Tinnitus

I hear what you do not hear

Some people hear sounds that are not there. One speaks of tinnitus. The Latin term "tinnitus" means "ringing of the ears". A brief whistles and noises in the ears everyone knows. Most annoying sound that disappears after a short time. For people who live a year or more with a tinnitus, the noise can get a disease: sleep disorders, depression, social withdrawal and a hypersensitivity to real tones are possible complaints. Tinnitus sometimes has an organic cause. Clogged ear canals, extreme noise, hearing loss or tumors irritate the inner ear. Nerves transmit those impulses from the inner ear to the brain, which interprets them as "noise". For about half of all people living with tinnitus doctors find no cause for the tinnitus. Treatment of tinnitus is difficult when there no reason for this can be found. Treatment options include: Counseling for dealing with the disease and "hearing aids" that mask the tinnitus.

It shall flow, what is stationary

For trouble-free hearing, kidney qi must flow freely (pronounced "Chee"). In TCM, hearing disorders and tinnitus mean stagnation (= standstill) of the kidney qi. Also in the TCM, there is a distinction between short-term and permanent tinnitus. Likewise, various causes are delimited from one another: External factors (eg wind-heat) or internal factors (eg liver-fire) can cause tinnitus. The description of potential failures is long. Therefore, the treatment with acupuncture and Chinese herbs demands a wide experience of a TCM specialist. «Bringing to flow what is stagnant," is the basic principle of any tinnitus treatment.