I got this great article that linked sleep to tinnitus. The brain pathways of sleep and tinnitus compete for the same neurological space in the brain. Get better sleep, it seems to have a dampening affect on the noise. Then I finished reading and it was a study on ferrets, the cute little brown things. UHG!
Sure we do science on animals all day, but it’s not a direct link to humans. I think most people that have tinnitus, an estimated 15-30% of the population, notice after a week or so of good to great sleep their symptoms improve. But not always.
Then I read a bunch of papers on tinnitus and now I have a headache, but my ears are not ringing so that’s good.
I am going to list the treatments I would suggest to someone that has it. Keeping in mind there are a lot of causes.
If you have these go see your GP or go to ER and get checked out. If it shows up fast, only in one ear, pulsing with the heartbeat, associated with sudden hearing loss, dizzy, balance problems or other neurological symptoms. Of course whenever you have health concerns reach out to your GP or other medical authority.
Another thing, loud noise exposure is bad so have some ear plugs with you and use them.
The things that I think help tinnitus go depend a lot on how a person got it. If you fell, a gentle Chiropractor, Cranial Sacral, Vestibular Physio Therapist and some RMT’s with specific training are in order. Depending on the fall the first stop may be the ER for x-rays or even a CT/MRI.
If it’s been a while I may still start with the above list, a X-ray, CT, MRI. It is really up to the GP/specialist to figure out that stuff, not my scope of practice. But it can rule out some of the more terrible causes. Many people with tinnitus never find a reason in western medicine.
There are another thousand treatments. Lasers, crystals, mediation, supplements, white noise machines, it goes on and on. They did one where they took placenta and put it in Rats ears that they induced tinnitus in. I told you I read a lot of papers on this subject.
Then you are into my world of Chinese Medicine and all our causes and treatments – see bottom of article for the list on causes. The literature is mixed on the efficiency of Acu/TCM. The reason is the same as all studies on Acu/TCM. They give everyone the SAME treatment, which will always have a poor outcome.
But that is how they do ‘western science study’s’ a group gets xyz treatment and another get a sham. Well if you poke enough needles into someone, it will always do something. But that is another article.
You do not have tinnitus in isolation, there is a whole body attached. A whole array of varied symptoms and conditions. As many of those as possible need to be thought about and a pattern emerges. Treat the pattern and good things can happen, which may include reduction in tinnitus.
I likely treat someone every working day with tinnitus. How are my results, mixed. Why? There are several reasons. Likely the first is my skills need development. I have been at this for 30 years in June and my teacher is still going after 58 years in practice. She tells me she is still learning lots, so I say the same. The other is Acu/TCM is a reach for some to do the ‘lifestyle’ changes needed to heal something like tinnitus.
It can take a while. Here is Acu/TCM in a nut shell. I adjust how you work inside. The idea is you have some parts that have adapted to illness and you are not aware of it. Via the treatment it lets your body know something is off. Then it is a process to correct, re-balance, harmonize…. whatever needs to get better.
But many adaptations are ingrained into people. Like eating on the go, skipping meals, too much screen time, not enough exercise, too little sleep. These and so many others can be hard to improve. The world conspires against you when it comes to many healthy behaviours.
To wrap this up. Get a massage, did the tinnitus improve at all? If yes, you need to get your muscle tensions under control.
Get a Chiro, did it improve at all? If yes, you need to get your muscle tensions under control. Just what do you think – your bones hold your muscles in place? No. Your muscle hold your bones.
Get a Vetibular Physio to work on you. Did it improve at all? You know what to do, muscles again.
The Gp, Specialist, scans all of those things. Did they help at all? If these ones did, I’d likely say work on your diet, sleep and exercise and then your muscle tensions.
But when all else fails come see me, in my alter universe you would come first and still have the energy to do what I ask. In Acu/TCM it’s either your Kidney or Liver Energy “Qi” is wonky (that’s a medical word in TCM). It can take time but I promise you most signs of tinnitus are early burn out. Think of it like a early fire alarm bell.
While tinnitus often has a diagnosis many are ‘Idiopathic’ in Western Medicine. They is always a diagnosis in Acu/TCM, I can not always fix it but with your help, many can be.
What Causes Tinnitus from the Western Medical view?
Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no external sound is present. People often describe it as ringing, buzzing, hissing, humming, clicking, or whooshing. In Western medicine, tinnitus is not considered a disease by itself. Instead, it is usually treated as a symptom that can have many different causes.
- Hearing loss
The most common cause of tinnitus is hearing loss. This can happen gradually with age or after repeated exposure to loud noise. When the hearing system loses input, the brain may seem to “fill in the gap,” which can contribute to the perception of phantom sound.
