TCM health care for tinnitus

The core logic of tinnitus from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine is that "when treating tinnitus, we must first distinguish between deficiency and excess." It is never a single local problem of the ear, but an explicit signal of organ imbalance. There is no universal health regimen. The effective rate of tinnitus intervention within 3 months of new onset can reach more than 80%. Long-term tinnitus may not necessarily lead to deafness, and there is no need to be overly anxious.

Last week, I met a 28-year-old Internet company operation and maintenance man in the clinic. He stayed up for three days and nights to deal with a server failure. His left ear suddenly started buzzing, like a cicada that kept chirping. I searched online and found that the tinnitus was caused by kidney deficiency. I bought two bottles of Liuwei Dihuang Pills and took them for a week. Not only did the tinnitus not go away, but my head also began to swell. I gritted my teeth to register, and my pulse string quickly picked up when I felt it. My tongue was red and shiny, which is typical of liver and gallbladder stagnation and heat. What is deficiency? I prescribed Bupleurum and Gentian grass for three days, and asked him not to stay up late and press the Taichong point for 5 minutes every day. I came for a follow-up visit yesterday and was told that he was completely healed.

In fact, regarding the treatment of tinnitus, Chinese medicine has always had different tendencies: Li Dongyuan’s Tutu School believes that most of the cases are due to a deficiency of the spleen and stomach, the clear air cannot rise, and the turbid air is blocked in the ear orifices, so the spleen and stomach must be regulated first.； Zhu Danxi’s Nourishing Yin School believes that it is caused by deficiency of yin and excessive fire. The fire will only sound when it travels along the meridians to the ears. To nourish yin and reduce fire ； There is also a widely circulated saying among the people that tinnitus is due to kidney deficiency and needs to be replenished. These statements are all correct, but they only correspond to part of the situation, and it is easy to cause problems when applied to everyone.

I have been working in the otolaryngology department for almost 11 years, and about 70% of the tinnitus patients I met were young people under the age of 35. Most of them had real symptoms: either they stayed up late at night, quarreled with others, or they were irritated by the cold wind, or they closed their ears due to cold wind or cold. Many of them were caused by eating hot pot and drinking iced drinks. The remaining 30% are deficiency symptoms of middle-aged and elderly people. Most of them are caused by insufficient qi and blood in old age, or long-term fatigue that consumes kidney essence, and the ears slowly start to ring because they are not nourished.

You can actually get a rough idea at home: if the tinnitus comes out suddenly, the sound is as loud as a train passing by, or the shrill cicadas prick your ears, and if you cover your ears with your hands the ringing gets louder, it is probably a real symptom. If you don’t apply for it, it will block the fire and moisture inside, and the more you apply, the more serious it will be. If the tinnitus has been going on for several months or even years, and the sound is as thin as the chirping of insects in the distance, it can be relieved by covering your ears. It will get worse when you are tired. Most of the time, it is a deficiency syndrome, so you need to adjust it slowly and not in a hurry.

Not long ago, an aunt suffered from tinnitus for half a month. She said it started after a quarrel with her daughter-in-law. Her ears were ringing on both sides and she had a headache that made her unable to sleep. I didn’t prescribe her any medicine, so I asked her to go home and massage the Taichong point on her instep for 3 minutes each time until she felt sore and swollen. Then she drank some chrysanthemum + tangerine peel water. After a week, she sent me a message saying that everything was fine. For those who have just had a cold and their ears are ringing, boil some ginger + scallion water, drink it while it's hot and sweat a little, and your ears will clear up immediately after the cold is gone. If you are an older person who wakes up in the morning with tinnitus and still feels dizzy after squatting or standing up, you can usually brew some astragalus + wolfberry and drink it warmly without adding sugar or drinking it cold. If you insist on it for half a month, you can usually get a lot of relief.

Nowadays, many people on the Internet say that "if you scream for a long time, you will become deaf." This statement is actually too absolute. I have several patients who have had tinnitus for 20 to 30 years, and their hearing tests every year show no problems at all. There are also a few young men who have had tinnitus for less than half a year because they have not taken it seriously and it is accompanied by sudden deafness. The key is to see if there is dizziness accompanied by hearing loss and dizziness. If you have these conditions, don't just keep healthy at home, and go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible. The first priority is to rule out organic problems.

Speaking of which, I was busy with a project two years ago and stayed up for a week to write a tender document. I also suffered from tinnitus and a ringing in the tip of my right ear, which was exactly the same as the liver and gallbladder fire type that I often encountered. I didn’t take any medicine, so I soaked my feet in 40-degree water for 20 minutes every night, pinched the Hegu point for 5 minutes, and lay down before 11 o’clock to go to bed. It was all cured in three days. In fact, many mild cases of tinnitus do not require medication at all. If you adjust your living habits and take a prescription or a supplement, you can get better on your own.

In fact, when Chinese medicine treats tinnitus, the most taboo thing is "copying homework". For others, drinking wolfberry chrysanthemum tea is helpful, but you may get angry after drinking it. For others, taking Liuwei Dihuang Pills is effective, but for you, it may cause bloating. Maintaining a healthy body is always about your own body. You should first understand your own situation and then adjust it. If there is no improvement after a week of adjustment, you should quickly see a professional doctor. Don't delay, and don't blindly accuse yourself of kidney deficiency.