Before discussing ayurvedic perspective, it may be informative to
study the view of modern science. Allopath members on this list should not take
the mention of some experiences here too seriously. The author is not
criticisizing any one in particular.

Tinnitus causes perception of sound in one or both ears or in the
head, in the absense of any external sound. It is often referred to
as "ringing in the ears", although some people hear hissing, roaring,
whistling, chirping, or clicking. The ringing can be intermittent or
constant-with single or multiple tones-and its perceived volume can
range from subtle to shattering.

It is estimated that in U.S. alone, over 50 million experience
tinnitus to some degree. Of these, nearly 25% have severe enough
tinnitus and about 5% are so seriously debilitated that they cannot
function on a "normal," day-to-day basis. The population of affected
appears to contain more number of "intellectuals", in sedantary
occupation.

The exact physiological cause or causes of tinnitus are not known to
science. There are, however, several likely sources, all of which are
known to trigger or worsen tinnitus.

· Noise-induced hearing loss - Exposure to loud noises can
damage and even destroy hair cells, called cilia, in the inner ear.
Once damaged, these hair cells cannot be renewed or replaced.
· Wax build-up in the ear canal - The amount of wax ears
produce varies by individual. Sometimes, people produce enough wax
that their hearing can be compromised or their tinnitus can seem
louder.
· Ear or sinus infections - Many people, including children,
experience tinnitus along with an ear or sinus infection. Generally,
the tinnitus will lessen and gradually go away once the infection is
healed.
· Jaw misalignment - Some people have misaligned jaw joints or
jaw muscles, which can not only induce tinnitus, but also affect
cranial muscles and nerves and shock absorbers in the jaw joint. Many
dentists specialize in this temporomandibular jaw misalignment and
can provide assistance with treatment. On the other hand, tinnitus
can start by removal of wisdom teeth, (last molars) if cranial nerves
in the neighborhood get damaged. This is how a close friend of author got
tinnitus. Orthodontists try to correct the irregular teeth alignment. During the
treatment, possible damages to nerves can not be ruled out.
· Cardiovascular disease - Approximately 3 percent of tinnitus
patients experience pulsatile tinnitus; they typically hear a
rhythmic pulsing, often in time with a heartbeat. Pulsatile tinnitus
can indicate the presence of a vascular condition-where the blood
flow through veins and arteries is compromised-like a heart murmur,
hypertension, or hardening of the arteries.
· Certain types of tumors - Very rarely, people have a benign
and slow-growing tumor on their auditory, vestibular, or facial
nerves. These tumors can cause tinnitus, deafness, facial paralysis,
and loss of balance.
· Certain medications - Some medications are ototoxic-that is,
toxic to the ear. Other medications will produce tinnitus as a side
effect without damaging the inner ear. Effects, which can depend on
the dosage of the medication, can be temporary or permanent. Before
taking any medication, make sure that your prescribing physician is
aware of your tinnitus, and discuss alternative medications that may
be available.
· Head and neck trauma - Physical trauma to the head and neck
can induce tinnitus. Other symptoms include headaches, vertigo, and
memory loss.

Tinnitus does not discriminate: people of all ages experience
tinnitus. However, tinnitus is not a common complaint from children.
Children with tinnitus are less likely than adults to report their
experience, in part because children with tinnitus are statistically
more likely to have been born with hearing loss. They may not notice
or be bothered by their tinnitus because they have experienced it
their entire lives.

Children, like people of all ages, can be at risk for tinnitus if
they are exposed to loud noises. Recreational events like fairs or
car races or sports games can all include high-decibels activities
that can damage kids' ears.

Though a large number experience tinnitus, not everyone experiences
it to the same degree. Some people hear ringing or other noises in
their ears immediately following exposure to excessive noise, like
right after a concert, but the sound is temporary. Other people
report hearing a slight noise all the time if they listen for it, but
most of the time cannot distinguish the noise over all the other
sounds in their environment. Other factors can affect the severity of
the condition from patient to patient, such as different degrees of
hearing loss and different kinds of noises heard. Interestingly, the
loudness of the tinnitus, when measured in a laboratory setting, did
not correlate to the severity of the tinnitus as rated by the
patients themselves. Every person has his or her own level of
tolerance to the tinnitus sounds. It is a very personal and
individual experience. There are many who experience ringing in only
one year while other ear appears normal. However, due to this
unbalance, they are unable to sense the direction of the sound and
also likely to loose some words in a sentense.

Often the practitioners of the modern medicine use words "you just
have to learn to live with it." Far from being helpful, this phrase
increases the isolation and frustration of the tinnitus patients—they
are alone, and they are without hope. Often, patients say that they are going
mad at the continuous noise.

Ayurvedic name for Tinnitus is "Karnanada". One more
term "Karnashweda" is also used. This is vatic disorder in ayurveda.
Hence the reasons which cause vitiation of Vat dosha are also causing
this disease. Thus lack of adequate sleep, tired nerves due to
increased worries, incessant talking, excess fasting, excess
exercise, sudden shock/grief/fear, excess and difficult to digest
cerals in the food, excess bitter medicines/vegetables etc are some
of the reasons for tinnitus. Depletition of dhatus as a result of
excess indulgence in sex is also another reason.