- Noise exposure
Loud concerts, machinery, firearms, headphones at high volume, and other intense noise exposure can damage the inner ear. Tinnitus may appear suddenly after one very loud event or build up over time after years of repeated exposure. The brain often ‘fills in’ what it expect to hear next, but for some reason it can be experienced as the hissing sound. Brains do weird things sometimes.
- Earwax blockage or ear infection
Sometimes the cause is much simpler. A buildup of earwax, an ear infection, or fluid in the ear can change how sound is transmitted and make tinnitus more noticeable. These are often among the more reversible causes. Generally you need a GP visit. Infections may need drugs and ear wax a diet change.
- Inner ear disorders
Certain ear conditions are linked with tinnitus, especially when it occurs together with hearing changes, pressure, or dizziness. Ménière’s disease is one example. Sudden inner ear hearing loss can also trigger tinnitus and needs prompt medical attention.
- Medication side effects
Some medications can cause or worsen tinnitus. Common examples include high doses of aspirin, some anti-inflammatory drugs, certain antibiotics, and some chemotherapy medications. The effect may be temporary or longer-lasting depending on the drug and the person.
- Jaw and muscle problems
Tinnitus is not always coming from the ear itself. Problems with the jaw joint, often called TMJ dysfunction, can contribute. Teeth grinding, jaw clenching, and tension in the muscles around the head and neck may also play a role.
- Blood vessel causes
A pulsing or heartbeat-like sound is called pulsatile tinnitus. This raises a different set of possibilities, including high blood pressure, blood flow changes, or abnormal blood vessels near the ear. Pulsatile tinnitus deserves proper medical evaluation because the cause is sometimes treatable.
- Tumours or structural problems
Rarely, tinnitus can be linked to structural causes such as a vestibular schwannoma, also called an acoustic neuroma. This is more concerning when tinnitus is on one side only, especially if it comes with hearing loss, imbalance, or other neurological symptoms.
- Other medical conditions
Tinnitus can also be associated with broader health issues such as thyroid problems, anemia, diabetes, migraine, autoimmune conditions, and some neurological disorders. In these cases, tinnitus is part of a bigger picture rather than the whole problem.
- Stress, anxiety, and poor sleep
Stress and anxiety do not have to be the original cause of tinnitus, but they often make it feel louder or more distressing. Poor sleep can do the same. This is one reason tinnitus can become a cycle: the sound increases stress, and stress makes the sound harder to ignore.
- Sometimes no single cause is found
In many people, tinnitus is “multifactorial,” meaning more than one thing is contributing. For example, someone might have mild hearing loss, stress, jaw tension, and poor sleep all at the same time. In some cases, no exact cause is ever clearly identified. This is the most likely one. It is rarely one thing only.
What Causes Tinnitus from the TCM view?
Causes of Tinnitus in Acupuncture and TCM? I put this in more for fun as it is very difficult to understand TCM lingo unless you have taken some classes. But if you find one your are interested in, let me know and I can likely translate it to a more understandable format to you.
Tinnitus is not treated as one single disease with one single cause. Instead, it is understood through pattern differentiation: different people can have the same ringing sound for different TCM reasons. We groups tinnitus into five big categories—Wind invasion, Liver fire disturbance, Phlegm-fire stagnation, Spleen/Stomach weakness, and Kidney essence loss— and to drive ourselves nuts we break that into sub patterns such as Liver yang rising, Kidney yin deficiency, Kidney yang deficiency, Heart-Kidney disharmony, and Qi/Blood obstruction.
You read that and think, that’s it Phlegm-Fire Stagnation, I knew it all along. It really does not roll off the tongue does it. I have actually never seen a case with that cause, it’s a bad one. The rest I have seen.
1. External wind invasion
One classic TCM cause is external wind, often described as a relatively sudden that affects the head and ears/nose. Among the common syndrome categories, especially when onset is fairly abrupt or recent rather than long-standing. You know when Grandma said put on a scarf, you can catch a cold. Well the breeze on a slightly warm neck can contract it, that changes blood flow for a time. In that time bad things can happen. So put on your scarf.
2. Liver fire blazing
Another commom one is Liver fire disturbing upward. A more forceful, agitated picture: tinnitus together with irritability, anger, dizziness, temporal headache, flushed face, or red eyes – “too much heat rising to the head” version of tinnitus. Know any “hot heads”?
3. Liver yang rising
Ah the old Liver yang rising. This is usually framed as an upward surging pattern on a background of deficiency, often with tinnitus plus headaches, dizziness, blurry vision, and dryness, stress seems to flare it. Know any “wow they were upset today”?
