Tinnitus remains an enigma in the hearing professional community. We simply can’t find out how to cure that constant ringing in people’s ears. For centuries, civilizations have tried to devise effective tinnitus treatments.
Despite not having a cure, we’ve made tremendous leaps in our approach to tinnitus treatment. Over the years, figures such as Jean Marie Gaspard have given us hope. This article catalogs the progress we’ve made over the years with tinnitus treatment. It also discusses where we are today and what the future holds for the elusive cure to tinnitus.
Tinnitus and The Egyptians
Tinnitus treatment goes back to the Egyptians. The first written record of tinnitus, a medical report titled the Crocodilopolis (between 1650-1532 BC), referred to the condition as a “bewitched ear” or “humming in the ears.”
The Egyptians believed coating a reed stalk (woody branch with leaves) with oil, frankincense, tree sap, herbs, or soil and inserting it into the patient’s external ear could alleviate the patient’s symptoms.
Tinnitus in Mesopotamia
The Mesopotamians documented their struggles with tinnitus using clay tilework and chants. They used these chants to rid themselves of the “whispering” or “singing” in the ears. They referred to the god of water, E, in one of the chants saying,
“Whoever thou may be, may E restrain me,”
Another incantation went something like this,
“It hath flown against me. It hath attacked me. O seven heavens, seven earths, seven winds, seven fires, by heaven be ye exorcised.”
Mesopotamia believed there were three kinds of tinnitus, the singing, the speaking, and the whispering. They also used opium and cannabis as treatment methods.
Classical China
The ancient Chinese believed an imbalance in the yin and yang and the kidney-bladder network caused four different tinnitus types. “Excess” caused two of these tinnitus types, and “deficiency” caused the other two types.
Traditional Chinese medicine still uses similar approaches to treat tinnitus, such as acupuncture.
Greco-Roman Tinnitus Treatment
The Greco-Roman approach to tinnitus was one of the first to separate cause and effect. If the Greeks and Romans believed a cold caused tinnitus, they cleaned the ear and instructed the patient to hold their breath until they expelled humor (black bile) from their ear.
If the tinnitus issued from the head, the Greeks recommended the following:
Exercise
Rubbing
Gargling
Dieting
Placing a radish, cucumber juice, honey, or sugar in the ear
Later, Hippocrates and Aristotle were the first to suggest masking treatment, which utilizes other sounds to mask tinnitus sounds. These colossal historic figures mused that “the buzzing ceases if one makes a sound.”
Middle Ages Tinnitus Treatment
Pouring things into patients’ ears was about as advanced as the Western World got with tinnitus treatment until modernity. In the Middle Ages, the Welsh recommended taking a hot loaf of bread, dividing it into two pieces, and putting a piece in each ear. The heat would make the patient’s ear sweat (or just burn it), and they believed that God’s grace would cure the ringing.
These measures may seem primitive, but we still use similar tactics today. For example, “ear candling” is a method of removing ear wax from someone’s ear by placing a burning candle in the ear to draw out the wax. Some people also believe ear candling is effective against tinnitus and sinus problems.
Renaissance Tinnitus Treatment
The Renaissance saw the first surgeries as a treatment for tinnitus. People believed wind got trapped in the ear and circled, causing whooshing or ringing sounds. In response to these whooshing noises, they would trephinate the mastoid to purge the trapped air.
Jean Marie Gaspard
Tinnitus treatment received a significant breakthrough in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Gaspard was the first to associate tinnitus with hearing loss. He also piggybacked on Aristotle and Hippocrates by suggesting masking therapy for treatment. After Jean Marie Gaspard, tinnitus treatment advanced very little for the next century.
Tinnitus Today
Advances in tinnitus treatment remained dormant until about 30 years ago with the introduction of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). TRT represents an enormous leap forward for the tinnitus treatment community, and it is exciting to see where this innovative treatment leads.
Part of this leap forward comes from advances in psychiatric therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Pairing these approaches together helps patients cope with their symptoms better and lead a normal life. Though we still haven’t found a cure, we are getting much better at approaching treatment.
Instead of relying on masking therapies, we also use habituation and neuromodulation sound therapy techniques. These techniques help patients become more comfortable with their symptoms and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
Tinnitus In the Future
Most experimental treatments revolve around tiny amounts of electricity “shocking” tinnitus away, and experts believe these electrical shocks will minimize oversensitive nerve activity.
Other experimental therapies include repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation. These therapies deliver electromagnetic pulses to the scalp.
While these therapies offer hope for future tinnitus treatment therapies, doctors caution against buying all-in on these therapies. There is not enough research to determine how these treatments will affect your tinnitus.
Conclusion- The History of Tinnitus Treatment
Tinnitus has plagued us since the beginning of civilization, and it’s still winning the battle. For thousands of years, we have had no better strategy than to stick things in our ears, say a prayer, and hope for the best.
The good news is, there’s hope on the horizon. One can see the continuing push toward a tinnitus cure in therapies such as TRT and other emerging experimental treatments. If you suffer from tinnitus, consider seeing an audiologist to devise a treatment strategy.
