Kidneys and Tinnitus

I see this has not been discussed before... Or I missed it while searching...

This is often heard when consulting alternative practitioners: an imbalance with the kidneys of some sort as a cause for Tinnitus. I know; it sounds ridiculous, but there might be something to it... Let's give this a chance and approach it with an open mind.

I lately read a lot about Acoustic Shock Disorder (ASD), which is an umbrella term of a few possible subconditions following an acoustic shock (high intense sound exposure). Among the conditions for ASD can be (among others) the following; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), TTTS (Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome), Hyperacusis, Tinnitus, Aural fullness, Ear pain, Tympanic fluttering, Eustachian tube issues, Burning/painful ear canals and even TMJD (yes, TMJD as a consequence of a noise event).

The cause of Acoustic Shock Disorder is a traumatic sound event (for the brain) causing autonomic and thus involuntary muscle contractions in and around the ear area. The brain anticipates a traumatic sound event (as some sort of PTSD-like response) causing these muscle contractions and irritated nerves (mainly the trigeminal nerve). Often ASD comes without significant measurable damage to the inner-ear and thus without sensorineural hearing loss (but it might still be present if there is hearing loss).

Read more about ASD here: http://www.hyperacusis.net/other-factors/acoustic-shock-disorder/

PTSD is sustained by a "fight or flight" response sustained by an over-activation of the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands produce adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol and these glands are located on top of the... you guessed it; kidneys.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_gland

Perhaps in the case of Acoustic Shock Disorder, which a lot of us may have here without knowing, the relation with the kidneys as proposed by Chinese Medicine isn't so far fetched or ridiculous after all...

Thoughts?

 

Thanks for the article, a good find. Yes, a surge in adrenaline is linked with emergenge of tinnitus. More intelligent input coming (hopefully).

 

@Vinnitus I can back this 100%. In my case, I suffered a reaction to an SSRI. My body was in an on and off fight or flight state for 3 months (this was hell). I could feel the adrenaline shooting up into my arms shoulders and sides of my face. Everything from my chest to my jaw was painfully contracted. After 2 days straight of one of these fits, the T came on full force (this was almost 3 months after taking the dose of the pill that caused the reaction).

Okay, now all I need to do is fix my nerves... wish it was that easy.

 

I would love to get to the root cause and find some relief. I've been listening to the swooshing sound for 10 years now. I truly believe that I have some adrenal gland trauma due to years of extreme stress in the workplace. In addition, while I did not work in a call center, or use earphones at work; I did work as a Customer Service Rep in a printing plant. I can still here the monthly call from one client, "I'm not happy!" I'm not either. The problem doesn't show up on any diagnostic tests. That doesn't change the fact that I have a problem. Also, my mother has Stage 3 KD, which is an improvement from her being in Stage 4 for about 9 months. Perhaps it's genetic?

 

I can concur, the Chinese traditional medicine man I seen some time ago also mentioned the kidneys, and gave me some herbal pills to warm the kidney yang.. Something along those lines.

 

@Vinnitus Interestingly enough, when you get into Traditional Chinese Medicine, nearly every disease relates to, or has an effect on the kidneys. So kidney health is key to treating any disease in TCM. TCM from a very basic summary believes that kidney's house the Jing, which is ones lifeforce, the most dense form of energy. So your growth, bone health, muscular health, hair, hearing, teeth, nails, sexual function/potency, blood, and all other body fluids are primarily governed by the kidneys. Ancient chinese medicine texts even suggest that the kidneys produce the "marrow" which is the brain, and liken the bone marrow to the brain tissue. Additionally the kidneys house the Zhi, which is the spirit we associate with our "will" or "willpower".

Much of TCM focuses on the congenital Jing, the Jing we aquire from our parents at birth, and is stored in our kidneys, when we deplete this Congenital Jing from the kidneys completely, we die. Congenital Jing is believed to be finite, and can not be restored, though there is also the aquired jing, which comes through food, air, and lifestyle, but it is generally viewed as very much secondary and seperate from the congenital Jing. So healthy aquired jing, will slow down depletion rates of your congenital jing, but is no replacement for it.

Interestingly enough western science keeps stumbling on stuff which makes TCM seem more and more relevant. For instance - thought the idea of the kidneys producing the bone and brain "marrow" sounded a bit odd?
Well western science found that in mice, bone marrow cells can become brain neurons, or something like that
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2000/12/bone-marrow-brain
However in TCM, the brain is not as central a focus as in western medicine.

 

Vinnitus,

I decided to create an account after reading your message and the link about Acoustic Shock Disorder. I'm 29 years old. Two weeks ago the fire alarm in my apartment went off when I was cooking. I was at a reasonable distance when it happened and I covered my ears. However I uncovered my ears to turn the alarm off once I was next to it and I heard one loud beep before I pressed the button. At the time I was under huge emotional stress due to problems I was having for the past year. I was stressed, depressed and extremely negative. Thankfully I resolved those issues since then but I've had tinnitus since that day.
What really caught my attention was the link about Acoustic Shock Disorder because I suspect that it's the combination of the emotional stress I was under and the loud sound that gave me the tinnitus. Did you find anything else about this? I also saw a TED Talk on Tinnitus by a professor who is studying it and who says there has to be stress in order for tinnitus to start.
I think this is a big clue to finding a solution to many tinnitus cases. I'd like to know how you're doing and if you found anything useful!
On my side I think I'll try to contact my audiologist who told me I don't seem to have hearing damage and I'll talk to him about this.

Have a good day!

 

Lesson : always have earplugs at home (before turning off domestic alarms).

 

Alternatively - disable your fire alarm...