4. Phlegm-fire stagnation
TCM also commonly attributes tinnitus to phlegm-fire stagnation. This does not mean literal mucus in the ear; it is a pattern term for obstruction plus heat. The idea is that turbid material and heat block the clear sensory pathways, creating noise and agitation. They generally have red complexion and lots of mucus, then agitation which is why they call them “hot heads”. Heat goes up, dries out the phlegm, that makes obstruction and poof they got rinnging.
5. Damp-heat, especially in the gallbladder channel
A related pattern of damp-heat, often particularly in the Gallbladder. In that framework, tinnitus may appear alongside dizziness, irritability, bitter taste, nausea, heaviness, or dark urine. This is basically the “heat plus turbidity” version of tinnitus rather than the pure deficiency version. Which translates to bad digestion = turbidity. The gallbladder is important to help break food down, when it’s not working great, things can get ‘turbid’ inside.
6. Spleen and Stomach weakness
A very important TCM cause is Spleen and Stomach weakness. This pattern is linked to fatigue, overthinking, poor appetite, abdominal fullness, loose stools, pallor, and a weaker overall constitution. Also associated with fatigue, low appetite, pale complexion, abdominal distension, and loose stools. This is general digestive weakness, I talked about eating on the go, watching screens, too much sugar. Well that’s most people. That makes you absorb less quality of nutrition. Over time that will make you of less quality. It’s up to chance what starts to wobble first.
7. Kidney essence deficiency
Probably the most famous TCM explanation is Kidney essence deficiency. TCM links the ears strongly with the Kidney system, so when ‘essence’ is considered depleted, the ears are said to be undernourished. This pattern is often discussed for chronic tinnitus, especially when it is accompanied by hearing decline, low back or knee weakness, reduced vitality, or age-related depletion. This is the most common, but it’s sped up from weak digestion.
8. Kidney yin deficiency
A common refinement of that kidney picture is Kidney yin deficiency. Here the tinnitus is understood as arising from deficiency of cooling, nourishing fluids, allowing relative heat or agitation to rise. TCM pattern resources describe tinnitus in this setting together with signs such as dry mouth or throat at night, night sweats, heat sensations, back weakness, and hearing loss.
9. Liver-kidney yin deficiency
Many practitioners combine the previous two into Liver-Kidney yin deficiency, especially when tinnitus appears with dizziness, insomnia, dry eyes, headaches, low back weakness, and longer-term depletion. This is one of the more common chronic-pattern explanations in acupuncture practice because it ties ear symptoms to both the Kidney system and the upward agitation of the Liver system. See it every week.
10. Kidney yang deficiency
There is also a colder, weaker version: Kidney yang deficiency. In that pattern, tinnitus may appear with low back pain, weak or cold knees, chills, weakness, and reduced warmth and drive. A growing trend is testosterone treatments for all kinds of stuff. That in TCM is the Yang of Kidney Yang.
11. Heart-Kidney disharmony
Tinnitus as part of disharmony between Heart and Kidneys, especially when the picture includes insomnia, palpitations, anxiety, poor memory, vivid dreaming, and restlessness. In plain terms, this is the “the ears are involved, but so are the mind and sleep” pattern. This closely relates to the original study on sleep/tinnitus but I promise I never did experiments on ferrets.
12. Qi and blood stagnation, or channel obstruction around the ear
Tinnitus from stagnation of Qi and Blood or obstruction in the channels passing around the ear. This covers all the trauma stuff. You get hit in the head, tumors, blockages.
13. Mixed patterns
In real practice nothing fits neatly into only one box. I see combinations which is why two people with “tinnitus” normally receive different acupuncture diagnoses and treatment plans. Normally two Acu/TCM people give different specific diagnosis. I think if they were both similar skill the broad category would be the same. But each of us see symptoms slightly differently either in cause or how we think it can be improved.
Which can be a VERY frustrating thing for patients. Go to 5 doc’s and see if you get the same diagnosis or similar from them either. I had a tinnitus in on Friday and three specialist have three different reasons. Of course I had a different story for them also. I tell people, listen to how they say you can treat/improve it. Pick the one you think you can do, well not for all ailments but some.
One important caution: even if you like the TCM framework, like I said already new one-sided tinnitus, pulsatile tinnitus, tinnitus with sudden hearing loss, or tinnitus with dizziness or neurological symptoms still deserves prompt conventional medical assessment.
That was a different article for sure. I had so much invested into the article I was so eager to read this great breakthrough on tinnitus, then I saw it was on animals. It’s a start but it is not the end. Hopefully you got something from it.
Be Well,
Ward Willison R.Ac.
allbodycare.com
Kelowna Acupuncture & Other Natural Therapies