A Tiny Needle. An Unexpected Discovery.

Some of the best things in my practice didn’t start with a plan. This one started with a patient who brought something to my attention.

Several years ago, a woman I was helping with allergies came in with a request. Acupuncture was already working for her. She felt better, she loved her treatments, and she kept coming back. But she had heard about Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment, or SAAT, and she wanted to try it. Getting it meant a trip out of state, so she looked at me and asked, “Why don’t you just learn how to do this?”

Another training was the last thing my schedule needed, so I made her a deal: go try it, and if it works, I’ll go learn it. She kept up her acupuncture for allergies in the months before she went, and she was doing better. After SAAT, the change was remarkable. We then worked on the deeper layers of her health with naturopathic and functional medicine, and within a few months she was doing wonderfully. Since then, I’ve seen her maybe five times. She had kept her end of the deal, and now I had to keep mine.

So off I went to study with Dr. Nader Soliman, MD, the physician who developed SAAT. The lectures made sense. I took my notes, followed along, and felt pretty good about the whole thing. Then we reached the hands-on portion, and Dr. Soliman put on a headlamp. I remember sitting there thinking, What in the world have I just agreed to do?

We paired up to practice, and another acupuncturist placed a tiny needle in my ear at a point associated with a particular antibody. That was the whole procedure. Within minutes, I felt a change. Within two weeks, the difference was life-changing. I had gone there to learn how to help my patients, and I came home helped.

That simplicity is what surprises people most. Each allergen has its own point on the ear, and that point isn’t in the same place from one person to the next. So I use a point locator to find the exact spot on your ear for each specific substance to which you’re allergic, then place a tiny, semi-permanent needle there. Unlike a regular acupuncture visit, where the needles come out before you leave, this one goes home with you and stays put, usually for three to four weeks depending on what we’re addressing. You go to work, cook supper, and sleep in your own bed while it does its job. Dr. Soliman explains that the treatment helps the brain stop seeing the allergen as a threat, so the body can finally relax.

I use SAAT for a wide range of allergies, from foods like wheat, dairy, eggs, and nuts to environmental triggers like pollen, mold, dust, and pet dander. And when I think about whether it’s worth it, I think about what an allergy quietly costs a person over the years: the foods you stop ordering, the invitations you turn down, the homes you can’t visit, the medicine you carry everywhere. Weigh that against a few weeks with a needle smaller than you’d imagine.

I know of a woman whose cat allergy was so severe she couldn’t comfortably walk into a home where a cat had been. After SAAT, she was enjoying dinner at someone’s house when a cat strolled into the room, and she didn’t react at all. She was stunned. I was thrilled! And it isn’t only cats. I’ve seen the same kind of shift with food reactions.

One food allergy in particular is showing up more every year. If you live in the United States, you’ve probably heard of alpha-gal, or you know someone who gave up bacon and still hasn’t forgiven the tick. It can develop after certain tick bites, and suddenly the beef, pork, deer, squirrel, rabbit, bear, or any other mammal meat someone has enjoyed for years can set off a reaction, often hours after the meal. For some, even the smell of meat cooking is enough. Some of my alpha-gal patients also find themselves reacting to gelatin, cranberries, xanthan gum, or guar gum. I think of it like a smoke detector so sensitive it goes off every time you make toast. The alarm isn’t broken. It just can’t tell a fire from breakfast anymore, and SAAT gives us a way to work on each of those triggers, point by point.

The part that surprised me most is that SAAT reaches beyond allergies. In autoimmune conditions, the immune system treats the body’s own tissue as a threat. If you live with one, it can feel like your body has turned against you. I don’t believe it has. I believe it’s trying too hard to protect you. Dr. Soliman’s system uses many antibody frequencies associated with autoimmune and hormonal health, including thyroid and thyroid antibodies, arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, hormonal and reproductive concerns, and other immune-related antibodies. Those frequencies are simply how I locate the right point on your ear. The needle placed at that point is the treatment. That first needle in my own ear was at one of these antibody points, and my own improvement, along with what some patients have told me, is what keeps me digging deeper.

Just like with alpha-gal, SAAT may not change your antibody levels on paper. What it can do is help the body respond in a more balanced way. That’s why I pair it with the deeper work, looking for infections, inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, metabolic concerns, environmental exposures, and anything else that may be contributing to your health challenges. SAAT calms the response while we get to the root, and it can take more than one visit to address your full allergy and autoimmune profile.

That’s also why I’m going back. This November, I’ll return to study Auricular Medicine with Dr. Soliman. SAAT turns out to be one piece of a much larger approach to assessing and treating through the ear, and he says it takes muscle testing to a whole new level. I can’t wait to see what he means, and I’ll tell you all about it next month.

I went to learn SAAT because I promised a patient I would, and because what helped her so profoundly might help others. I came home helped, and knowing something I want every one of you to hear: your body was never the enemy. Sometimes it just needs help remembering it’s safe. Many patients also need naturopathic and functional medicine strategies for the conditions underneath their symptoms, and SAAT works right alongside that. So if an allergy has been making your life a little smaller, or your body has felt like it’s working against you, ask me about SAAT at your next visit. Sometimes the smallest discoveries open the door to the biggest answers.

One tiny needle, one specific point, made just for you. Come see what yours can do.

Right to the point,

Dr. Kirby Thompson, ND, MSOM, LAc, MA Ed.