Solsaem Clinic (Dr. Minbo Shim) Experience

I agree with this.

I’m not attacking John at all and I’ve repeated this mantra over and over again. I’m simply debating the information we have at hand, that’s all. It feels wrong to stay quiet whilst people are flying out there to spend a lot of money based on flaky information. Objectively speaking, I feel it isn’t being discussed or researched on here seriously enough given the gravity of it. I felt a lot of appropriate information is now buried in this thread, so I decided to make another post.

People are still free to do as they please.

 

Thanks, I don't think I will be going to Minbo's clinic due to how secretive he is in regards to his methodology. I do still however believe that PRP could potentially be beneficial in treating sensorineural hearing damage and because I live close to India, I can have PRP injections on a longer term basis. Also, take this as you will I have family connections in Korea who are well connected and I found out a couple things about Minbo and they aren't exactly good (won't elaborate more on this aspect).

 

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Good luck to you.

 

You truly are a tease...

 

If Shim just published his research and his studies and got them peer reviewed, which he has had since 2014 (I think), then all of this would be resolved.

He makes claims that his treatment is effective, but we have yet to hear from one person that it was. He also is moving to Russia with his clinic, which makes zero sense to me. Why go to Russia? Are regulations more relaxed there? Is he leaving for other reasons?

I think it is unethical for him to make these claims that he can treat hearing loss and not be able to back it up publicly. He gets aggressive with people when they ask him questions. He avoids answering questions that people would routinely ask before getting a procedure. There would be no need to do that if it worked like he said it does.

The entire situation is a, “Just trust me.” PRP may help, but Shim not disclosing any information about his procedure beyond a very basic explanation is so sketchy.

 

Why can't you elaborate?

 

I believe he is opening a clinic in Russia, not moving there.

 

I know there was a connection to Russia before; he appeared on Russian TV and there was talk of him moving to Russia but apparently he cancelled his plans.

Have you heard something I haven’t?

 

This is about the crux of it. There may be potential to PRP, but we don’t know based on the current state of research into it. If Dr Shim just published his trial results instead of experimenting on people for the last 5 years - for huge ever-increasing prices - then this would be a total non-issue.

I could draw comparisons here to Liam Boehm. He’s another guy who charges ever-increasing prices for unsubstantiated information that can be accessed for free anyway. Another one is Dr Shemesh, he also offers vitamins that promises to reduce tinnitus for a large price tag, with no evidence whatsoever. What about Dr Wilden’s laser? There’s a lot of people out there who will extract money from sufferers for treatments, or advice, when there is no scientific evidence to support their claims.

 

If possible, I'm sure many would appreciate if you briefly elaborated as it could shed some more light on Dr. Shim and perhaps help/deter people who are still considering this treatment.

 

"300 US dollars for one shot" was my quote from India ENT for IT PRP. It would be interesting to see what a few injections would do, if anything.

I do have some significant neck stiffness, but am unsure if that has anything to do with my noise. I know ENT's say HF hearing loss caused tinnitus. Lot of loud weird hissing noises in my ears/head atm.


How can neck problems affect tinnitus?
Long-term pain and discomfort from conditions in the neck can also aggravate tinnitus in the same way TMJ problems do. Studies have shown that patients who have suffered an injury to the head and neck region, such as from a car accident, or who have neck pain or stiffness for other reasons, such as arthritis, are more likely to experience tinnitus.

Furthermore, there is some scientific evidence to support how the nerve endings in the neck make connections in the hearing centres of the brain, explaining how neck problems may affect tinnitus. Quite often the tinnitus associated with neck injuries may be more severe, and can be combined with other symptoms such as headache, depression, and problems with memory and concentration.

Treatment generally depends on the cause of the neck problem, but the results from treating the underlying neck problem are often good. Treatment options can be discussed with your family doctor, who in some cases will recommend simple measures such as the use of painkillers and physiotherapy. Some people are able to modify their tinnitus by moving their neck. Recently, it has been suggested that in a minority of these individuals, TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) can help them with their tinnitus.

