Bob Dylan. Eric Clapton. Neil Young.
Musicians like Bob Dylan suffer from tinnitus as an occupational hazard from all the loud noises.
These legendary musicians have more in common than their voices and the music they make…
They all suffer from tinnitus.
For them, this ringing in their ears was an occupational hazard.
Too many years of exposure to loud music and high decibel sounds.
But your ears are also assaulted by lawn mowers, leaf blowers and high-speed blenders.
You see, ears aren’t built to deal with loud noises day in and day out. All this noise damages the delicate inner workings of your ears. Leading to tinnitus…
Tinnitus can be devastating. It shatters your focus and concentration. It drowns out your hearing because of all the background noise in your head. You can feel like you’re going crazy.
Audiologists say there is no cure. They tell you to: “Learn to live with it.”
Or tell you to play music to cover up the buzzing. Too many times, they’ll prescribe pills like Valium to numb your mind.
I don’t prescribe dangerous drugs for tinnitus. Instead, I help my patients get to the real source of the damage…
Your inner ear has over 15,000 tiny hair cells. They turn sound waves into electrical signals that go to your brain. That’s how you hear.
But loud noises damage these sensitive cells. So do drugs like ibuprofen, NSAIDs and cholesterol drugs.1
All of that damage to sensory cells can lead to an oxygen deficiency. You see, your hearing cells have no direct blood supply that can bring them oxygen. They completely depend on oxygen circulating around the ear canal and in tissues.
With hearing loss and tinnitus there’s a big oxygen loss in the cochlea part of the ear. But studies show getting oxygen to the ears can help repair damage to the ears and stop the buzzing. And the best way to do that is with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
HBOT is simply breathing in oxygen at up to 2.5 times the normal atmospheric pressure you get at sea level. It floods the entire bloodstream with oxygen. HBOT boosts the oxygen content of the blood up to 7%. That’s 20 times higher than regular.
The high pressure during HBOT pushes oxygen out of red blood vessels and into body fluids, tissues and bone. It gets oxygen into areas where there’s poor blood flow — like the ears.
With HBOT treatments, oxygen in the cochlea increases up to 460%. It’s been shown to stay up to 60% above normal even one hour after the treatment.2
Your sensory cells use this oxygen to repair DNA and damage in cells. They also use oxygen to create new healthy cells. Oxygen from HBOT also turns off inflammation and cell death.3
HBOT is most effective in reducing hearing loss and tinnitus in the first three months following the loss or trauma. An overview of studies from Germany shows HBOT is effective in 50% of cases in reducing hearing loss by 20 decibels or more. About 11% have a full recovery.
The same study looked at 7,766 patients with tinnitus. HBOT reduced the intensity of tinnitus by 50% in about 70% of the cases treated within three months. About 30% of patients had their tinnitus completely resolved. After three months, 30% of patients still had a 50% improvement in the intensity of their tinnitus.4
Another study treated 30 patients with HBOT within 48 hours of sudden hearing loss. More than 83% of the patients had 25% to 50% or more improvement in their hearing.5
Here at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine I have a specially-designed room with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
HBOT sessions are comfortable. You lie down in the chamber and breathe in 100% oxygen into your lungs and absorb it through your skin. A typical session lasts 45 minutes to two hours. Treatments are repeated, depending on the condition, anywhere from five to 40 times.
And there are no negative side effects. You may notice some increased pressure in your ears. It feels like a flight landing. But there’s no other discomfort.
If you would like more information about HBOT, please contact my staff at 561-784-7852.
2 More Ways To Increase Oxygen At Home
HBOT works best. But there are other ways you can increase oxygen at home.
- Practice deep breathing: This is a very effective way to get the healing benefits of oxygen. Just place your hands on your belly and feel it expand as you inhale. Then expand your breath into the sides of your lower chest, pushing your side ribs out. Finally, lift your upper chest and let it fill with air.
Exhale from your abdomen to your ribs, and then to your upper chest. Start with five minutes a day and work up to 15 minutes.
- Try supplementing with Cordyceps sinensis: Research shows this medicinal mushroom has the power to “turn on” genes that increase oxygen delivery to cells. In one study, researchers found that cordyceps sinensis boosted cellular oxygen absorption by up to 40%.6
A bunch of cordyceps supplements combine different species, so it’s important to look for a supplement that says cordyceps sinensis. I recommend up to 1 gram twice per day by capsule.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Nash SD, et al. “The prevalence of hearing impairment and associated risk factors: the Beaver Dam Offspring Study.” Arch. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2011;137(5):432-439.
2. Lamm K. “Simultane Sauerstoffpartialdruckestimmung in der Skala Tympani, Electrokochleographie und Blutdruckmessungen nach Knalltraumata bei Meerschweinchen.” HNO 37(1989):48-55.
3. Godman CA, et al. “Hyperbaric oxygen induces a cytoprotective and angiogenic response in human microvascular endothelial cells.” Cell Stress Chaperones. 2010;15(4):431-442.
4. Lamm H. “Deer Influx deer hyperborean Sauerstofftherapie auf den Tinnitus und den Horverlust bei akuten und chronischen Innenohrschaden.” Otolaryngol Nova 5 (1995) 161-169.
5. Fattori B, et al. “Sudden Hypoacusis treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a controlled study.” Ear Nose Throat J. 2001;80(9):655-660.
6. Lou Y, et al. “Cardiovascular pharmacological studies of ethanol extracts of Cordyceps mycelia and Cordyceps fermentation solution.” Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs 1986;17(5):17-21,209-213.