Want to lose weight? You know the way. Get to the gym and work out. But some people say they've found a way to lose weight that doesn't involve diet or exercise.
One person says, "The first month I lost 10 pounds." Another says, "I lost a total of 18 inches." Others believe it's the greatest thing they've ever done.
We're talking about stapling your ears to lose weight. Caroline Wetzel did it. "I was always hungry, and after I got stapled those cravings were gone," she said.
The theory behind ear stapling is similar to acupuncture. It's putting pressure on the points that control craving.
Cosmetologist Dolores Woodside has stapled the ears of more than 150 people in less than a year. She says, "Shrink your stomach gradually by eating less food, and then in about 3-4 months, your stomach has shrunk."
Dr. Marilyn Huheey of the Ohio Board of Cosmetology says, "There's absolutely no medical basis for that." Huheey believes ear staplers like Woodside, who usually have only 1 hour training, are essentially practicing medicine without a license. She believes her cosmetology license does not permit her to do it.
But some people swear by it. Veronica Spurlock said the two little staples, one in each ear, helped her lose 168 pounds. "It suppressed my appetite. I wasn't hungry. I didn't crave the potato chips and all the bread." Veronica was almost 400 pounds, but 14 months and 168 pounds later, she was a new and improved Veronica. "It changed my life... it actually gave me the willpower I never had."
Huheey believes in the quest for willpower, one could get a nasty infection as well. "That infection could go into the bone, and the brain is right behind that bone. Someone could die from this."
The Ohio State Board of Cosmetology does not regulate ear stapling, but they have addressed it. Huheey says the board voted unanimously to reject ear stapling as a practice of cosmetology saying it is medical in nature.
