According to Tibetan medical science, hearing loss and even absolute deafness is indeed treatable through nervous stimulation at specific sites on the Central Nervous System (CNS).
From the Oral Instructions Tantra of the canon of Tibetan medicine:
“Hearing loss should be treated with moxibustion [a therapy whereby moxa, or dried mugwort leaves, are burned at or near specific points to promote the opening of channels] on the fourteenth vertebra [the equivalent of the 8th thoracic vertebra (T8) in Western medicine], followed by the administration of a medicinal butter preparation made from the three myrobalan fruits and root medicines.”
The treatment suggested by the canon of Tibetan medical science is therefore a multi-pronged approach, involving both medicine (medicinal butter) and application of an accessory therapy (moxibustion). The medicinal butter is to address the general imbalance of the patient’s rlung, or wind humor–one of the three psycho-physical energies said to constitute the human body, in Tibetan medicine, and the humor most responsible for governing the external senses; while the moxibustion treatment is meant to stimulate nervous activity around the fourteenth vertebra. Interestingly enough, pre-ganglionic sympathetic innervation of the kidneys occurs around T8-L1. This is significant because in Tibetan medical science, kidney health and hearing are inextricably linked. The ears are said to be the external manifestation of the kidneys, so poor hearing usually points to poor kidney health, and vice-versa.
In sum, any treatment of hearing loss or deafness will both address general imbalances in the patient’s rlung humor, as well as any nerve degeneration in and around the fourteenth vertebra. Although the canon suggests moxibustion therapy for nervous stimulation surrounding the fourteenth vertebra, oil massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and similar modalities can be applied to achieve similar results.
