Tinnitus

Tinnitus and deafness may go hand in hand, tinnitus being the reaction of the organ of corti in the cochlea to some kind of stimulus such as inflammation or pressure, while perceptive deafness is the failure to react to that stimulus.  Tinnitus is a very common and distressing disorder experienced as a continual noise in the head and ranging from a high-pitched whistle to a deep booming vibration.  As such it is masked by the external noise which pushes it into the background and this is sometimes used as a form of treatment.  The greater majority of cases, of such there are about 100,000 in the UK arise for no obvious reason.

PHILLIPA was only 13 when her parents brought her to me for treatment.  Sue suffered frequent bouts of ringing in her ears.  More often than not it is a buzzing sensation she said.  An ENT surgeon had found nothing abnormal in her ear function and was at a loss to know what to suggest next.

I found Phillipa to be a tense, very pleasant, sensitive girl, but I was more worried about her rather over protective parents, particularly her very dominant father who seemed more concerned about the effect this would have on her education than the misery it was causing her in her every day life.

As I started treatment I was utterly mystified, as no sensitivities appeared in her ear reflexes at all.  Wondering if there could be a displacement of the vertebrae in her neck ( sometimes a neck condition can cause these symptoms) I worked extensively in this area, but again no sensitivities occurred.

Her diaphragm area and that solar plexus were again telling me stories, and her adrenal glands were acutely sensitive.  This picture in her feet represented to me a young girl in a very stressful state.  The diaphragm often becomes sensitive in those who are anxious, as a rapid heart beat and over breathing are common.  I also took into account that Phillipa was probably rather nervous at this, her first reflexology treatment.  Was the anxiety causing the ringing in the ears, or did the ear condition cause the anxiety?

It was difficult to get any response as mother and father answered all the questions, and try as she might, Philippa could not get a word in edgeways. Mother and father talked over each other, one constantly correcting the other on the facts of the case and so on.

I had one desire and that was that her mother and father leave the room while she had her treatment, but I knew that was going to be a problem.

Every reflex point in the foot had to be explained to them and if it was sensitive then why was it?

The whole situation was quite hopeless.  The second and third sessions were much the same as the first, and at one point Mum and Dad became quite heated in a discussion about their daughter.

Deciding that we were not going to get anywhere with these stressful treatment sessions and because Philippa had not shown any signs of improvement, I asked the parent if they could leave their daughter with me on her own and go off somewhere together for an hour, as I found their constant rather excitable discussion off-putting to me as well as their daughter.  So often the cause of the illness is the person sitting next to the patient and it was so in this case.

On the fourth treatment I had Phillipa to myself and put just a little pressure on her to talk about herself..

‘How do you get on with your parents?’ I asked.  Immediately her expression changed to one of pain.  ‘Not bad she said, but they are always picking on each other over everything and anything.  It goes on week in, week out.  They are both OK on their own but when we are all together life is difficult.

‘I don’t think there is anything physically wrong with your ears at all, in fact I am 100 percent sure of that.  What is wrong is the stresses you are living under. Your parents need the treatment, not you.  There was such relief on that girl’s face.  I think you are creating this noise to shut out what is going on around you.  The stress of our parents.

I summoned up some courage when her parents returned and asked Philippa to go out and sit in the car, and had a chat with them.

‘I can’t help your daughter at all, but feel sure you could do so much for her if you could calm down the bickering, which she says is constant.

I wanted for the big onslaught, which did not come,  They both became so sheepish.  Big, bold Dad looked like a little boy and Mum had tears in her eyes.  The outcome was remarkable.  Both Mum and Dad came to me for treatment.  Mum came for her migraine headaches (stress again) and Dad suffered from high blood pressure (more stress).

They were both relieved of these conditions;  in fact Mum only experienced very rare attacks of mild migraine and Dad’s  blood pressure dropped to within normal limits; and what about Philippa? HER RINGING IN THE EARS COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED WITHIN  THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.