewellery FAR too small for the piercing might I add - availble from any piercing shop and for a lot less than $60 (if US piercing prices are similar to UK ones).
Words fail me, actually. *speechless*
I think that jewelry and piercing would probably add up to about $60 at a reputable shop.
I believe it's $30 at my parlor of choice, and the place is reputable. Of course it is a college town in rural NC, so that probably could change the price. It might be $45.
My sister's workers (registered nurses at that) are getting together for a "stapling party". gah.
Well, I am in the bay area where things tend to be pretty expensive, but my previous estimate of $60 may be a tad high. I googled "daith price piercing" and came up with two testimonials on BMEzine which indicated $50 and 20 pounds respectively.
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I'm with the person who said it was psychological (or, as the article in the OP puts it, a "crutch").
After all, if ear staples/daith piercings really did stimulate the vagus nerve, then we'd hear tales of epileptics and the severely depressed being cured or having their symptoms greatly alleviated by their piercings. For the record, we don't.
BTW, real vagus nerve stimulators are crude cybernetic implants similar to heart pacemakers.
- Pseudo (can't blame me for doing my research ahead of time for once) Croat
-------------------- "At all events, people who deny the influence of smaller nations should remember that the Croats have the rest of us by the throats." - Norman Davies, Europe: A History
God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. Posts: 4578 | From: Sunrise, FL | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
To consider stapling ones ears to be a weight loss effectiveness I do not believe.
The key to weight loss is concentrating on a proper diet course from your nutritionist and properly performing your exercises given by a personal trainer.
Many people believe in the staple stomach being an effective measure despite the thousands of dollars it costs.
But ear stapling? That is more of a taboo fashion. Or if your in a culture who punishes the wicked it can be a form of torture.
OFF TOPIC Some people are stupid enough to do it to their netherregions to make it a fashion accessory. I heard a while ago a woman did it to prevent conception.
-------------------- Joseph Z Posts: 1356 | From: Woodbridge, VA | Registered: Jul 2004
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OFF TOPIC Some people are stupid enough to do it to their netherregions to make it a fashion accessory. I heard a while ago a woman did it to prevent conception.
Are you talking about piercing or stapling here? Where did you hear that a woman got her netherregions pierced/stapled to prevent conception?
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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guruwan2b
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
I have a 2 coworkers (and one's husband) who had the ear staples. Didn't work on any of them. I think they paid $45.
-------------------- Too much of this navel gazing and we'll disappear up our own arses. Danvers Carew Posts: 7465 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Oct 2001
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"It has been shown scientifically that different points in the ear demonstrate higher electrical conductivity when their related organ or tissue is stressed, unbalanced, or diseased."
Cites, please.
"The staple targets many areas, so you may feel the staple isn't working because you are not losing weight, but it really is, it is targeting what your body needs first."
So if it isn't working, it's still working. No wonder there's a 90% success rate (what happened to the other 10% though?)
"I find it of up most importance..."
Oh great command of the language there, honey. Really makes you look professional. (my emphasis)
-------------------- "We don't keep a certified whale-vomit expert on staff." - Larry Penny, Director, Natural Resources Department, Town of East Hampton Posts: 377 | From: New Zealand | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by NZUL: "It has been shown scientifically that different points in the ear demonstrate higher electrical conductivity when their related organ or tissue is stressed, unbalanced, or diseased."
I can see where the surface of the skin (and not just ears, mind you) would conduct electricity better when one is ill or under stress. Under such conditions, people tend to sweat more. Since sweat has salts in it, sweaty skin will conduct electricity better than dry skin.
This, of course has nothing to do with any alleged "stress" or "imbalance" in organs that this technique claims to assess.
- Pseudo "playing it by ear" Croat
-------------------- "At all events, people who deny the influence of smaller nations should remember that the Croats have the rest of us by the throats." - Norman Davies, Europe: A History
God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. Posts: 4578 | From: Sunrise, FL | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Joseph Z: To consider stapling ones ears to be a weight loss effectiveness I do not believe.
The key to weight loss is concentrating on a proper diet course from your nutritionist and properly performing your exercises given by a personal trainer.
Many people believe in the staple stomach being an effective measure despite the thousands of dollars it costs.
But ear stapling? That is more of a taboo fashion. Or if your in a culture who punishes the wicked it can be a form of torture.
OFF TOPIC Some people are stupid enough to do it to their netherregions to make it a fashion accessory. I heard a while ago a woman did it to prevent conception.
I think you may have misunderstood the concept of "ear stapling". It does not in anyway resemble stomach stapling.
The only way piercing a woman's naughty bits to prevent conception would be the so-called chastity piercing, which I shall leave up to your imagination as googling for it at work will cause people to knock on my door and remove me from the premises
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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I used acupuncture to quit smoking (no one was more surprised than I was when it worked). I expressed my concern about gaining weight once I quit smoking, and Dr. Lucy (a lovely Chinese acupuncturist) taped some sort of seeds to my ears - a couple on each lobe and one in each ear. She said when I had the urge to eat, I should push on the seeds - hard. It worked (sort of) either by distracting me and directing my hunger pangs to the pain of hard seeds being pressed into my ears or by actually pushing on a nerve or nerve center. I didn't overeat or gain weight while I had the seeds, but once I outsmarted Dr. Lucy and removed the seeds, I ate anything and everything.
-------------------- Life is simple. People make it less so. Posts: 55 | From: Midwest | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Joseph Z: OFF TOPIC Some people are stupid enough to do it to their netherregions to make it a fashion accessory. I heard a while ago a woman did it to prevent conception.
Are you talking about piercing or stapling here? Where did you hear that a woman got her netherregions pierced/stapled to prevent conception?
