Many people at some point of their lives will have experienced a high pitched ringing sensation not caused by external sources. This internal ringing in the ears is known as tinnitus. Tinnitus is linked to hearing loss and much of the initial studies are based of the work by Jean Marie Gaspard Itard, a French physician. Experiencing Tinnitus isn’t as scary as it may seem and is not usually linked to serious underlying conditions for its cause. In most cases, it subsides and people will soon forget about the ringing but there are some symptoms to be conscious off if they accompany ringing:
• Tinnitus after trauma to the head
• Continuous ringing that worsens over time and perhaps frequency
• Tinnitus frequency that is reliant on pulse
It’s best to see a medical specialist if the above occurs and generally a visit to the doctor to calm concerns is always beneficial. Now there are other reasons why being rid of tinnitus is important for certain people. One main setback is level of concentration and general discomfort that tinnitus can bring. It can be detrimental to those wishing to focus and therapy is available in various forms. Researchers have recently shown that smaller pulses of electrical charges sent to the tongue can be an effective way to reduce tinnitus.
Tinnitus can occur for a number of reasons but this emerging approach to treatment is an important step towards treating the condition. It’s fascinating to see that using shocks in conjunction with specific sounds can create a ‘brain training’ effect that realigns neurons within the brain. After testing various parts of the body, it was discerned that the tongue yielded the best results. Tongue stimulation has been used in other areas of medical research including vision impairment, stroke and neurological issues. A similar approach has been used to treat tinnitus in this case.
It’s encouraging to see progress being made constantly in the medical science field and I hope that many more breakthroughs will continue to be made all over the world. As always, the world of science will take these techniques and apply them to controlled groups to deduce their effectiveness and safety. We can only hope that the vaccines for coronavirus follow a similar procedure in the coming months, perhaps not.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/electric-shocks-tongue-can-quiet-chronic-ringing-ears
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tongue-shocks-hasten-healing/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Marc_Gaspard_Itard