 

I read to page 40 of this thread and every page of the general speculation behind the Solsaem clinic. I have a couple questions/observations:

1. Did anyone apart from @GlennAz and @JohnAdams travel and receive care from Shim?

2. Based on @JohnAdams setback in his left ear from something as innocuous as a mere kiss, doesn’t it feel like if our hearing was actually repaired (which I believe it was), that we are playing with Mario lives with these new cells rather than with ones with actual structural integrity?

This is the fear that overwhelms me. Even if we HAVE something that can regenerate the hair cells, the SGN and the cochlea at large, would one essentially have to resign to a life of seclusion in order to solidify a life free of this terror? I realize FX-322 may be superior in its technology to split the cell back into its supporting cell in addition to (likely) creating a progenitor cell, which I suspect would reinforce its structural integrity substantially.

3. John, did your right ear ever relapse? How is it now?

 

1. A man named Aldo.

2. No clue. It could have been a temporary spike. I got really spooked and had some money from my dead grandmother so I just went for it.

3. No relapse. Overall, I can hear very clearly, even in noise, I have no hyperacusis, and my tinnitus is so low now that it is not causing me any problems with my emotions or concentration.

BUT

I don't know if my gains where from this, natural healing, or my turmeric/curcumin addiction. All I know is that the others that went got no improvements and there was no overall improvement in my audiograms.

My belief is that this is a therapy that desperately needs independent study in a proper clinical trial setting. If anything, it has demonstrated clear safety and I am living proof of that, now we need robust efficacy data.

 

Yeah I land somewhere in the middle between the non-patients’ skepticism and your earnest belief in its healing capacities. I don’t see why IGF treatment would preclude one from reaping the benefits of a FX-322 MOA considering IGF’s main MOA would be to repair the singular dead cell itself, instead of growing support cells to differentiate into hair cells. In order for that to happen I believe you’d have to inject a pluripotent stem cell that was induced by something to produce an otic epithelial progenitor. I don’t think growth hormones alone would be capable of that.

I’m getting a passport and trying this in all likelihood. It will be $9,000 because my left ear resembles your description of your right ear before treatment.

In regards to your #2 response, WHY THE FUCK IS EVERY ENT IN THE U.S. NOT TECHNICALLY OR EDUCATIONALLY COMPETENT ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO ADMINISTER DEXAMETHASONE INJECTIONS IN THE EVENT OF ACOUSTIC TRAUMA EMERGENCY. THIS IS NOT OKAY. A STEROID ALONE IN THE THERAPEUTIC WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO MITIGATE THIS DAMAGE.

 

Yes. Maybe if organizations like the BTA would promote this then more ENTs would adopt it.

But...
From the BTA's website:


46] Choi SJ, Lee JB, Lim HJ, In SM et al. Intratympanic dexamethasone injection for refractory tinnitus: prospective placebo-controlled study. Laryngoscope. 2013: Nov 123(11): 2817-22. doi: 10.1002/lary.24126

This study used people that were well into chronic stages.

"Thirty patients with refractory tinnitus who were diagnosed in the Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University Hospital, Suwon, Republic of Korea, between 2006 and 2007 were enrolled and then were assigned into two groups of ITDI (15 patients) or saline (15 patients) by permuted block randomization."

"This work was supported by Konyang University Myunggok Research Fund of 2009. "

So they treated patients that had tinnitus for 2-3 years. Then the BTA turns around and shoots it down on their website when this is supposed to be an early intervention.

 

Every step of this tinnitus journey into science and treatment reveals more guttural and horrifying tragedies.

Honestly I have no clue how one could believe in a merciful god with such definitive proof that many are seemingly destined to spend their lives suffocated by unyielding physical and psychological torture—the likes of which could have been eradicated some 20 years prior if governmental systems were appropriately fashioned.

