Triggering the Self-Healing Mechanism to Eradicate Tinnitus

(Transcript of my oral presentation at ‘4th Global Virtual Summit on Healthcare and Management’ October 5th 2022)

I was speaking to someone the other day and he hadn’t heard of tinnitus,… so what is it?

Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing a noise in your head or feeling the sensation in your ears when there is no external cause.  The ‘noise’ has been described as a high pitched whistle, a bell, a bleep, a buzzing, a rustle, or a whooshing sound.  Some clients suffer from pulsatile tinnitus, which is described as a rhythmical pulsing sound in the head or ears, usually at the same rate as the heartbeat.  It is due to changes in blood flow or a change in the awareness of the blood flow in the head or ears.  Tinnitus is seen as intractable because many who suffer from this debilitating condition have been told by their doctors or audiologists that nothing can be done to alleviate their suffering and they must learn to live with it.  Some are offered relief through hearing aids or they are given masking sounds i.e. white noise,  to distract the brain from the tinnitus sound but these methods are not healing.

 How Many People Have Tinnitus?

750 million people worldwide suffer from tinnitus in one or both ears, more than 50 million Americans and one in eight adults in the UK. We are told that this is likely to increase in the next decade. Many complained of tinnitus after being ill with Covid.

The Mechanics of Hearing

The ears are a finely tuned mechanism and are the primary sensory organ, receiving sensation from the muscles and skin.  In the process of hearing, sound waves can be received through bone or air.  In bone conduction, the temporal bone of the skull, transmits vibrations of sound directly to the inner ear.  Through air conduction, sound waves travel along the outer ear canal to the tympanic membrane (ear drum) which links the outer ear to the middle ear and stretches like the skin of a drum across the passage way.  The vibrations of sound bounce through the tympanic membrane  to the middle ear which connects to the back of the throat via the eustachian tube.  Within the middle ear there are three tiny bones called ossicles , the incus, malleus and stapes (which look like a hammer an anvil and a styrrup). These bones are controlled by two very tiny striated muscles called the tensor tympani and the stapedius muscle.  The middle ear is responsible for equalising the pressure within  this area and dampening down sound wave blast because this can more damaging than sound, causing an acoustic shock within the cochlea of the inner ear.   The  vibrations of sound within the middle ear, vibrate a membrane called the oval window and are then transmitted into a bony labyrinth which houses the innermost part of the ear. It contains two important parts: the cochlea which relays sounds to the brain and is responsible for hearing and the vestibular system – which is a complex set of fluid-filled channels that contributes to our sense of balance. The cochlea is a spiral shaped structure filled with fluid. Within the cochlea are thousands of bundles of hair cells or cilia which pick up individual frequencies of sound.  Through a process of transduction, the patterns of sound frequencies are translated into electrical signals which are carried by the auditory nerve (8^th cranial nerve) to the auditory cortex of the brain .  The auditory cortex  sends impulses to the brain stem auditory centres where the electrical signals are decoded and interpreted as recognisable sounds. The most intricate and complicated part of the process is the refinement of certain sounds into meaningful syllables and words.

Causes of Tinnitus

According to the latest research, most cases of tinnitus are related to cochlea dysfunction and damage to the cilia (hair cells).  The inner cilia are finely tuned to detect sounds of different frequencies and the vibrations open pores and channels to allow the patterns of electrical signals to be picked up  by the auditory nerve and taken to the brain for decoding.

When the cilia are damaged and therefore unable to pick up individual frequencies, the brain has difficulty decoding the distorted pattern of signals received.  The outer cilia have a different function and adjust in length in response to the volume and blast of sound transmitted.

Loss of muscle tension in the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles can also cause problems. If the muscles lack tension and are flaccid they can no longer control the ossicles successfully.  This can result in tinnitus or hyperacousis (hypersensitivity to sound)

 Subtle Energy Field

The physical body on the left of the diagram is the focus of orthodox medicine. Holistic practitioners work with both the physical body and the subtle energy system (electromagnetic field) on the right of the diagram and endeavour to integrate both.  The subtle energy system is an anatomical structure and mirrors that of the physical body.  Meridians, mapped by the Chinese since ancient times, are channels invisible to the naked eye , which disseminate energy throughout the body via the chakras or energy centres. Mirroring this process,  the circulatory system distributes oxygenated blood throughout the body.  The  physical body is governed by electrical energetic frequencies which are emitted from the subtle energy field. These energetic frequencies trigger physical responses.  The vibrational frequency of our thought patterns and emotional responses are reflected in our subtle energy system.  It has been scientifically proved that our thoughts are translated neurologically into biochemistry by the brain and inform our body systems.  Thoughts and their corresponding emotions have different outcomes because the chemistry of fear is very different from the chemistry of love .

How Do We Respond?

If we are fearful, our body recoils and we become defensive in the face of danger or threat.  This stress response triggers the body into fight or flight which is a learned response.  When we are defensive, our blood vessels constrict which depletes the delivery of oxygen to our tissues and this in turn compromises our immune system.  Unless we can discharge the energy of fear, we remain closed and not open to growth or opportunity.  Tinnitus is the physical manifestation of a stress response related to hearing or listening.  It is not enough to treat the symptom, we must also explore what was going on in the individual’s  life at the time, which caused the tinnitus response and together, address that.

