Tinnitus

Chronic Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, refers to the abnormal sound one hears in the absence of any external stimuli. Tinnitus can be related to aging, stress or disorders of the ear itself. Chinese Medicine has well developed theories and treatment practices in dealing with tinnitus. According to Chinese Medicine, tinnitus occurs when the body is out of balance. Different types of tinnitus stems from the imbalance of different systems of the body. The condition can be treated with herbal medicine, acupuncture or other physical manipulation techniques such as massage, TuiNa or GuaSha. Below listed a few major imbalances that can cause Tinnitus. Always consult a specialist for the treatment, the information below may provide you some basic understanding of how tinnitus is treated.

(1) Kidney Deficiency Type: This is the aging related type. This type of tinnitus makes high pitched screeching sound, Chinese Medicine characterizes it as "the sound of a cicada". It tends to come on gradually, on-and-off at first, but is persistent.

In Chinese Medicine, the kidney is the determining factor in controlling the aging, and Kidney "opens" to the ear. So the health of the ear and the hearing ability is directly related to the kidney's vitality. When we age, our kidney become more and more deficient and hearing related problems will arise. In the five element system, Kidney is the water element, when the water element become deficient, it will not have enough water to balance the fire. Metaphorically speaking, due to the lack of water, the pot is sizzling on the fire. When this type of tinnitus occurs, there generally have other accompanying symptoms that fit in the "Yin deficiency" pattern.

The treatment approach for this type of tinnitus is to replenish the kidney water element. There are many herbal remedies for this type of tinnitus, a typical formula is 六味地黄丸 (Pronounced as: Liu Wei Di Huang Wan)。And for women who also experience hot flashes, another version of this medication 知柏地黄丸 (Pronounced as: Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan) can be effective.

(2) Liver Excessive Type: This is related to stress or anger management issues. This type of tinnitus sounds loud with low frequency, Chinese Medicine characterizes it as "the sound of ocean wave". It tends to come on suddenly, usually get worse after experience emotional distress or anger. This type of tinnitus can accompany bitter taste in the mouth, irritability, dizziness, headache. Liver fire is the cause of these symptoms because liver fire has a tendency to flare upward, disturbing the clear Qi above. A typical herbal treatment for this type of tinnitus is 龙胆泻肝汤 (Pronounced as: Long Dan Xie Gan Tang).

(3) Wind-Heat Invasion: This type is related to a cold or an ear-infection. The onset is acute,  relatively low pitch sound, feeling fullness in the ear, typically accompanying nasal congestion, runny nose, cough and other lung disorders table. Eardrum visible congestion, retraction. For this type of tinnitus, Western Medicine has very effective treatment: Antibiotic.

Chinese Medicine has herbal remedies for clearing wind-heat, but if it is an acute ear infection, antibiotic works much faster.