Can Hearing Loss Be Cured By Yoga?

Yoga is one of the oldest cardiovascular exercises, which dates back to ancient India, and it’s practiced around the world for its various health benefits.

Many people also believe that Yoga can cure hearing loss, but the main question is: is it true? Does science support it? If yes, then which Yoga Poses are the best for curing hearing loss?

Here is a related article that might interest you on How Many Deaf Universities Are There In The US?

In this DisabilitEase.com guide, I’ll provide answers to all these questions. Let’s get started.

What is Yoga?

Let’s start with the basics first, and let me tell you about Yoga. Yoga is basically an ancient exercise that includes various exercises, including meditation, physical exercises, and breath control. For centuries, people around the world have practice yoga for its health benefits, and people believe that it can cure many health conditions, including hearing loss.

When it comes to benefits, Yoga has these three positive effects on hearing loss.

Increase Blood Flow

One of the biggest benefits of practicing Yoga is that it increases blood flow in your body, and by certain poses, you can direct blood flow to your ears. When blood flow increases toward the ears, it helps ear cells to recover quickly, and as a result, your hearing improves.

Relax your Muscles

In many ENT-related issues, it has been found that the patients’ muscles weren’t relaxed. When you practice Yoga, it relaxes your muscles and their tissues by increasing blood and oxygen flow. Similarly, when you practice certain yoga poses, they relax muscles around your ears, and it leads to better hearing.

Good Hormones

Yoga also encourages your body to release good hormones such as GABA (Gama-aminobutyric acid), which helps you feel good. In clinical trials, it has been seen that people with low GABA were at the right of issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, and Tinnitus. It’s also proven that only 60 minutes of Yoga can increase your GABA levels by 27%.

Can Hearing Loss Be Cured?

Yoga certainly has positive impacts on your body but does it cure hearing loss? No one can provide a definitive answer to this question because recovering from hearing loss with the help of Yoga mainly depends on the severity of the hearing loss.

The two major factors which contribute to improving hearing loss are blood flow and relaxing muscle tissues, and Yoga successfully triggers both of them in your body. According to one study by the Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy, Yoga can contribute in a positive way to help you recover from “sensorineural deafness if not at least… improve the quality of life”.

The researchers at the University of Florida also found that regular cardiovascular exercises can improve the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your auditory system within the cochlea, which can lead to the recovery of damaged sensitive hair cells. This study clearly indicates that cardiovascular exercises such as Yoga, running, walking, etc., can help you recover from hearing loss.

Can Tinnitus Be Cured By Yoga?

Yoga has many health benefits, and it can also help you cure Tinnitus. According to one study published in the International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology (IAO), the researchers found that Yoga can reduce stress and symptoms of Tinnitus.

Which Yoga Poses Are Best For Recovering From Hearing Loss?

Yoga comes with various poses, and each poses target different parts of your body. In this section, I’ll share the top 5 most effective yoga poses which will target your head, including your ears. Let’s have a look at them.

Bhramari Pranayama (Bee Breath)

Let’s start with Bhramari Pranayama, also known as Bee Breath, which is one of the best Yoga poses for releasing your stress. In this pose, you will make a humming sound while exhaling, which will generate an echo in your ear and stimulate your hair cells. This pose not only helps you with stimulating your ears but also helps you lose stress and open your blocked sinuses and ears.

Shunya Mudra (Akash Mudra)

Shunya Mudra is another very popular yoga pose that can help you with various ear-related problems, including hearing loss, Tinnitus, and motion sickness.

The logic behind Shunya Mudra is also very interesting. In Mudras, the 5 fingers represent 5 elements of the Universe which are Space, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. According to logic, when any element comes in contact with fire, it creates a charged particle that nullifies that element.

In Shunya Mudra, we target space within our body, and the middle finger represents space. Similarly, the thumb represents fire. When you combine these two elements, the space in your body nullifies, and your body recovers.

To practice Shunya Mudra, you will have to sit in the padmasana pose and connect your middle finger with your thumb and exert pressure on the finger.

Kumbhaka

Kumbhaka is another very effective yoga that targets your respiratory system, and it helps you clean your respiratory system. In this yoga pose, you will try to exhale maximum air from your lung for a long duration, which will increase carbon dioxide in your body. In this way, it will trigger your brain to retain oxygen and improve your respiratory system.

In Kumbhaka, you will have to sit comfortably and take a deep breath from your nose. Now close your nose with your thumb and hold your breath. Now exhale it with full force for a long duration through your nose. Repeat this cycle for up to 15 minutes.

Viparita Karani

Viparita Karani is a yoga pose that targets blood flow in your body, and you can practice it to improve your blood flow. It’s also believed that Viparita Karani also cures Tinnitus. It’s basically legs up in the wall pose, which push the blood toward the upper body, including your head and ears.

In this pose, you will have to lay do and put your legs along the wall. Keep your arms stretched upwards, breath slowly, and close your eyes. Stay in this pose for 2-4 minutes to improve your blood flow.

Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

Matsyasana is a yoga pose that specifically targets your head, including your ears, and it improves your blood supply and relaxes your neck muscles.

In this pose, you will need to lay down on your back and put your hands under your him for the support, Now, raise your upper body and put your head back to the ground while keeping the chest up in the air. You can also use your elbows to support your body. Keep breathing while doing it, and repeat it for few times depending on your stamina.

How To Practice Yoga At Home?

If you are someone who is completely new to Yoga, I’d recommend that you join a physical yoga class as it will allow you to learn from an expert, and they will also help you improve your technique. However, if you want to practice Yoga at home, there are some very useful resources that can help you.

For starters, you can join online classes where you can practice Yoga with your Yogi master online. Similarly, you can also watch videos on YouTube where you can get yoga lectures for free but make sure that you only follow credible Yoga Channels. Last but not least, you can install Yoga apps on your smartphone and practice yoga on your own.

At the start of Yoga, I’ll recommend that you stick with simple poses, and once you are comfortable with them, only then should you switch to complex ones. In this journey, you can also take the help of other Yogis around the world by joining their communities on online forums such as Reddit and Facebook.

Conclusion

Yoga is a very effective exercise that can help you fix various issues in your body, including hearing loss. However, it’s only good for healing with temporary hearing loss, and if you are someone with permanent hearing loss, it may not help you, but it will surely help you tone your body and improve overall health.

Nonetheless, Yoga is a great exercise for your body, and if you like it, you should practice it to stay in good shape both physically and mentally.

I hope that you found this guide useful and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. Also, if you want to know how deaf people learn to read, check this guide.