Sudden deafness or hearing loss is an unexplained rapid loss of hearing. It happens either all at once or in a few days, frequently affecting only one ear.

KAPOS offers specialized acupuncture for recovering from the sudden hearing loss.

What KAPOS does as a treatment for Sudden Hearing Loss

We have several unique points.

No needling around the ear

Needling around ear is nonsense. Because the needle can’t reach to the inner ear. Even if it’s possible, such a needling is too dangerous that nobody practices it.

Needling to the ear is seemed like stimulating directly to the affected area but it’s not. We collect acupoints from a whole body that are more effective to the inner ear than the ones around the ear.

Loosen tension around the jaw joints

It is possible to improve the inner ear condition by loosening the jaw joints. The jaw joints and the ears are near. The inner ears, the most important part for hearing, are also just close by the jaw joints. There are numerous muscles related to the jaw joints. Therefore, looking only at the jaw joints does not provide sufficient effect. We approach to them through selected acupoints that, in a meantime, will balance your whole body.

Resolve the stiffness in the neck and the shoulders

Blood flow towards the inner ear is so important for recovering your hearing. The neck and the shoulders are the right places to be approached. Because to ease tight muscles in those areas leads to loosen the muscles connected into the ear.

For resolving the stiffness in the neck and the shoulders, movable shoulder blades are the most important. We use acupoints mostly in the hand, the foot and the back for this reason.

Approach through the nose and the throat

“Ear-Nose-Throat” are linked together. To fix the environment of the ear, we can’t ignore the conditions of the nose and the throat. By keeping open the nasal passages and by controlling the throat irritation, we can conduct the ear recovery.

What are the chances of the recovery?

If, within 3 ~ 5 treatments, you have changings of the symptom around your face, there is a good chance of improvement.

Prospect depends also on how long has passed since the onset.

Prospect of hearing improvement by the duration after onset

Within a month

70 – 80% of the patients recovered

Targeted hearing ability : 100%

Within 3 months

60 – 70% of the patients recovered

Targeted hearing ability : 80%

More than 6 months

20 – 30% of the patients recovered

Targeted hearing ability : a little improvement

More than a year

Less than 1% of the patients recovered

Targeted hearing ability : difficult

What you can do

Rest is essential for hearing recovery. Take a sufficient rest after the treatment and make sure you get enough sleep. Avoid the fatigue accumulated daily, otherwise it’ll be harder to get enough recovery.

Feeling like my tinnitus has increased

In the process of hearing recovery, the tinnitus may increase temporarily. It’s because the recovery of hearing makes easier to catch the sounds, which temporarily confuses the brain. As you recover more, the tinnitus will be less.

Recovery is so slow that I feel anxiety

The recovery takes time, whereas the hearing loss is fast and sudden. However, the proper treatments lead gradually improvement of your hearing. No rush. Keep coming for the treatment is important.

When should I start the treatment?

It is strongly recommended to come as soon as possible after you recognize the hearing loss. Because the earlier treatment after the onset, the higher recovery rate is expected.

Treatment pace

Twice to 3 times a week is necessary. The duration will be 1 ~ 3 months. Patients who start the treatment earlier would get better with fewer visits.

What to bring

If you have an audiogram, please bring it. We request you to take a hearing test once in 2 weeks. This is for objectively evaluating effectiveness of the treatment. Please receive the audiogram at a hospital and bring it to our clinic.

Can I have other treatment at the same time?

There is no problem to go to KAPOS and other hospital parallelly.

It is recommended NOT to go to the other acupuncture clinics and alternative medicines at the same time. It may cause an excessive stimulus to your body and make it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments.