That ringing or buzzing in your ears that never quite switches off. The fullness, the broken sleep, and the appointment that ends with “there is not much we can do.” Ayurveda sees it differently, and it has done so for thousands of years.
In this episode, Dylan Smith sits down with Vaidya Matheus Macedo, the first Brazilian to earn a BAMS (a full university medical degree in Ayurveda) and a teacher of Ayurveda in Japan, for an honest conversation that begins at the ears and travels a long way beyond them: tinnitus and hearing, nasal therapy and head cleansing, the real dangers of careless detox, and how our relationship with death is woven into the health of the body.
Matheus Macêdo, is the first Brazilian to graduate with a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) in India. He is a vaidya (Ayurvedic physician), teacher, and international speaker. He is affiliated with the Ayurveda Academy in Bangalore and completed clinical residencies at Vaidyagrama Hospital in Coimbatore, as well as at various clinics in India and the USA. Today, he lives in India and is pursuing a master’s degree in Ayurveda along with a clinical residency in Shalakya Tantra at ITRA (Institute for Teaching and Research in Ayurveda).
If you are looking for natural tinnitus relief, this is the heart of the conversation. Matheus is candid that conventional therapies for tinnitus are limited. In Ayurveda, tinnitus and many forms of ringing in the ears are understood as disorders of aggravated Vata (the body’s subtle energy of movement) in the head, and are closely linked with hearing loss. With careful Ayurvedic management, including internal medicine and nasal therapy, he finds that many people experience real relief over the course of a month or two. The aim is not to force the symptom away but to settle the underlying Vata that drives it.
Shalakya Tantra is the classical branch of Ayurveda devoted to conditions above the collarbones: the ears, nose, throat, eyes, head and teeth, the Ayurvedic counterpart to ENT, ophthalmology and dentistry combined. It is one of the least known yet most practical areas of the medicine, holding a real depth of treatment for hearing, sinus and head complaints that modern care often struggles with.
Nasya is the practice of administering medicated oils and herbs through the nose, long used to clear and nourish the head and senses. Matheus explains the gentle daily form, nasya pratimarsha (one to two drops in each nostril), the stronger therapeutic form, marsha nasya (six to fourteen drops), and shiro virechana (head purification). He is clear that nasya is powerful and not for everyone, and walks through the key contraindications so you know when to leave it alone.
Karna poorna, the filling of the ears with warm medicated oil, is a deeply soothing practice for the ears and the nervous system. Matheus offers an important caution: it is not always appropriate, especially where there is infection or certain ear conditions, and he explains how to approach it safely rather than as a blanket home remedy.
This is a warning worth hearing before your next cleanse. Purification therapies, known as shodana, are powerful, but they stir Vata, and done carelessly they can leave you worse off. Matheus contrasts shodana (purification) with shamana (the gentler pacifying of the doshas), names the red flags to watch for in panchakarma clinics and Ayurveda spas, and explains why intense practices such as ayahuasca and hapé can aggravate Vata a great deal. As he puts it, the sun gives life, but get too close and it can burn you.
Underneath the clinical material runs a deeper thread. The Sanskrit word for the body, sharira, means “that which decays,” so our health is bound up with our relationship to impermanence and death. Matheus shares wisdom on meeting the body’s mortality, a simple practice to do before sleep to loosen the fear of death, and why the final moments of life carry such significance. It reframes what “perfect health” actually means.
Matheus reflects on what it is like to study Ayurveda formally at university in India, and how that compares with traditional transmission through family knowledge and initiation. He speaks to adapting Ayurveda to your own country, climate and circumstances, a principle known as desha kala patra (place, time and individual constitution), and to the growth of Ayurveda in Brazil and beyond.
Please leave me a comment below (I love to read every single one).
Special thanks to Rudolf Steiner and Jiddu Krishnamurti for providing content.
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*This information and these statements have not been evaluated by the Therapeutic Goods Association or the Food and Drug Administration. This information and these products are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease.
Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dylan Smith. This information is in no way to be construed as a substitute for consultation with a licensed health professional. It is not intended as medical advice. They are intended as sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dylan Smith and his community. Dylan Smith encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.
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