Have you been exposed to the book "Who Switched Off My Brain"? The author Dr. Caroline Leaf is a neuro-physiologist. I know, big word, she studies the human brain and looks at the pathways that your thoughts take as they begin and follow through to completion. For the last 20 years she has been detailing all of the physical processes that the brain goes through. She has made some fascinating discoveries.
Your thoughts are indeed physical things. They have a definite location in the brain. As you think the thought form branches and make new neural connections. Depending on the nature of the thought itself, it can cause the release of beneficial chemicals which will aid in the building of more cells to enhance the health of our whole body. You have probably heard that it is good to laugh, because it releases brain chemical chemicals known as endorphins which are good for your health and your body to reduce stress.
Unfortunately that same process works in the reverse. Having thoughts that are negative can also cause the release of other chemicals that can have a negative effect on our health. An example would be thoughts that are fearful to the extent that they cause the release of too much adrenalin into our system. This will of course cause stress, a faster heart rate and other complications which can lead to poor health.
You would need to read the whole book to get a sense of the wonder of the human brain, but the bottom line is that we can learn how to take charge of the thoughts that we have and we can change them. The tree like structure of a repeated negative thought structure can be actually dis-assembled and replaced with a new and more positive thought structure.
So I have taken three paragraphs to run off on a side journey talking about brain functions in an article that deals with tinnitus. Here is why.
Other research has established the existence of clearly defined patterns in the brain that are present in the lives of tinnitus sufferers. In other words these could be described as loops. Somehow and somewhere you and I managed to develop a loop in our brain that continues to play a sound over and over. Eeeiing, stuck, like a broken record, or a bad CD, this sound continues 24/7/365.
Dr. Leaf has shown that there is a way to change those thought patterns. Her book deals from a christian perspective, to which I subscribe wholeheartedly, but even if you don't the healing is still very possible. I will not say that it is easy, though in this instant solution society that is something that appeals to us. The fact remains that the brain is not permanently set in stone, it can be changed and with a little work you can find a cure.
I have written more extensively on this at my tinnitus website which you can find here.
Tinnitus Natural Cures
Friday, December 31, 2010
Will This Ringing In My Ears Ever Stop?
That concert the other night was absolutely awesome, but the next morning when I woke up, I had this awful ringing in my ears. I can't seem to get away from the sound, it follows me where ever I go. I have had this noise in my head before, several years ago when I was a kid and I lit that firecracker. But the ringing went away later in the day. This noise has been around for a couple months and it is still there.
It seems to be the loudest when I am alone in a quiet place. Instead of silence I hear this noise going iiiinnngg all day long. The worst part is at night when I try to go to sleep, you know it would be nice if it was quiet so I could just fall off into a nice restful sleep, but no, there it is, going on an on.
I went to my family doctor and got a check up. The "physical" results came back completely normal, there were no signs of anything wrong. The doc looked in my ears and said that everything looked just fine. I said " But what about this ring in my ears?" and he said, "Well maybe you have tinnitus, it will go away in a while or you may have to learn to live with it."
Does this describe your situation? Do you live with this noise that continues to go off in your brain 24 hours a day, getting louder, even when you get to a place that is quiet? This noise that never goes away; interfering with your ability to hear conversations across the room. This noise that makes you have to ask someone to say it again because they spoke so softly that you couldn't hear what they said. This is the story that I have lived with until now.
Researchers have recently been able to actually look into our brains with tomographic scans (MRI's) and view the brain wave patterns of the areas of the brain that handle our auditory nerves. They have discovered that there is a difference between people diagnosed with tinnitus and those with normal hearing. There seems to be an area of continuous activity in those who suffer tinnitus. This activity pattern tells them that there is an auditory loop that is continually playing that sound.
This a piece of very good news. The human brain is capable of making new pathways for many of its functions. This means that the pathway can be changed and the old pathway can be ignored or even repaired when we are able to focus away from it. Several studies have been done in an area known as "brain plasticity." Here is a quote from the wisegeek.com website:
"In addition to reworking itself to store information and organize it effectively, the brain can also repair itself, to some extent. When an area of the brain is damaged, the activities associated with that region will sometimes move to another area of the brain, allowing the person to recover functionality. This type of brain plasticity is critical for people recovering from brain injuries and neurological disorders, as the damage may be permanent, but it can be possible to mitigate the effects."
What this means for people like me, with "ringing in my ears" is that it may be possible to retrain the brain to stop hearing that loop and move to glorious silence instead. With the aid of knowledge, a change to an "it can be cured" attitude, and some self hypnosis is it possible to get rid of the noise.
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/hearing-articles/will-this-ringing-in-my-ears-ever-stop-3804243.html#ixzz19jz7rGp9
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Michael Brown
It seems to be the loudest when I am alone in a quiet place. Instead of silence I hear this noise going iiiinnngg all day long. The worst part is at night when I try to go to sleep, you know it would be nice if it was quiet so I could just fall off into a nice restful sleep, but no, there it is, going on an on.
I went to my family doctor and got a check up. The "physical" results came back completely normal, there were no signs of anything wrong. The doc looked in my ears and said that everything looked just fine. I said " But what about this ring in my ears?" and he said, "Well maybe you have tinnitus, it will go away in a while or you may have to learn to live with it."
Does this describe your situation? Do you live with this noise that continues to go off in your brain 24 hours a day, getting louder, even when you get to a place that is quiet? This noise that never goes away; interfering with your ability to hear conversations across the room. This noise that makes you have to ask someone to say it again because they spoke so softly that you couldn't hear what they said. This is the story that I have lived with until now.
Researchers have recently been able to actually look into our brains with tomographic scans (MRI's) and view the brain wave patterns of the areas of the brain that handle our auditory nerves. They have discovered that there is a difference between people diagnosed with tinnitus and those with normal hearing. There seems to be an area of continuous activity in those who suffer tinnitus. This activity pattern tells them that there is an auditory loop that is continually playing that sound.
This a piece of very good news. The human brain is capable of making new pathways for many of its functions. This means that the pathway can be changed and the old pathway can be ignored or even repaired when we are able to focus away from it. Several studies have been done in an area known as "brain plasticity." Here is a quote from the wisegeek.com website:
"In addition to reworking itself to store information and organize it effectively, the brain can also repair itself, to some extent. When an area of the brain is damaged, the activities associated with that region will sometimes move to another area of the brain, allowing the person to recover functionality. This type of brain plasticity is critical for people recovering from brain injuries and neurological disorders, as the damage may be permanent, but it can be possible to mitigate the effects."
What this means for people like me, with "ringing in my ears" is that it may be possible to retrain the brain to stop hearing that loop and move to glorious silence instead. With the aid of knowledge, a change to an "it can be cured" attitude, and some self hypnosis is it possible to get rid of the noise.
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/hearing-articles/will-this-ringing-in-my-ears-ever-stop-3804243.html#ixzz19jz7rGp9
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Michael Brown
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