When I got my ear pierced at Infinite in Philadelphia last fall, they provided me with an information booklet, complete with detailed info and photos of ALL the piercings the shop offered. Yikes. Judging from those pictures, maybe the woman's nether regions became so god-awfully frightening as to scare everyone off, thereby preventing conception? Who knows.
Posts: 49 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Joseph Z: OFF TOPIC Some people are stupid enough to do it to their netherregions to make it a fashion accessory. I heard a while ago a woman did it to prevent conception.
Are you talking about piercing or stapling here? Where did you hear that a woman got her netherregions pierced/stapled to prevent conception?
When I got my ear pierced at Infinite in Philadelphia last fall, they provided me with an information booklet, complete with detailed info and photos of ALL the piercings the shop offered. Yikes. Judging from those pictures, maybe the woman's nether regions became so god-awfully frightening as to scare everyone off, thereby preventing conception? Who knows.
I'm quite familiar with the concept of genital piercing and to my knowledge no one does it with the intent of preventing conception. People do it because they find it attractive or because it makes sex feel better. I'm wondering where Joseph got the idea that someone might do it for contraceptive purposes.
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I am really quite shocked because all of you seem to have a significant amount of intelligence. However if you would take a step back from being so high an mighty judgemental, you could read all of your responses at one time and see that none of you acutally know what you are talking about. Yes you are aware that you are smart and what you do is you hear an idea, then you rationalize it, then whatever comes to your mind is what you say is right or correct. You say it is a gimmick and you say things like "oh i bet you don't eat cause it hurts, or because you are naseous" Well you are wrong. Look into things a little more before just going off on some random tangent that makes you feel better. Chances are that you are all fat and that is why you have such resentment towards an internationally recognized practice. It it works like acupuncutre, it's inserted into a pressure point that is linked to your tummy. There are far worse things out there to do for weight loss that don't work and are much more harmful.
Posts: 1 | From: Amarillo, TX | Registered: Sep 2006
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quote:Chances are that you are all fat and that is why you have such resentment towards an internationally recognized practice.
quote:It it works like acupuncutre, it's inserted into a pressure point that is linked to your tummy.
Cite?
quote:There are far worse things out there to do for weight loss that don't work and are much more harmful.
Infections in piercings can be very harmful.
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Here's an article about ear acupuncture and weight loss. http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/228/10/1201 I was interested to see that it worked in a control group of non-obese subjects too. Still there is very little research on this topic. I couldn't find anything in Pubmed that matches up with the stapleing described in the OP. However, there are a lot of studies about ear acupuncture and pain managment of various parts of the body.
Posts: 1168 | From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by bekind2yurbuds: I am really quite shocked because all of you seem to have a significant amount of intelligence. However if you would take a step back from being so high an mighty judgemental, you could read all of your responses at one time and see that none of you acutally know what you are talking about. Yes you are aware that you are smart and what you do is you hear an idea, then you rationalize it, then whatever comes to your mind is what you say is right or correct. You say it is a gimmick and you say things like "oh i bet you don't eat cause it hurts, or because you are naseous" Well you are wrong. Look into things a little more before just going off on some random tangent that makes you feel better. Chances are that you are all fat and that is why you have such resentment towards an internationally recognized practice. It it works like acupuncutre, it's inserted into a pressure point that is linked to your tummy. There are far worse things out there to do for weight loss that don't work and are much more harmful.
Hi, and welcome.
Do you have any cites to support your claims?
And don't be put off by the snopester sensibility; we're just having fun.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
I'd say that making an insulting, grammatically-challenged tirade about a months-old thread is the very definition of "random tangent."
But never mind me. I'm just resentful because I'm fat.
-------------------- You fail to consider, for such is the tyranny of fashion, that the swan is not a slim animal... -Jincy Kornhauser, Melinda Falling Posts: 1762 | From: Charleston, West Virginia | Registered: Jul 2005
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So what's it to you if I'm fat and I don't believe that ear stapling is a valid weight loss method. You got stock in the company or something.
Posts: 280 | From: Maryland | Registered: Jan 2004
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Neither. Except for the woman in the OP who owns the business, I've never heard of it working.
I do beleive accupuncture works, and that there is enough scientific evidence to show it works and even how it works. But ear stapling is not at all the same as accupunture.
posted
I looked at her site, and her "Tips" section seemed to be more useful for weight loss than the ear stapling. General "Eat less," "Eat many small meals," "Pay attention to what you put in your mouth," kind of advice. And if people stick to the reduced diet that Starla mentioned, they would lose weight. maybe having staples in their ears makes them think "Wow, I'm doing something insane to lose weight. I should follow the rest of the advice too, or I'll have staples in my ears for nothing." Or something.
Um, in other words, I'm voting psychological on this.
evilrabbit- overweight? maybe. Fat? not so's you'd notice.
-------------------- "My sandwich choice is uncertain, until I actually order. It's like Schrodinger's Sandwich." "Is plutonium involved in this sandwich in any way?" "Maybe." Posts: 496 | From: Whitby, ON, Canada | Registered: Sep 2006
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I'm dubious about acupuncture (never seen a trial that was what I would consider truly double blind), and I'm vastly amused by the ear stapling thing. Theres just no way. Though I will also say that if the poster who ressurected this thread to defend the company hadnt bothered, I would have never have heard of or ridiculed this silly idea.
SiK "Would you believe me if I said this was relaxed muscle?" Boy
-------------------- This Space For Rent. Posts: 210 | From: Glasgow, Scotland | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
Pretty much alternative medicine is proven not to work, but thinkin' it works can have a powerful effect. I've seen people do acupuncture on animals, , and heard stories, and if anything I am more skeptical.
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