Ringing in the Ears
Do you have ringing in the ears?" Does this ringing in your ears bother you? Are you looking for relief or answers how to cope with this ringing, or tinnitus? Do you need to meet and network with fellow tinnitus sufferers?
Look to our local tinnitus support discussion group in metro-Phoenix to ask questions, to get some answers from fellow tinnitus sufferers, and for one to one "buddy" telephone support, education, and assistance.
We are the Phoenix local tinnitus support group, an affiliate of the American Tinnitus Association formed in 1971 in Portland, Oregon. On the World Wide Web visit the National American Tinnitus Association headquarters at: www.ata.org
The American Tinnitus Association's mission statement is . . . "to silence ringing in the ears."
Did you know that tinnitus, ringing in the ears or head noises, is experienced by as many as 50 million Americans? Those who have it in a severe, stressful, or life-disrupting form often seek medical help without answers from their physicians!!! It is estimated that about 80% of these sufferers cope with it with no medical treatment. However, it is believed that an estimated 12 million people have tinnitus to a distressing degree. It is to those sufferers our local chapter offers some support.
Monthly Meetings
This is our ninth revised newsletter published, on the Web, since circa, September of 2002. During the past fiscal year we had regularly been meeting Monthly at Denny's Downtown Restaurant in Scottsdale. We expect to continue meeting at Denny's Restaurant generally set (but not always) on the first Mondays. This year we anticipate starting our new fiscal year on -----
Monday-September 12, 2011. (This is the Second Monday of the Month because Labor Day falls on the previous Monday.) We anticipate to resume meeting at our regularly scheduled time beginning at 7:00 p.m. until around 9:00 p.m.
Our meeting schedule, at Denny's downtown Scottsdale Restaurant, for the upcoming fiscal year (2010-2011) are tentatively scheduled as follows:
Generally starting on Monday Evenings beginning at our regularly scheduled time which begins at 7:00 p.m.:September 12, 2011, October 3, November 7, December 5, 2011, January 2, 2012, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7, and June 4, 2012. We generally recess during July and August.
The address for Denny's is: 3315 North Scottsdale Road, which Is located one-half block South of Osborn Road on the East side of Scottsdale Road in 'old' downtown Scottsdale, Arizona.
During this past year, we did not spend much money. However, we need to ask for donations to help our facilitator with costs and expenses. My predecessor called this, "passing the golden envelope." Also, Denny's Restaurant has been very supportive with us allowing us to meet in their complimentary back room. All of Denny's Restaurants are now smoke free!!! Also we ask you, when you visit Denny's , please order a meal, and also to be generous with our waitresses. We need to continue maintaining a good rapport with Denny's.
Since we only publish an annual newsletter on the Internet, we suggest for you to save and download this newsletter and keep our permanent Website and contact numbers handy.
Our meetings are open, on a month to month basis, for tinnitus sufferers, and with invited compassionate and professional medical practitioners/speakers. Previously, my predecessor, John J. Nichols, had prepared a monthly agenda mainly consisting of medical speakers, and a summary of their presentation was regularly mailed to our supporters. Our library/depository has most of the monthly newsletters previously prepared by John Nichols from circa 1994 through March of 2002. These are available upon request.
We are always open to new tinnitus sufferers and with our faithful supporters-and health practitioners who are kept up to date about Tinnitus. Primarily, we are a network support group discussing how we can cope and live with tinnitus. We are flexible with our scheduled first Monday of the month support group.
It has been the mission of our current facilitator of our tinnitus support group, to seek the truth, searching for better alternative solutions coping with tinnitus, at reasonable medical cost, that benefit tinnitus sufferers. Sometimes we address other related health concerns. Regretfully many health practitioners are naïve about Tinnitus and tell many of their patients, "you will just have to live with it." We suggest for you to read Mrs. Carol Brook's book (mentioned below) about her story, going into some details, about her horror being treated by incompetent medical practitioners.
Again like the past year, we have regularly invited Michael J. A. Robb., M.D., an oto-neurologist several times to provide his up to date news for our tinnitus sufferers. (Unfortunately, at this time, we must stress, there is no known cure or "magic silver bullet" that can cure tinnitus.)
