Tinnitus, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss are all issues that can significantly impact your quality of life, let alone your ability to hear. Not only can these symptoms be detrimental to your ability to communicate and your day-to-day life, but they are also annoying and bothersome and can create other symptoms like insomnia or difficulty concentrating.
Traditional treatments for tinnitus and ear-ringing often fall short of expectations. The common advice to drown out the noise with more noise seems ineffective. While hearing loss can be managed, the results are not always satisfactory, and some options, like surgery, are extreme. Some treatments fail to deliver the desired outcome or come with intolerable side effects. It’s always important to see your Doctor to rule out any underlying causes for new-onset hearing loss or tinnitus, and sometimes the cause might be as simple as earwax impaction, but after you’ve had a thorough exam from your Doctor or ENT specialist, you might consider trying a more unconventional approach to help!
Acupuncture, a lesser-known but highly effective treatment, has shown some favorable results in addressing hearing and ear-related issues. From children with hearing loss to adults experiencing tinnitus and ear ringing due to various causes, acupuncture has been helpful for many of our patients. But how does this ancient practice work its magic on hearing loss and tinnitus?
Decreasing Inflammation and Increasing Blood Flow
One of acupuncture's most widely known effects is its impact on inflammation and blood flow. By stimulating acupuncture points, the body responds by dilating blood vessels, improving blood flow. Simultaneously, this increase in blood flow also helps the body process inflammation. Inflammation can be a factor in hearing loss and tinnitus; decreasing that inflammation can result in subjective improvements in the condition.
Releasing Muscle Tension
The muscles of the neck, head, jaw, and shoulders also impact the ear. Tension in the neck and jaw muscles can specifically affect the ear and cause ringing. Acupuncture is commonly used to treat and resolve muscle pain and tension. By helping relax the muscles and trigger points around the neck and jaw, which might transmit tension and inflammation to the inner ear, we see beneficial results in a subjective reduction in tinnitus and ear ringing with acupuncture treatment. Dr. Kim is especially experienced and trained with motor and trigger point needling around the neck and face. While it might seem a little scary, it’s actually quite safe and very effective when the cause of your tinnitus is related to muscle tension!
Hypnosis for Tinnitus and Ringing in the Ears
Sometimes, usually due to the specific underlying cause of the hearing loss or ear ringing, we might, unfortunately, never get the results we desire from acupuncture or other common treatments. Physical damage to the eardrum or inner ear might be permanent and not treatable, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t an option to help improve your life, even with this condition. Dr. Kim is trained in Integrative Medical Hypnotherapy, and she even combines this modality with acupuncture called Hypnopuncture. Hypnosis helps us shift negative habits and patterns, even ways of thinking. If you’ve suffered from chronic tinnitus, you know how irritating and debilitating it can sometimes be - what if you were able to transmute that irritation, anger, and anxiety that comes with the condition? That’s where hypnosis comes into play. By shifting our habitual reactions to the condition, we can actually not only improve our quality of life but sometimes even lessen the experience of our symptoms.
Hypnotherapy can be conducted online or in person, so no matter where you are we can help! Book a Discovery Call today to learn more about our Hypnotherapy services. If you’re local to the San Francisco Bay Area please come visit us in person in Oakland!
Comentários