Tinnitus & Ayurved
Tinnitus & Ayurved
by Vaidya Sukumar S. Sardeshmukh from the
Ayurveda College “Vishwa Shanti Dham”, Wagholi, Tal. Haveli, Pune, India
on the occasion of the performance of a lecture in the
“Yoga in Daily Life” - Centre
Friday 12th June 2009 in Vienna, Austria.
What Is Tinnitus?
Many people experience hearing loss as they grow older, but auditory nerve damage from noise can affect anyone, no matter what their age. From middle age and beyond, up to 30 percent of the American population is estimated to begin suffering from a ringing in their ears. CalledTinnitus, this condition is estimated to affect up to 50 million Americans.
Tinnitus affects most sufferers temporarily, often immediately after exposure to loud noise, like after attending a rock concert. That muffled hearing with an underlying hum or buzz is tinnitus. Fortunately for most of us, the hearing loss and noise passes in a few hours or minutes, but for many tinnitus sufferers it is a way of life.
Some people suffering from tinnitus say they hear a noise in the background all the time, but only if they listen for it. However, other sufferers report hearing incessant humming, chirping, clicking, rustling and a variety of other noises all of the time.
For some people tinnitus can be simply an annoyance. For those suffering the most severe symptoms, the condition can lead to chronic sleeplessness, depression and even thoughts of suicide.
Loud noise exposure is just one of a wide range of health and environmental issues that cause tinnitus. One of the biggest misconceptions about tinnitus is that nothing can be done about it. The lack of hope that their condition can ever improve often worsens not only the outlook, but the symptoms, of the tinnitus sufferer.
The reality is that most cases of tinnitus CAN be treated. The key is determining where in the hearing process the tinnitus is coming from, or if it stems from an underlying medical problem. Although in some cases this is impossible, it helps to determine what treatments might be the most effective.
We hope that this e-book and CD series will help those plagued by these bothersome, sometimes debilitating. By finding the right medical professionals and conjuring up the ability to change some habits, the vast majority of tinnitus patients can experience significant relief.
Some of the most effective treatments can be as simple as making some lifestyle changes. Others require medication, homeopathic treatment, hearing aids or surgery. The key to finding relief for tinnitus is often related to finding a medical professional capable of ruling out issues that could be causing the symptoms to pinpoint an effective treatment.
If you are like the majority of people, you do not have to simply learn to live with tinnitus, whether you find it simply annoying or incredibly maddening. We hope this series will help you find the treatment that works for you.
The Hearing Process
It helps to be informed about how we hear to understand why tinnitus is often so difficult to pinpoint and treat. The breakdown can occur anywhere in the auditory pathway.
We hear because of a complicated series of events that allows the ear to convert sound waves into electrical signals and to send nerve impulses to the brain to be interpreted as sound.
The ear is made up of three areas: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Sound waves enter through the outer ear and travel to the middle ear where they cause the ear drum to vibrate. The vibrations are transmitted through three tiny bones in the middle ear called the ossicles. These three bones are commonly known as the hammer, anvil and stirrup. In medicine, they are called the malleus, incus, and stapes.
The ear drum and ossicles carry the vibrations to the inner ear. The stirrup transmits the vibrations through the oval window and into the fluid that fills the inner ear. The vibrations move through fluid in the snail-shaped hearing part of the inner ear, which is called the cochlea. The cochlea also contains hair cells. The fluid in the cochlea moves the top of the hair cells, which causes the production of nerve impulses.
The nerve impulses produced in the inner ear are carried to the brain where they are interpreted as sound. Different sounds stimulate different parts of the inner ear, allowing the brain to distinguish among various sounds, for example, different vowel and consonant sounds.
Tinnitus can be caused be a problem in the middle ear, the inner ear, the auditory nerve or even in the brain. The problem may not be in the head at all – tinnitus may be caused by a general health problem like a low thyroid level or high blood pressure.
It's important to find a health practitioner who is willing to take the time to at least rule out some of the many causes of tinnitus to help you find a solution to decrease or end the constant noise. That positive reassurance is key to recovering from tinnitus.