Acu Seeds

Acu Seeds is a wellness product described as needle-less acupuncture "ear seeds" which are claimed to trigger acupuncture pressure points in order to give the wearer health benefits, however they are not considered acupuncture. Acu Seeds were developed by Giselle Boxer, a former marketing executive who stated she briefly suffered from ME/CFS and was told that she would never recover. Acu Seeds is marketed as a treatment for various physical and mental illnesses, including migraines, fatigue and anxiety.
A variety of other ear seed brands and products also exist, including AcuPips, which were developed by a trained acupuncturist.

Acu Seeds were promoted by Boxer in a January 2024 episode of the TV reality show Dragon's Den, and quickly became controversial among people with chronic illnesses, including ME/CFS patient groups, who criticised both the ear seeds as a treatment and the media coverage.

Theory

Acu Seeds claim to be based on traditional Chinese medicine, in particular ear acupuncture, however using ear seeds is acupressure rather than acupuncture. Acu Seeds claim to trigger pressure points, however it is not clear how they claim to do this, or what pressure points (if any) may be relevant to ME/CFS symptoms.

Evidence

No peer-reviewed or other scientific studies have been published for Acu Seeds. No ear seeds of any kind have been subject to a clinical trial for ME/CFS. Creator Giselle Boxer uses her own personal experience to promote Acu Seeds, however she has also said that in addition to she did not rely only on ear seeds and that she used that a combination of diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds, and recovered within a year.

Acu Seeds have not been proven to be equivalent to acupuncture, and research on acupuncture has not yet established that it is effective treatment or cure for ME/CFS.

Clinicians

No specific ME/CFS specialist clinicians have been offering Acu Seeds or other ear seeds directly to patients.

Dr Charles Shepherd of The ME Association and the UK patient group Action for ME have both been publicly very critical of the promotion of Acu Seeds as a treatment for ME/CFS.

Risks and safety

Unknown. No clinical trials have been conducted to establish if Acu Seeds or any other ear seeds are a safe treatment for people with ME/CFS or to establish safety in healthy people. There is a lack of evidence that Acu Seeds are "side-effect free".

The Dragon's Den reality TV episode featuring Giselle Boxer's promotion of Acu Seeds has been described as "damaging" to the "chronic illness community".

Controversies

After Acu Seeds was promoted by Giselle Boxer on the BBC TV Channel, a series of complaints were made about the episode and the marketing claims made by Boxer's company about the use of Acu Seeds for ME/CFS.

Advertising Standards Authority and Ofcom complaints

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority and media watchdog Ofcom both received a high number of complaints about the marketing of Acu Seeds in relation to ME/CFS, and the TV episode was temporarily removed from the internet before being edited and having a disclaimer added.

British Acupuncture Council statement on CFS/ME

In response to the coverage of Acu Seeds and health claims made by founder Giselle Boxer, the British Acupuncture Council released a statement clarifying that acupuncture was different to acupressure, and stating that "there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome" and that ear seeds were an adjunct treatment for CFS in Chinese medicine, with body acupuncture being the primary treatment, often combined with moxibustion.

The British Acupuncture Council also stated:

A traditional acupuncturist does not base treatment on the diagnosis of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ or ‘myalgic encephalomyelitis’. They will take a full case history and arrive at a diagnosis using the traditional theory. This diagnosis is called 证 zhèng. Zhèng is usually translated as pattern. Even for conditions where the signs and symptoms are fairly consistent, such as osteoarthritis of the knee, patients can be diagnosed with different zhèng-patterns. This means that patients with osteoarthritis of the knee we will get slightly different treatments depending on their overall signs and symptoms.

Statement on ear seeds for CFS/ME – Dragon’s Den

A traditional acupuncturist does not base treatment on the diagnosis of ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ or ‘myalgic encephalomyelitis’. They will take a full case history and arrive at a diagnosis using the traditional theory. This diagnosis is called 证 zhèng. Zhèng is usually translated as pattern. Even for conditions where the signs and symptoms are fairly consistent, such as osteoarthritis of the knee, patients can be diagnosed with different zhèng-patterns. This means that patients with osteoarthritis of the knee we will get slightly different treatments depending on their overall signs and symptoms.