Information On The Internet
One of our on-going guest speakers has provided to our group about the world-wide exponential growth of medical research on Tinnitus that is becoming more and more readily available through the Internet. Literally, thousands of WebSites throughout the world have articles on Tinnitus. To narrow searches consider using www.pubmed.com the national library of medicine's research site. If you are looking for thousands of "hits" on the Web, I would suggest you use the two major search engines: www.Google.com, www.Bing.com, and www.Dogpile.com, and type related search words such as "tinnitus."
We strongly encourage you to call upon the only Tinnitus Medical Clinic in the Southwest. You may call upon Dr. Michael J. A. Robb, M.D. at: (480) 303-1133. His office is located at: 333 West Thomas Road, Suite 203, in Phoenix, Arizona 85012. He specializes in diseases and disorders of the ear, the brain, vertigo, dizziness, imbalance, ringing, and sensitive ears. Dr. Robb's WebSite is: www.RobbMD.com
In addition we suggest you specifically search the following Websites: (Always being changed, and updated --not all inclusive)
American Tinnitus Association www.ata.org
American Hypocausts Association www.nia.nih.gov/naca
Dr. Pawel J. Jasterboff www.tinitus-pjj.com
Dr. Jonathan W. P. Hazell (Otologic Surgeon) www.tinnitus.org
Google: "OHSU Tinnitus Clinic" Oregon Health Sciences University "Oregon Tinnitus Data Archive" Managed by Mary Meikle, Ph.D. Dr. Petroff Audio Technologies www.tinnitushelp.com
Tinnitus Clinics in the United States:
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (T.R.T.)
(Susan Gold, M.A., CCC-A, audiologist, University of Maryland l
Robert A. Levine, M.D. Dr. http://epl.mei.harvard.edu/~ral Levine is an oto-neurologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Informary/Harvard Medical School. Boston, Massachusetts
(Dr. Stephen M. Nagles-general surgeon www.dizziness-and-balance.com
(Timonthy C. Hain, M.D., -- oto-neurologist in Chicago www.healthyhearing.com
(Doubles L. Beck, Au.D.
Hearing Instrument Companies-specializing in custom and ready-to-wear sound generators for the purposes of facilitating habituation of tinnitus reaction and perception:
Inexpensive Sound Maskers at Wallgreen Drug Stores General
Hearing Instruments, Inc. Post Office Box 23748 New Orleans, LA
70183-0748 (800)-824-3021 Name of product: Tranquil and Harmony
WebSite: www.generalhearing.com
United Hearing Systems 137 Norwich Road Central Villate, CT
06332 (800)-835-2001 Name of product: Solace WebSite: www.unitedhearing.com University of
California at Irvine, California.
Also: Keep these local E-Mail addresses handy:
Http://aztecfreenet.org/tinnitus (being updated)
E-Mail:tinnitus@aztecfreenet.org
Alternative E-Mail: aztinnitusgroup@gmail.com
Our main contact phone number is: Bill Teske at (480) 946-2497.
Our back up phone contact is: Jeff Houghton at (480) 836-2160
This WebSite/newsletter was prepared by:
WILLIAM L. TESKE,
Acting local chapter President
AZ Tinnitus Support Group
Post Office Box 1211
Scottsdale, Arizona 85252-1211
Message Telephone: (480) 946-2497
A word of caution about seeking tinnitus treatment:
A few years ago we made a new friend in Northern California who almost died when she suffered from an extreme case of hyperacusis-tinnitus. Mrs. Carol Lee Brook in her book, "Tortured by Sound-Beyond Human Endurance," is excellent reading in novel form a real horror story (based upon her true experience) beginning from where she started hearing ringing in her ears, (auto accident) how it impacted her life, the many medical charlatans she met and finally describing non-surgical and non-invasive therapy which reversed/cured Carol's hyperacusis.
The narrative, goes into specific detail describing treatment from several infamous medical charlatans, and finally her discovering Dr. Jastreboff's tinnitus retraining therapy ("T.R.T.") which first alleviated Carol's hyperacusis. New tinnitus medical patients may expect to receive the same treatment from the medical establishment that Carol describes in her book. Carol also has strong reservations against having air-bags employed in automobiles. Why? Because the very loud noise of the activation of an air-bag, even in minor accidents, can cause serious hearing loss/hyperacusis. I understand the explosive sound of a deployed car airbag is louder than a jet engine upon takeoff. As St. Augustine once said, "Without knowledge we must have faith; and Without faith we must have knowledge." We need both faith and knowledge to fight tinnitus. You may contact Mrs. Brook at: Roaring Productions, Inc. at 1318 High Street in Alameda, California 94501. Her direct telephone number is: (510) 895-5571.
