Dr. Peng: So we were asked to provide our thoughts about some of these tinnitus cures that
we see online and we know that many of these won't be a definitive cure for tinnitus but
there are a lot of videos out there that could be of help and there are definitely
some videos with a lot of positive feedback. So we just wanted to check out a few of these.
Let's play this one.
Dr. House: He's doing this.
Dr. Peng: And his hands are covering his ears there.
Dr. House: I think he's massaging his neck.
Dr. Peng: Yeah, I think that's part of it - I mean the posterior neck muscles.
There's some thought that the posterior neck muscles as well as neck musculature and jaw muscles in general
can affect tinnitus or in some cases make tinnitus worse in some cases make tinnitus better.
Dr. House: Yeah, I found that in my experience that you know neck tension shoulder tension anybody who has those
kind of problems if you can relax those muscles many times the tinnitus won't necessarily go away but it can get better.
Dr. Peng: Yeah - Yeah, I think that could be that could be the case in these in these
patients for whom uh this technique is working and that's not gonna be all patients of course
but uh certainly some patients will have some benefit from this.
Dr. Peng: So, this video is talking about uh pulling on the pinna which is, you know, the external ear, this part here, to help alleviate
the tinnitus and she describes various techniques on you know what direction you can pull it and how hard to pull it.
Dr. House: Boy, I don't know it looks painful.
Dr. Peng: It does a little bit, actually. I can see it helping
I mean I think anything that alters perhaps a patient's sensation around that area can have some
potential benefits to auditory sensation. You know, it could go along with the muscle tension
thing that you're talking about because, you know, pulling on the pinna is certainly going to
to a certain degree stretch the skin and the muscles in the surrounding area.
Dr. House: Well I find patients even just like they just push on their masseter muscle here will get, you know, a change in their tinnitus
So it's amazing the amount of central feedback that goes on in the brain that can
amplify the tinnitus or it can reduce the tinnitus. Are these people selling these things or just
Dr. Peng: I'm not sure we should (laughs) This exercise does look very aggressive. I think you know along the same
lines we're talking about muscle tension and neck tension I think it might be acceptable if it's in
a supervised setting as it seems like this video is uh demonstrating.
Dr. House: Well I think some people find just massage helps. But again, it's just trying to relax the muscles and they have some issues with their neck by reducing that it may help.
Dr. Peng: Yeah and even just simple massage I mean it doesn't have to
be - it doesn't have to be a fancy massage even, you know, a very simple massages that
you know either somebody who's close to you can do for you even that can be very effective.
Dr. House: Yeah and of course relaxation, it's the key.
Dr. Peng: So this video talks about sound therapy for tinnitus. Sound
therapy, I think, is a tried and true technique to help alleviate tinnitus. I would say that
only a minority of my patients go through with, you know, investing the time and perhaps the money to
to try sound therapy but there are definitely many uh resources that are free of charge
available and this video seems to talk about some of those techniques and you know some of those sounds that can potentially help.
Dr. House: Again, you're putting in a sound from the external
which helps helps to make you less aware of the tinnitus but also
with repeated exposures to this type of sound many times the patient's tinnitus tend to just kind of fades into
the background so they no longer pay attention to it.
Dr. Peng: Yeah so I think it's a combination of desensitization as well as simply masking. So listening to some other sound and taking one's mind off of the tinnitus.
Dr. House: Masking is always important. It can be very helpful at night for
people who have trouble sleeping when it's very quiet because the tinnitus becomes much more obvious
Dr. Peng: So I think this is something that I would actually highly recommend patients at least
Dr. House: Oh for Pete's sakes. I hope you don't send your patients (laughs)
I want to see you demonstrating this to patients in the office
Dr. Peng: I think it's possible. I mean I think going back to the thought that,
you know, changing the sensation around that area can lead certain patients to get some relief, and
maybe it won't work for other patients but Dr. House: I mean well I think part of it is relaxation
this is like a massage trying to relax the muscles yeah
Dr. Peng: And it's taking your mind off of everything else you're sort of focusing on just your motions. Yeah, there's a lot to that.
There's so many factors that go into tinnitus and you know anxiety and stress is a huge thing and if there's anything that we can do to relax
Dr. House: It's just muscle tension because he's like
what he's doing is he's working in this area where you'd expect to see a tension headache
You can reduce the tension. Now he's stressing on the temporomandibular joint
Here is the joint. Some patients with temporomandibular joint issues will have tinnitus.
Dr. Peng: Yeah, absolutely, and trying to massage that area may be helpful
And again, over the temporal areas where where the tension builds up and back in the back of the neck
in my experience anything you can do to relax muscles is a little helpful, but you know tinnitus
is something that it may not go away but we want to try to make it better
that's why you know biofeedback - I'll mention that i don't know you - Dr. Peng: yeah, sure.
Dr. House: That can be very helpful in the proper therapist's hands uh teaching patients to relax certain muscles
and uh stimulate blood flow and their neural feedback which is a brainwave alteration
patients can be put into a state of relaxation which will help.
Dr. Peng: Yeah I completely agree with that and there are a couple practitioners in Los Angeles who are good at that and we
send patients out their way. I think the first is uh you know make sure you see a doctor and
get your hearing checked out an audiologist or an otologist or neurotologist like us
and the second is that for the vast majority of tinnitus cases it's nothing to worry about it's
not the sign that there's anything seriously wrong with the ears or the brain, it's something that
the patient might need to work through, but it's not the sign of anything bad
Dr. House: The point is they need an evaluation because tinnitus is a symptom so they here at the House Clinic of
Los Angeles, we see quite a few tinnitus patients and we take a history do a physical examination
have a complete audiometric evaluation and sometimes additional tests are ordered
if indicated so I think that's an important thing to keep in mind.
Hi, I'm Erin associate director of Education and Global Hearing Health here
at the House Institute Foundation. Thank you for watching our video
if you would like to support research education or global humanitarian efforts please consider
donating by clicking the link in the description box below. Ee sure to check out our other videos,
like, subscribe, and click the notification bell so you can get notified anytime we post. Thanks!