Seriously tho how is Aldo doin?

 

A place in India is doing IT PRP injections daily. She claims it helps sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus. It might do diddly-squat though... who knows? One could fly their ass over there and try it? I’m still looking at left TMJ steroid injections also.

 

https://actascientific.com/ASOL/pdf/ASOL-01-0022.pdf

 

I believe @Ed209 actually did a sufficient breakdown of this publication.

 

I know.

 

Sorry. I had a bit of a laugh where they said "Conflict of interest: None". Seriously. Don't even think about it.

 

A lot of authors say no conflict of interest. Maybe that’s standard procedure? Do you think they are corrupt ENTs?

This one says no conflict of interest:

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/arti...s-with-tinnitus-only-on-indication-11323.html

 

They are a lot more reasonable than Dr. Shim. Also, large doses of Curcumin do nothing for my noise. Some people get nauseous from that stuff actually.

 

Ed is not the Bible though. Either they are corrupt ENTs or they are not. All I know is they do a lot of PRP injections. Whether it’s for the money or they actually work I don’t know. I don’t see why they couldn’t do IT PRP injections in the US? It would probably cost a lot more but the travel expenses would offset that somewhat. I think I had a really high quote for PRP in the US. I think it was a prolotherapy Dr. offering PRP for neck injections etc. India is in general a lot cheaper for meds and surgeries.

 

Looks like that statement is a requirement:

How do you declare no conflict of interest?

All manuscripts for articles, original research reports, editorials, comments, reviews, book reviews, and letters that are submitted to the journal must be accompanied by a conflict of interest disclosure statement or a declaration by the authors that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare.

 

Price wise? You have to also realize that Shim does a lot more than just PRP.

 

@just1morething, I’m certainly not the Bible; I agree with you there. I was just trying to be helpful with what I posted on page 68 by giving you what I considered to be relevant information. If you still want to go then that is entirely your prerogative and I’ll respect that. I’m not trying to make enemies.

I’m still intrigued by the use of PRP for sensorineural hearing loss. There could be something to it, but who knows? We have no idea of its efficacy as there have been no rigorous trials - that I’m aware of - that have been published in a respected journal and then repeated. All I know is that there are some Drs out there who are charging people for an experimental treatment, and I think this is highly unethical. They should be conducting proper RCTs by doing this stuff for free; it is then fair, and safe, to charge people if appropriate clinical evidence of efficacy and safety can be obtained.

I find this kind of sweeping statement quite alarming, in all honesty:

Hello,

I am doctor B.P. Tyagi from Ghaziabad. I am ENT surgeon. The PRP injection we are using for sensorineural hearing loss; the benefit of the injection is we can replace the cochlear implant and hearing aid with this injection.

This is all merely my opinion and I usually find I’m in the vocal minority. I think a healthy debate needs contrarian views.

 

@Ed209, I had dexamethasone IT injections at Paparella in 2010, and then at Shea in 2011 with similar IT injections, perhaps with lidocaine added. I not sure what exactly was in their injections but both places were covered by my insurance at the time.

It seems a lot of journal articles say “ no conflict of interest” on the bottom. The one I quoted was from The International Tinnitus Journal created by Dr. Shulman. I guess I could contact him and see what he says? I would consider his opinion to be valid. I’m just looking for some kind of relief to be honest with you. AM-101 was FDA approved as far as I know, but my understanding is that it didn’t work for tinnitus. I believe Dysencra and the Levo system were approved by the FDA and were also duds. I tried SoundCure and that seemed useless as well.

I was in contact with Dr. Rout about the PRP injections recently and was just wondering if any relief was possible.

 

I tried to make an edit above but it didn’t work so I’ll post it here:

A cochlear implant is for severe to profound hearing loss, and he is saying that their PRP treatment is a direct replacement? If this was true, I’m sure it would spread like wildfire around the medical community.

 

That's fairly standard.