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British Acupuncture Council

Newspaper coverage criticism

Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia group responded to local newspaper article covering the Dragon's Den episode featuring Acu Seeds by saying:

"As there is no cure or effective treatment for ME/CFS it is understandable that people turn to alternative or complementary medicine such as ear seeds, which are a needle-free form of acupuncture or acupressure.

Some studies have shown that acupuncture can give some people short-term relief from headaches and some forms of chronic pain, as well as nausea and vomiting. However, there is no evidence that it can cure ME/CFS.

However, there is no evidence that it can cure ME/CFS and much experience among the community of people living with ME is that many alternative medicines have taken large amounts of money but resulted in no or little improvement. It is crucial that people who are desperate to feel better are not used as a business opportunity for unproven remedies implied to 'cure' or improve symptoms.

We are open to alternative approaches, however, our recommendations are limited to treatments supported by robust scientific evidence affirming their safety and effectiveness. Sometimes we feel it is necessary to warn others about highly speculative treatments and unevidenced treatments that incur significant costs and make bold claims."

Merryn Crofts's mother speaks out

Clare Norton, mother of Merryn Crofts, a young British woman who died of ME in 2017, criticised Boxer's claims, and the TV episode being made available again after editing, stating the ear seed scandal was a disgrace.

Legal problems

In Jan 2024, AcuPips, another British company which sells ear seeds, revealed that they had taken legal action against Acu Seeds, and had warned the TV producers of Dragon's Den about this prior to the show being broadcast. AcuPips is run by practising Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncturist Zoë Young, who stated she had registered AcuPips name as a trademark in 2017, and sold guided ear maps with their ear seeds before the launch of Acu Seeds. Zoë Young of AcuPips stated that she had contacted them and asked them to change their company name because she felt it was too similar to AcuPips, and also because acu seeds was a generic term already used by acupuncturists to refer to ear seeds. Young stated that she had opposed the attempt by Giselle Boxer to trademark the name AcuSeeds and that its trademark request was refused. Despite selling ear seeds, Young also stated that ear seeds cannot cure M.E. or any other chronic illness, stating it can improve symptoms like anxiety, depression, migraine, hot flashes and sleep.

Giselle Boxer and "positive thinking" criticism

Some criticism of Giselle Boxer followed on from the media coverage of Acu Seeds, stating that Giselle Boxer had been banned from a prominent social networking patient group several years previously for her repeatedly promoting Acu Seeds to group members, and she was revealed to have previously criticised ME patients for "negatively" in earlier media coverage, and linked recovery to patient attitude, despite research that showed the opposite.

Dr Charles Shepherd, of The ME Association, said "Like many people who have a debilitating health condition that is affecting all aspects of their life, this can also affect mental health. However, the vast majority remain positive and become 'expert patients' in the practical management of their illness."

News articles

• Jan 31, 2024, EXCLUSIVE: 'My daughter's ME was so severe it killed her - Dragons' Den ear seed scandal is a disgrace - The Mirror
• Jan 31, 2024, Dragons' Den ear seeds scandal hopeful 'likely' broke advertising rules claims watchdog - The Mirror
• Jan 24, 2024 - 'I warned the BBC about Dragons' Den fake but they ignored me' - Mail Online
• Jan 26, 2024, BBC Dragons' Den faces new backlash over 'upsetting' claims ME sufferers have 'negative mindset' - The Mirror
• Jan 26, 2024, Dragons' Den: BBC defends show after ME criticism of Acu Seeds - BBC News
• Jan 26, 2024, BBC pull Dragons' Den from iPlayer over 'serious concerns' after Mirror story - The Mirror

Notable studies

None.

See also

Acupressure.

See also

Acupuncture.

See also

• Acupuncture

Learn more

• Jan 2024, Why Dragon's Den's latest episode was so damaging - Digital Spy
• Statement on ear seeds for CFS/ME – Dragon’s Den - British Acupuncture Council