Key Diagnostic Points:

• Both tinnitus and deafness are auditory disturbances.
• Tinnitus indicates the subjective sensation experienced upon hearing a noise in one or both ears. The noise may be constant or coming in bouts and may vary in intensity and character. It may sound like a high-pitched whistle, like bees, like an engine running, or like rushing water.
• Deafness is the failure or loss of hearing. Sudden deafness occurs abruptly. The patient often has severe deafness or even loses hearing entirely within an hour or a day.
• Tinnitus is a difficult condition to treat, the older patients and the longer lasting the condition, the more difficult it will be to treat. Results are better for the Excess type, than the deficiency type.

Differential Diagnosis:

Rising of Liver or GB fire. Sudden deafness, tinnitus with loud sound and clearly related to emotional strain, distention sensation and constant ringing in the ear that can not be eliminated by pressing, headache, irritability, thirst, a bitter taste in mouth, red face, constipation.

Tongue: Red tongue body with yellow coat Pulse: Wiry and rapid

Kidney Essence Deficiency Protracted deafness, intermittent tinnitus aggravated by strain and eliminated by pressing. Tinnitus with low sound sometimes like rushing water and coming in bouts. Dizziness, a feeling of emptiness of the head, poor memory, soreness of the lower back and knees, spermatorrhea, excessive leukorrhea.

Tongue: Red without coating Pulse: Thready and weak

Treatment Principle:

Rising Fire of Liver and GB Drain liver and GB fire, ease the ears.

Kidney Essence Deficiency Nourish Kidney essence, ease the ears.

Point and Technique Prescription:

SJ 21 (even) Local point.
SI 19 (even) Local point.
GB 2 (even) Local point.
SJ 17 (even) Local point.

The auricular branch of the San Jiao and GB channels arise from the retroauricular region and enters into the ear and than comes out and passes the pre-auricular region.
Regulation of the Shao Yang channel, eases the ears.

SJ 3 (even) This point is a so-called "Experience Point" in which the clinical experience of numerous acupuncturists have found that this point is effective on hearing problems.

Rising Liver and GB fire, add:

Liv 2, GB 43.

The Ying spring point of the Liver and Gallbladder channels which clear away the fire from the Liver/GB.

SJ 5, GB 41.
Two of the eight confluent points for the 8 extra meridians. These two connect the hand and foot Shao Yang channels.

Kidney Essence Deficiency, add:

UB 23 Kidney Back shu
Kid 3 Yuan-source point of the Kidney channel.
Both of these points will nourish Kidney essence, important because the Kidney opens into the ears.

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