We received a few referral calls during the past year mainly through the A.T.A. through our Website, The Arizona Council of the Hearing Impaired, and other groups. One common denominator I noticed from all our callers, new and old, is that just about every person suffering with tinnitus also has problems with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. During the past several years one of our attendees of our Support Group personally experienced some problems with Depression, panic attacks, and numbness in his feet, and other psychological disorders, so he got a list of Depression support groups in the Valley through the Mental Health Association of Arizona-Peer Support Groups.
To get a list of 16 Peer Support Groups, we suggest contacting them at: 6411 East Thomas Road in Scottsdale. Telephone number is : (480) 994-4407. To print-out the depression Peer Support Groups, you may go directly to their Website at: www.mhaarizona.org.
If any of you have symptoms of depression, we highly recommend you review the peer support group list and consider visiting some of these meetings. At these peer support groups you will be introduced by your first name. Also, their meetings, like ours, are free!!! No reservations are required.
Here is a sampling of one Medical News Brief that was
submitted:
(We invite any medical practitioner or other person to submit
articles, for approval, to post on our WebSite)
A Perspective on Nerve Functions and Tinnitus
By the late Dr. Robert C. Bright, D.C.
(Doctor of Chiropractic, 52 years)
(1923 - 2006)
NERVE FUNCTIONS
This article is being written in lay language for the layman. Function means to work. In this article we are not concerned in the mechanics of how they work. because physiologists have never really found the answers. For example, we do not know if electricity travels through the wire or around it, but we use electricity everyday. We need to recognize that our nerves, do in fact, work like wires. At a University in Colorado several years ago, an experiment was done by a Japanese researcher and he found the weight of a thin dime lying across a nerve changed the ability of that nerve to function by 10%.
It is my opinion, that it takes a well functioning nervous system for our bodies to be healthy. Anything less than 100%, your body is considered sick, or crippled.
It takes a healthy functioning nerve to do its job. Since energy, by way of the nervous system, controls the workings of all organs and stationary cells in the organs of the body, it is paramount that the nervous systems works properly AT ALL TIMES. If some organ is not functioning normally, than we have a problem with the nervous system, since nerves are involved with all bodily functions.
Each cell reproduces itself after its own kind. We do not find any finger nail cells in the eye, or kidney cells in the liver. The physiologist tells us that we get a complete new body about every seven years by the process of cells splitting and dividing. The old cells die off and the new cells carry on the function of each organ.
If it is a traumatic situation (any injury), the body controls the repair itself and when the nerves attach to the new blood vessels they will be able to regain control the blood vessel muscles and they are able to contract and dilate like normal tissues.
It is my opinion that is why Hypocrites (called the Father of medicine) said 4-thousand years ago, "If any of you are sick, look well to the spine." The spine is the most likely area in the body to have nerve interference. The most vulnerable areas of the spine is at the transitional vertebrae. (bones) The most vulnerable transitional area is at the atlas-axis articulation right under the skull. (Between the 1st and 2nd Spinal Bones under the skull.) The next most vulnerable area to have a subluxated is between the 5th lumbar and the sacrum. And the next vulnerable area is between the 12th thoracic and 1st lumbar vertebrae, unless the problem is caused by a major traumatic experience.
If there is continual pressure on nerves, then the area becomes inflamed and the energy (tone) is distorted, and the cells cannot function normally in coordination with the rest of the organs of the body. When that happens, we do not feel normal (or well), since some of our organs do not function correctly.
That is why we should learn to use the techniques we use in the study of Bioneuroenergenlogy in Dr. Bright's book, The Language of the Cells," and as taught by Dr. Robert C. Bright, Doctor of Chiropractic. There is much more to understanding to learn than a bone pinching a nerve.
TINNITUS
We hear because of the different vibrations of sounds putting pressure on nerves within the middle ear causing different nerves to vibrate in harmony with the vibrations coming to them by way of the osicals vibrating between two tympanic membranes. In my understanding, there is pressure on nerves going to the areas of the tympanic membrane, so the body can not control the flow of energy or blood in the local area causing a stasis. (Slowing down the blood flow.) When the blood does not flow as fast as it should, the salts in the blood precipitates and crystallizes, causing pressure on the hair like nerve endings in the inner ear. The high pitch (the sound we subjectively hear) is from pressure on the shorter nerves that vibrates giving a steady high pitch. The stimulant to the auditory nerve endings, is the pressure, we hear as "tinnitus."
