Role of Ayurveda in Managing Tinnitus
Tinnitus is simply described as the perception of a sound in the human ear in the absence of a corresponding external sound. The word “tinnitus” is derived from the Latin word “tinnire,” meaning “to ring.” The characteristic feature of tinnitus is that the origin of the sound is within the ear.
The affected person may hear roaring, clicking, swishing, whistling, and hissing noises. The noise can be heard in either one ear or both ears. It should be kept in mind that tinnitus is not a disease; it is a symptom of an underlying disease.
Classification of Tinnitus
Tinnitus in Ayurveda is classified into:
- Subjective tinnitus: The noise can heard only by the affected individual.
- Objective tinnitus: The noise can be heard by the physician by using a stethoscope.
Causes of Tinnitus
The causative factor for tinnitus are:
| Subjective Tinnitus | Objective Tinnitus |
|---|---|
| · Anaemia. | · Clicking temporomandibular joint. |
| · Hypertension and hypotension. | · Vascular lesions. |
| · Arteriosclerosis. | · Live insects in the ear. |
| · Acoustic Neuroma. | · Patulous Eustachian tube |
| · Meniere’s disease. | · Chronic contraction of palatal or tympanic muscles. |
| · Neurological disorders like head injury, and multiple sclerosis. | |
| · Thyroid dysfunction. | |
| · Psychological diseases like anxiety, Depression. | |
| · Impacted wax. | |
| · Acute or chronic otitis media. | |
| · Noise-induced hearing loss. | |
| · Vitamin deficiency. | |
| · Use of Ototoxic medications. |
Tinnitus in Ayurveda
The disease was mentioned by Acharya Vagbhatta and Acharya Susruta in the early Ayurvedic scriptures. The disease Karna nadam by Vagbhattacharya and Karna swedam by Susrutaacharya are the two classical descriptions of the illness tinnitus.
The vitiated vata dosha, encircled by kapha dosha enters the channels of hearing (sabdavaha srotas) and produces different types of sounds like bheri, mridanga, shanka, etc in the ears.
Ayurvedic Management of Tinnitus
The cause of the disease must be corrected. The treatment principle aims at bringing the vitiated vata dosha back to normalcy.
The treatment approaches include:
- Ghirtapanam – Intake of ghee that pacifies vata dosha.
- Sneha virechanam – Purgation using medicines that are oily in nature.
- Pinda Swedam – Fomentation by a bolus of vata pacifying drugs.
- Nadi swedam – The leaves of medicinal plants like Bengal quince, Castor, Madar, Moringa, etc are boiled in rice wash and can be used for Nadi swedam.
- Karna dhoopanam –Ear Fumigation using Guggulu and ghee or Agarwood and ghee.
- Karna poornam using Sarsapa tailam, Vachadi tailam, Bilwa tailam, Dipika tailam.
- Siro basti, Nasyam, etc using Bala tailam – The powerful calming and soothing properties of this oil balances the prana vayu and reduces the vata doshas.
- Abhayanga or Massage –head massage with warm sesame oil or castor oil brings an instant cooling and calming sensation to the mind and body which helps in comforting the prana vayu thus treating tinnitus
- Rasayana (rejuvenation) therapy.
Along with the above treatment procedures, oral intake of certain medicinal supplements is also necessary for the management of the disease.
Lifestyle Modifications
- Masking of tinnitus using a fan, loudly clicking clock, etc., and help the patient to go to sleep.
- Counselling the patient about the disease.
- Using of hearing aid in persons with hearing loss, helps in hearing loss along with masking the tinnitus.
- Use of tinnitus mask.
- Practice exercise regularly
- Reduce Caffeine intake
- Reassurance and psychotherapy.
- Avoiding head bath and too much physical exercise.
Conclusion
For examining the ear, neck & head, a CT or MRI scan is done to diagnose Tinnitus. According to Ayurveda, the management of tinnitus should be done by controlling the vata dosha which is the leading cause of Tinnitus that generates sound in the ear cavities. For this, the body has to be nourished with the best ayurveda massage therapies and medicines to strengthen and treat vata dosha under control. Diet and life style modifications will have to be adopted for a prolong control of the disease.
At Ayurclinic, our approach to disease is to look for the root cause and not merely the symptoms. You can visit us for a better assessment of your condition. Our main objective is to make you feel better and give you relief from ear diseases.
In case you have a concern or query you can always consult the best Ayurvedic doctor Melbourne and get answers to your questions!
