Deafness, personality and acupuncture
The experience of hearing loss and deafness is different for every patient. As a healer and Acupuncturist, one needs to have a good knowledge of both the physical—and psychological—causes of hearing loss and deafness. Hearing loss and deafness make contact with the outside world difficult, and a patient's personality plays an important role in deafness and tinnitus. As an Acupuncturist and healer, I can bring an inside view to some of the potential psychological and personality effects of deafness. No two patients are alike, and they have different causes behind their deafness. Deafness and tinnitus can induce psychological effects at different stages of life situations. The potential psychological effects of deafness are not the same for both children and adults, and an individual’s personality affects adaptation to deafness and tinnitus. Being deaf has been seen as an invisible handicap, especially in the social society. Helen Keller once said, in her advancing years, in a letter to a friend that “after a lifetime in silence and darkness to be deaf is a greater affliction than to be blind… Hearing is the soul of knowledge and information of a high order. Deafness can be due to various causes for example ☯️ Working in a noisy environment ☯️ Medicines or drugs ☯️ Head injuries or trauma ☯️ Disease etc. There might be psychological causes behind impaired hearing or deafness, and it can be divided into two types of personality. Passive type or Yin type of personality - these people can be bothered to listen to or to respond too much of what is said to them, they only want to hear pleasant things and prefer to withdraw inside themselves. As age progresses many people lose their vital essence and adaptability and no longer have the interest or the energy to respond to the constant changes and challenges of life. The active or Yang type of personality people with strong will, assertion, and arrogance might strongly not agree with what they hear, with the opinions, instructions, or criticism of others, and may try to block it out, while increasing in anger, frustration and resentment. This may cause and aggravate deafness, tinnitus, and ear infections by raising toxic energy in the liver and gallbladder. A differentiation can be made between psychological symptoms of early- and late-onset hearing loss in adult patients, although patients in both groups commonly report anger, denial, isolation, social withdrawal, and depression. According to psychology, all kids bring with them problems and trauma of their childhood difficulties into adulthood. Some of these problems will continue to be disturbing, and some will not. For example, a child with deafness who was isolated and had poor self-esteem and confidence might be a lonely person who underachieves. Adult patients must be diagnosed as the totality of their developmental experiences, and deafness and its effects are a part of that whole. A healer must have an awareness of how his/her patient feels. In old age patients, the problem of deafness becomes extremely difficult, and the patient often develops an identity crisis. In old age, everything seems to be fixed and any change like the sudden onset of deafness can be an overwhelming experience. A newly diagnosed patient can become sad and depressed by becoming isolated and socially withdrawn. Healers and professionals working with patients of deafness must always pay attention to the many variables of deafness. The important ones include when the patient became hearing impaired, the cause and degree of the loss, and the progressive nature of the loss (gradual or sudden). The more severe the loss, and the earlier the age at which it was acquired, the greater the impact can be on the psyche of the patient. When working with patients of deafness, it is necessary to establish a discussion that initiates information about the history and nature of the illness. The onset and severity of deafness make for a diverse group. Professionals and healers must have a good knowledge of both the physical causes of the patient's deafness (severity, cause, course) and where the patient feels they belong in the context of the social realm.
In TCM theory, most elderly people are believed to have deficiency of heathy qi(energy or weak immune system in modern medicine), acupuncture can be used as a method to reinforce or tonify the body based on individualized disease pattern. With advances in biotechnology, the mechanism of action of acupuncture needs to be further elucidated. In clinical practice, the effectiveness of acupuncture is closely related to the acupoints, needling technique, treatment period, and specific body constitution. ( Courtesy - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii)
According to case reports, patients with hearing loss showed significant improvements in goo@sciencedirect https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/)
Various reports from as far back as the 1940s claim acupuncture has cured deafness, sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) and tinnitus. Authors of research published in the February 2015 issue of International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine reviewed 12 studies to determine “the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating sensorineural hearing loss.” They concluded that acupuncture can improve hearing in some patients with sensorineural hearing loss, especially when combined with medication. ( Source - https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/53003-Acupuncture-for-hearing-loss-or-tinnitus)
In an another study, the result of meta-analysis shows that acupuncture may effectively improve the hearing conditions of patients with nerve deafness. ( Source - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/)
Chinese medical practitioners have reported success in treating sudden hearing loss with acupuncture. If you experience sudden hearing loss or deafness, you should see a Doctor or physician immediately. In some cases a cause will be diagnosed quickly and immediate treatment can save your hearing in that ear. Acupuncture could be a good thing to attempt in this case https://hearlife.org/acupuncture-for-hearing-loss-tinnitus-does-it-really-work/).
By, Dr Abid Khan Acupuncturist
