In this article, we will discuss acupuncture for chronic tinnitus.
Do you have tinnitus?
What to do for tinnitus? What does that mean?
When I went to a specialist when I was suffering from tinnitus, all I was told was that it was "stress" and that I should try to get rid of it, which was disappointing and made me rethink my life.
I guess there are not many ways to deal with tinnitus. But the study I'm going to introduce says that acupuncture can solve the problem.
The study
This study investigated the efficacy, onset, duration of action, and short-term outcomes of acupuncture to treat patients with severe chronic subjective tinnitus.
Patients with chronic, idiopathic, and severe tinnitus were evaluated by this randomized controlled trial.
A total of 105 participants were divided into two groups using a randomized method
The group that received verum acupuncture (n = 53)
A group that received sham acupuncture (n = 52)
Ten acupuncture treatments were given over a five-week period.
After treatment, each participant was monitored for up to 3 months according to changes in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), and Pure Tone Audiometry and Speech Discrimination (Interacoustics AC-40, Denmark) scores.
As a result, VAS and THI scores were assessed and a statistically significant difference was found between the sham and verruca acupuncture groups at post-treatment follow-up. (P <0.001)
Decreases in THI and VAS scores were significant at the second week of treatment, but these scores increased again at the third month after treatment.
In conclusion, acupuncture can be considered an effective treatment for patients with severe chronic subjective tinnitus, although in some cases, symptom reduction was seen from the second week of intervention and recurrence occurred at the third month after treatment.
In other words, tinnitus patients may need a maintained acupuncture regimen.
Kuzucu I, Karaca O. Acupuncture Treatment in Patients with Chronic Subjective Tinnitus: A Prospective, Randomized Study. Med Acupunct. 2020;32(1):24 -28. doi:10.1089/acu.2019.1367
Summary.
The results of the study suggested that chronic, subjective symptoms of tinnitus could be reduced by acupuncture.
However, although short-term interventions can be considered effective, there is a point that acupuncture must be continued because it may recur if the intervention is stopped.
If you want to give it a try, you should consider it! How about considering it?
I`m not an acupuncturist, so I`m not sure.