Whenever problems in any tissues are from pressure on nerves, it is most likely, the symptoms are worse whenever the person is under stress or tension for some reason. All sensations and information travel by way of the nervous system. Pressure is the thing that stimulates the nerve endings of the five special senses of our body. We also have nerve endings that pick up tactile feelings, smell, and taste.
We also have nerve endings in our inner ear that vibrate with the vibrations that is transferred from the tympanum membrane (ear drum) through the three little bones (in the inner ear) to a membrane with nerve endings that vibrates. These vibrations cause some nerve endings to vibrate and the energy travels over nerves to the brain being 'subjectively' interpreted by us-as sound.
When the person is quiet or relaxed, the symptoms can subside. If the condition, of the ringing in the ears, is a slight one, the symptoms may disappear only to return under more tension.
As with arthritis the salt crystals have to be dissolved for relief, and possibly a cure can be accomplished. It is a very laborious process and it takes time and a lot of work. (of treatment and therapy) This is further explained in the curriculum of the course in Bioneuroenergenology.
AN ANALOGY OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SALT CRYSTALLIZES ANYWHERE IN THE BODY:
Take a beaker of brine and let it set still. Hang a string so that a few inches hang in the brine. After awhile what would you get? Of course, salt crystals accumulating on the sting. This same thing happens in the body when there is a lack of normal flow to the blood. Blood is salty, and when blood is slowed down, in an inflamed area, the salts precipitate, and crystallize on the ligaments and tendons--causing pressure on the nerves at the local area.
If you stir the brine in the beaker, the salt will dissolve without adding any water or any chemicals to it. The same thing happens in the body. If the blood is made to flow through the area of inflammation, again the salts will dissolve just like the salt in the beaker dissolves when stirred. If the nerves are kept un-pinched between the inflamed area and the brain, the body will naturally dissolve the salts and maintain the process of dissolving the crystals. In time the calcium salts will dissolve and the tinnitus is no more.
I had a few of reported cases of tinnitus in my practice over 52 years. Some patients received good results, and some people did not receive any help at all. None of them ever became worse or stayed that way. Since I have been lecturing at some of the tinnitus meetings, my interest in that condition has increased. At 81 years of age, I also have tinnitus off and on.
Treating tinnitus is a laborious job, and takes a lot of time and patience on the part of the one helping you and especially on the part of the patient. You can do this yourself, but it works better if your tissues are relaxed--and someone else can do it for you. The reason your patience runs thin is, because you do not see immediate results.
By keeping the nerves un-pinched and milking the drainage tubes in the neck that drain the ears, we may be able to be effective treating that condition. I told the people at one tinnitus support meeting about how I adjusted one man and it became worse, but by milking his neck, the ringing went back to normal sound right away. This is another indication this could be the case.
If you condition is worse when under stress, it may take a lot of work and time to subside some. If the symptoms comes and goes, you have a better chance of making a change for the better-- if we can "nip" it in the bud, so to speak-the earlier the better. . If your tinnitus (the sound you hear) is constant with no relief ever, then the prognosis is guarded. Such conditions either stay the same, or become a little worse with age.
IT IS MY EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE YEARS, THAT PUTTING MORE CALCIUM IN THE BLOOD INCREASES THE PROBLEMS OF CALCIUM DEPOSITS ANYWHERE IN THE BODY. These deposits are called by different names when found in different tissues in the body.
I did not notice my tinnitus for years, but it flared up again when I started lecturing about it because I put my attention on it. Previously, I had just put it in the background. If I do not think about the ringing in my ears, I do not notice it. Sometimes when the ringing comes back, I could tilt my head to the extreme left and spread the vertebrae apart on the right side of my neck and it would subside and I no longer notice the ringing.
The nice thing about the techniques used in "Bioneuroenergenology," they are nontoxic, non invasive, non traumatic, and there are no side effects. If treatment does not help, neither will it do any damage to tissues. The key is we do no harm to the patient. Any questions? I can be reached at any of the captioned addresses.
Prepared by: DR. ROBERT C. BRIGHT, D. C.
Doctor of Chiropractic-Palmer School Graduate, 1953.