COLUMBUS, Ohio - Next month, the Ohio Cosmetology Board will become the first body in Ohio to decide the legality of stapling ears. 

The weight loss fad that is sweeping the south and west, is just now showing up in Ohio, 10TV's Andrea Cambern reported.

Patients believe that a tiny surgical staple can suppress the appetite and help them lose weight.

Diet and exercise helped Sandy Brandt lose 30 pounds, but she wanted more help.  Brant, who decided to get serious about her health after being diagnosed with diabetes, decided to come to the Center Sanctum weight loss spa in Heath to get a surgical staple placed in each ear. 

"I'd be standing in the kitchen, wondering why I was there, and I'd get into the refrigerator and start eating," Brandt said.  "I don't even do that now with the stapling.  It's really helped me tremendously."

Brandt lost another 30 pounds.  She attributed it to the staples that stay in the ears for four months.

"It's based on acupuncture sites of the ear and it actually adds pressure to those sites," said Diana Brest, a stapling practitioner.

At Ohio State University's Center for Integrative Medicine, acupuncturist David Wang does not staple ears.  He said that Chinese medicine uses acupuncture for weight loss.  The needles come out in minutes and not months.

"Some ear points are often used for weight management," Wang said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no evidence that ear stapling works.  Web sites disagree.  Some offer one-day training, while other promise wealth if practitioners rent a hotel room and charge $75 per client.  The expenses average $5.  There is no word about what happens after the provider leaves town.

"The biggest potential risk is infection," Wang said.

An Elyria, Ohio, osteopath who staples ears puts the infection rate at 1 in 5.  Others agree.  Infection worries Melissa Jones, the Center Sanctum owner, so she said she takes precautions.

"We just feel that it's critical that a registered nurse or someone in the medical profession does perform this service," Jones said.

10TV News found four nurses, an osteopath and a chiropractor who perform ear stapling in Ohio.  A training Web site claims, "You don't need a medical background."

The Ohio State Chiropractic Board has begun an investigation, Cambern reported.

"If the board finds a violation of our laws and rules, they can impose any disciplinary sanctions from a reprimand to revocation," said Ohio Chiropractic Board director Kelly Caudill.

No one regulates ear stapling in Ohio - not even the health department, medical board or the nursing board.  They said that they have no plans to do so, Cambern reported.

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, and Wyoming restrict who can staple ears, or limit it to doctors. In Ohio, the first board to decide will be the Ohio Cosmetology Board.

The board oversees 30,000 locations and 140,000 licensees, with 12 inspectors.  One of them stumbled across a beautician stapling an ear.

"It was, obviously, out of the scope of practice," said Ohio Cosmetology Board director Kevin Miller.  "It wasn't something that was recognized by the board.  So at that point in time, a violation was issued."

In April, the beautician presented her case for stapling to the board.  Miller said that he worries about the quality of training, high rates of infection and weight loss claims.

"Anytime you start making those types of claims, it raises a red flag," Miller said.  "I think the board was very concerned about the idea of this being done on individuals after an eight-hour course."

Miller said that he did not think any other licensees were stapling ears, but 10TV News found another beautician and a manicurist offering the service. 

From what 10TV News could tell, ear stapling is just now coming to Ohio.  As more people seek ways to improve their looks, more may offer ear staples, leaving some asking the question, "Who's minding the store?"

"Until something is decided, I think you're kind of seeing it float in between the lines of regulation," Miller said.

The Ohio Cosmetology Board meets on June 12 to decide the question.

Stay with 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.