Vata vitiation causes are already discussed in Message No. 1443 by
author under the Topic of the Month series. There are seven seats of
Vata for Men and eight for Women. Uterus is the extra Vata seat for
women. Ear is one seat of Vata. When vitiated vata takes shelter in
ear, "Shabdvahini nadi" (auditory nerve) in particular, the tinnitus
is the result. Vata causes transport of nutrients, nerve signals and
action orders of brain. When this happens, the function of carrying
sound signals to "spectrum analyser" sections of brain gets impaired.
Nutrition of the nerve in the form of Cerebro-Spinal-Fluid, gets
affected, in the terms of modern medicine. On the other hand, the
formation of small tumors/atrophies is caused by deposition of Kapha
along with Vatdoshas in the Shabdavahini Nadi. This is another reason
that can cause tinnitus. Such a state is preceeded by frequent
chronic cold. When pitta accompanies Vata, instead of
loud/intermittant/random unpleasant noises, continuous sounds of
single frequency, something similar to the sound of "flute" [ "Venu"
in sanskrit] can be felt.

Treatment options:

The treatment of this ailment has several options depending on
the "prakriti" and ageing of the disease as well as patient. If very
old, one may be able to reduce it but not entirely eliminate it. The
treatment is mainly directed at balancing Vata.

Ashwagandha herbal preparations can be used. Simplest and inexpensive
way is to boil aswagandha powder 1 tsp along with 1 cup milk and 1
cup water on slow heat till 1 cup remains. This is preferably taken
at bed time along with a little sugar and cardamom powder mixed, so
that resulting sound sleep will reduce Vata dosha. Aswagandha has
certain chemicals which cause increase of serotonin, a sleep inducing
hormone. Dinner should consist of more proportion of carbohydrates
which also cause increase of serotonin. If boiling aswagandha along
with milk is not possible, Aswagandharishtam can be taken instead, 15
ml with equal water. Being an arishtam, take it after dinner rather
than at bedtime. Nowadays ayurvedic pharmacies have prepared tablets
from Aswagandha, Peeparimul, Praval pishti which will induce sleep
without causing any addiction. This relaxation to cranial nerves
reduces the ringing caused by Tinnitus.

Vata is always tamed by oils. There are various oils directed at
ringing and some other problems of the ear. Two useful oils
are "Bilva Tailam" and "Kshar Tailam", to be dropped 2 drops in ear
at bed time and early morning. They can be applied to insides by
using cotton bud. Another oil receipe which can be prepared at home
consists of ginger powder, saindhav salt and honey mixed to a fine
paste and boiled in sesame oil on low heat till all moisture
vaporises. After cooling and straining the oil, it can be applied to
insides of ear by using a cotton ear-bud.

For those who have chronic tinnitus, and fairly old ailment, Brihad
Vata Chintamani Ras is available. This is very expensive medicine as
it is made from silver and gold oxides. It acts on nerves fairly
rapidly calming Vata fast. Being a gold oxide based medicine, should
be taken only a single tablet twice a day, mixed well with cow ghee
and honey. The dose can be reduced to one tab per day, after the
reduction of ringing. One of the patients, who had partial hearing in
one ear got cured in two months by this medicine. He had a small
tumor close to the auditory nerve, as detected by modern techniques.

Life-style and food

Based on ayurvedic ideology:

- Use hair oil daily
- Use oil massage using Sesame oil or Mahanarayan Tailam for about 20
minutes to whole body and take hot water bath thereafter. The massage
and bath just before bedtime will aid the sleep also. In South India,
oil massage once a week is almost the rule in every house. Oil
massage calms down the Vata. Skin is an important seat of Vata, since
it is widely distributed over the body. Secondly, massage can be
quickly learnt by even an illiterate. The massage of cow ghee or
castor oil to skin of feet bottom reduces Pitta dosha and causes
sound sleep. Burning sensation in the feet also gets cooled down. See
Message No. 2077 on Ayurvedaonline.
- Observe silence for a few days and note the change in ringing. This is
connected with last recomendation in this post.
- Tinnitus appears to have some connection with the number of hours
one spends daily in front of computer monitor. The radiation emitted
by monitor is hitting the user all the time. A number of cases having
auditory or vision nerve problems are coming to light.
- Do not travel or walk in an extreme cold climate. Do not take bath
frequently.
- Do not stop natural urges when body wants to eliminate the wastes.
- To increase blood circulation, rub by a mud soap at bath time also
gives the effect of massage. In addition, it cleanses the blood to
some extent.
- Green Gram Khichri is the best balanced food during dinner, and has
easily digestible proteins in addition carbodydrates and fibres. This
will take care of indigestion and constipation.
- In addition, there are certain breathing techniques invented by
Guru Padmasambhava two thousand years ago, which have to be learnt in
presence of Guru. These are known to help in most of vatic ailments
affecting the body.
- Lastly, the peace of mind and Vata vitiation are inversely
proportional. In fact Vata dosha unbalance causes a vascillation and
constantly thinking mind. Hence, in case of all Vata disorders
meditation appears to help. This is personal experience of author.
Cannot be supported by litereature citing. However, he will be happy to know
about the opinion and experiences of other members, which is a primary objective
of this group.

Dr Bhate

--- In ayurvedaonline@yahoogroups.com, "bonniect" <bonniect@c...>
wrote:
> I have the tinnitis. While at a Reiki class, I awoke with a
terrible headache, one of the woman there was a Reiki Master, as well
as a massage therapist. She began working her magic on me, and found
that my spinal fluid wasn't moving smoothly as it should have been,
and attributed this to the headache. It was strange because I rarely
get severe headaches like I had that weekend. Needless to say I
missed my Reiki II and flew home earlier then I was supposed to.
Since reading below, I am wondering if this may not be the cause of
my tinnitis and gradual hearing loss, or the build up of mucous?
> Bonnie