Belief System

Our mind and body are biochemically linked.  We are a vibrating, pulsating intelligent system but, 90% of our behaviour is a printout of subconscious behaviour downloaded as memory of earlier experience or models of behaviour we have observed.  This informs our belief system and if we don’t shift our beliefs and make new thoughts related to current experience, we are caught in a loop and will continue to sleep walk and run on old tracks.

Our beliefs influence our perception of the world around us and our behaviour.  Candace Pert, a neuroscientist and pharmacologist who died a few years ago, studied cell to cell communication and in her book ‘Molecules of Emotion’, she presented her theory that mind as consciousness exists in every cell and  feelings and thoughts are the links that connect mind and body.  Our emotional state at any given time is translated into chemicals by our brain and these chemicals  impact on the movement, the division and the activity of our cells.  Unprocessed emotions that we have been unable to work through and let go of, reduce our energetic signalling and flow. This will affect the function of our entire system and compromise our immune system.  We therefore need to stop blaming others and take responsibility for our own thoughts and our responses. ‘It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.’- Epictatus.

Do We Have Light In Our Body?

Dr Fritz Popp in the 1970s, demonstrated that the cells in our body are light dependent.  We have 50 trillion cells, emitting light and providing a communication network transmitting information and instruction to every cell.  To improve our fundamental processes and enhance protein and chemical synthesis, we are able to accelerate this light by triggering our self-healing mechanism which raises the the vibration of cellular frequencies.  In the Tinnitus Healing Programme, a method of energy alignment, aligns the atoms and molecules of the subtle energy field before harmonising the dissonance of tinnitus with the positive use of sound (toning).  We are told that the human voice is the best nourishment for the brain and toning is an ancient and powerful method of  healing with the voice, which harmonises the dissonance in the head and attunes the vibrational frequency to a higher  positive frequency which helps to alleviate the tinnitus and positively alters mood and behaviour.

 Self – Healing Mechanism

We are unable to heal if we feel scared but when we feel safe, function can be restored and cells can regenerate.  This is related to beliefs and biology because when we feel positive and are able to shift to a positive focus, this immediately creates physiological changes.  Our internal cells respond to an external environment and cell receptors tuning into different frequencies will respond to the chemistry of positive thoughts.  ‘Even when we are stuck emotionally and fixated on a version of reality that does not serve us well, there is always a biochemical potential for change and growth.’ Dr Bruce Lipton

Hearing can be restored spontaneously in animals. Why not in us?

My cat, Chief, provided me with an example when he brought a live mouse into the house.  On entering the room, he dropped the mouse on the floor and it lay on its back and froze in the face of imminent death, (I thought it was dead).  For a moment, Chief stared at the mouse lying there inert, no longer a play thing, lost interest and disappeared upstairs.  Within moments, with the threat removed, the mouse spontaneously recovered and scurried out of the open door.  Research has demonstrated that animals, birds and humans differ in their response to shock.  We are less able to move beyond trauma.  Our recoil response can create a temporary frozen state in which we are unable to discharge the energy.  If this persists, we are unable to move on.  We are told that shock reactions in animals are time limited and don’t become chronic . Animals are able to move through the phases more quickly than us, and in the wild, their life depends on it.  All living creatures have similar nervous system responses to threat or danger but only humans have long term  effects, unless the animal has been domesticated or subjected to laboratory experiments.  Our belief system interferes with our recovery.  If we don’t feel safe we are not open to restorative processes and growth . We therefore need to overcome our resistance so that we no longer anticipate danger or threat and no longer believe the world to be a frightening and dangerous place.

Case Study

• Female – mid fifties

• Married with two children

• Store Manager

Tinnitus

• Both ears- pulsing and high-pitched squeak

• Tinnitus had recently intensified, manifesting as a whooshing sound after cold water had entered ear when swimming

• Hyperacusis – hypersensitivity to sound, electronic appliances etc

• When young, was irritated by sister’s breathing at night.

Tinnitus Onset

• Aged 13 years after attending a rock concert.

• Onset coincided with intensified family problems.

Family History

• Parental fighting at night throughout childhood.

• Client suffers insomnia

• 17 years- client prescribed antidepressants

• Client believes her mother to be a narcissist

• Strained relationship with sister

Toning and Alignment Programme

• Enjoyed alignment and found it calming

• Able to lower level of tinnitus with energy alignment and toning.

• New pursuits- walking, cooking and gardening activities to take her out of her headspace.

• Feeling more grounded and balanced and able to disengage from family crises that do not concern her

• Agreed to suggestion of a brief period of time away from technology

• Integrating energy alignment into daily life

• Using toning at stressful times to manage and reduce tinnitus if it re occurs.

• Changed belief system stating ‘I no longer believe the world to be a frightening and dangerous place. This is a belief inherited from childhood’

• Resolved relationship with sister and they became close

• At her final review she said’ I have reached a new level of inner harmony & faith, which has meant that I am much less troubled by any noise. The last week, has been the most peaceful for me in many years.’

• Continues to use energy alignment as part of her daily practice.

To read the full research paper ‘A Radical Approach to Healing Tinnitus’  which has added case studies,  go to this page on Academia