Hearing Disorders
Hearing Disorders
Hearing Loss & Tinnitus Treatment
At IntelliHealthPlus Clinic in Bangkok, Thailand
The cochlea is a crucial inner ear structure. It transmits and concentrates vibrations before translating the vibrations into nerve impulses. The cochlea cells responsible for this i.e. hair cells receive stimulation from the vibrating fluid inside the cochlea. Different hair cells receive stimulation from different sound vibration frequencies. The resulting nerve impulses travel along the cochlear nerve (auditory nerve) reaching the region of the brain concerned with hearing. People develop hearing problems when hair cells die or get damaged.
Hearing Loss
Just recently, there was no way of replacing damaged or dead hair cells. The discovery of cochlea cellular treatment has made it possible to treat hearing loss caused by damaged or dead hair cells. This includes hearing problems caused by; genetic problems, certain drugs, certain ear infections, overexposure to loud noises, blood vessel problems, autoimmunity, injury to certain hearing structures, presbycusis (old age hearing problems) and Meniere’s disease. There are four types of hearing loss:
Conductive Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by something that stops sounds from getting through the outer or middle ear.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Hearing loss that occurs when there is a problem in the way the inner ear or hearing nerve works.
Mixed Hearing Loss
Hearing loss that includes both a conductive and a sensorineural hearing loss.
Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
Hearing loss that occurs when sound enters the ear normally, but because of damage to the inner ear or the hearing nerve, sound isn’t organized in a way that the brain can understand.
Recent scientific discoveries show that cellular therapy can treat hearing loss, indeed cochlear stem cells can be used to make new hair cells which ultimately leads to hearing improvements. The cochlear cells are responsible for converting sound waves into nerve impulses or electrical signals which are then transmitted to the brain to allow hearing are known as hair cells. Cellular therapy can produce this vital inner ear cells that are crucial for hearing. In fact, one of the most common causes of hearing loss is damaged hair cells.
Cochlea cells make it possible to grow damaged or dead hair cells back. The discovery of Cochlea cells is groundbreaking given the fact that the cells have been found within the inner year and they have the specific genes required for hearing. In the recent past, scientists have been able to grow mice ear hair cells damaged by noise trauma successfully. This was the first time researchers had been successful in re-growing hair cells in a mammal ear.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a hearing loss disorder, and frequently a symptom of an underlying disease like ear damage or a symptom of circulatory system issues; it is not a psychological condition. That constant ringing in your ears and your head that doesn´t originate from any external source and nobody else can hear but you, that is tinnitus. There are 2 types of this hearing loss disorder:
Subjective Tinnitus
This is the most common type of tinnitus, only the person affected with it can hear and it is caused by challenges with auditory nerves or issues with the outer, middle or inner ear.
Objective Tinnitus
This is a rare type of tinnitus where the doctor is able to hear the noise upon thorough ear examination of the patient, and it is caused by either a muscle contraction or blood vessel challenge.
Causes of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a condition that affects approximately one in every five people worldwide. Just like the root cause of tinnitus varies from one patient to another:
- Age related hearing loss (presbycusis)
For most patients, hearing challenges get worse with age, and it affects the most those above the age of 60.
- Being exposed to loud noise
Loud noises like those from heavy machinery, power saws or portable music devices are the most common sources of tinnitus.
- Earwax blockage
The role of earwax is to protect the ear canal by trapping dirt and dust as well as slowing down bacteria growth but when excess earwax accumulates, it becomes overwhelming to be cleaned naturally causing tinnitus and the irritation of the eardrum.
- Ear bone changes
This is the stiffness of middle ear bones which is called otosclerosis and it caused by abnormal bone growth, it is hereditary.
- Meniere’s disease
- Head or neck injuries
- Capillaries malformation
- High blood pressure
- Medication like antibiotics, aspirins, and quinine
Some Myths about Tinnitus
1. Tinnitus is a disease
Although tinnitus can be frustrating, it is misleading to consider it as a disease; it is a term used for any noise you hear in your ears or head that is not generated by an outside source.
2. Tinnitus makes you deaf
Despite the fact that tinnitus may be referred to as an inability to hear, it does not make you deaf. Normally, as the ability to hear outside noise reduces, the brain focuses more on internal sounds and that is when you start being conscious about tinnitus. It is therefore advisable for people with hearing challenges to assist the brain in hearing better those outside sounds again, and moderate the internal sounds awareness.
3. Cutting the auditory nerve will cure tinnitus
Tinnitus is a hearing disorder and some may think that by cutting the auditory nerve that transmits sound signals from your ear to the brain, it might cure it. However, this is not the case; tinnitus is perceived in the brain and its reduction can only occur if the perception changes naturally or with of some interventions.
Current Tinnitus Cellular treatment Research: There are many studies that are looking for ways to boost the production of sensory hair cells using gene therapy while others seek to understand strategies to produce and re-inject cells into the damaged area.
All recent studies use the regenerative potential of cellular properties. Currently, scientists are examining different chemical processes involved in normal gene expression. Cells have the ability to repair damaged cochlea’s hair cells that lead to tinnitus. By injecting new cells into the glial scar surface instead of underneath will greatly boost their survival, cells grow from the injected area of the auditory nerve which then move from cochlea to the brainstem (the part of the brain that regulates the flow of signals from the brain to the ear), repairing the hearing function.
How we treated?
A unique cellular treatment program is designed for each patient depending on the problem which makes it important to schedule a consultation first. After consultation, a complete information pack is provided to the patient including details of the type of therapy, mode of injection, amount of cells to be injected and treatment advice.
We create a customized treatment package for each of our patients. However, each of our treatment packages include an individualized combination of the following core components.
Our approach has produced partial or significant improvement to all of our patients’ conditions in a relatively short period of time. Depending on the stage of each patient’s condition, our approach has produced results either almost immediately, or within the first few months following treatment. For even the most challenging cases, we have produced improvement within six months of initial treatment.
Treatment Program Include
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