Acupuncture Treatment for Tinnitus 'Ringing in the Ears'

[Mr. Scott]

Article in Science Daily "'Ringing In The Ears' May Be Caused By Overactive Nerves; Acupuncture May Help, Study Suggests":

Touch-sensing nerve cells step up their activity in the brain after hearing cells are damaged, a study by U-M Kresge Hearing Research Institute scientists shows. Hyperactivity of these touch-sensing neurons likely plays an important role in tinnitus, often called "ringing in the ears."

The research findings were made in animals, but they suggest that available treatments such as acupuncture, if used to target nerves in the head and neck, may provide relief for some people plagued by tinnitus

This makes some sense since the ears clearly evolved from fish gills and this connection between touch and hearing is most likely a manifestation of the mess of a nervous system we have on account of it being jury-rigged by evolution rather than intelligently designed.

The subject is also interesting to me since I have tinnitus, probably from a lifetime of listening to loud music. I can't hear the high squeal of TV sets or kids' secret cell phone rings. However, that precise sound is in my head 24/7, but doesn't annoy me. Since reading the article though, I've been poking around my face to see if the ringing goes away or changes (LOL).

 

[D2011]

I have had probably 9 accupuncture treatments for tinnitus before with no change what so ever.

I remember when it first kicked in I was desperate for relief & tried many different remedies & accupuncture was one. The accupuncturist was positive he could get rid of it, but after 9 treatments & a few hundred spent I gave up. Who knows, the cure may have lay 2 treatments away, but I kind of got the feeling he was happy for the cure to be just that one more treatment away.

Ive got the sort that you mentioned above. Most T'V's i watch I hear a high pitched whistle emitting coming from them, so consequently dont watch much t.v. A cure one day would be fantastic.

 

[Dr. Imago]

Difficult to prove without blinded, placebo-controlled (sham) study. Difficult to conduct a sham trial with acupuncture.

-Dr. Imago

 

[Mr. Scott]

I have had probably 9 accupuncture treatments for tinnitus before with no change what so ever.

I'd have grave doubts about traditional acupuncture because of it's basis in that nitwit qi theory.

 

[hecaterin]

Difficult to prove without blinded, placebo-controlled (sham) study. Difficult to conduct a sham trial with acupuncture.

They do, though, of several kinds. There's actual acupuncture at non-chi points, and fake acupuncture with some sort of blunt spring-loaded needle that gives the recipient a short sharp prod that I'm told seems like the real thing.

 

[Denver]

I have had probably 9 accupuncture treatments for tinnitus before with no change what so ever.

I remember when it first kicked in I was desperate for relief & tried many different remedies & accupuncture was one. The accupuncturist was positive he could get rid of it, but after 9 treatments & a few hundred spent I gave up. Who knows, the cure may have lay 2 treatments away, but I kind of got the feeling he was happy for the cure to be just that one more treatment away.

Ive got the sort that you mentioned above. Most T'V's i watch I hear a high pitched whistle emitting coming from them, so consequently dont watch much t.v. A cure one day would be fantastic.

My tinnitus has been around 3-4 years now, and began with a sort of middle c square wave, punctuated with a more broken note a little higher. Over time, it has added something that almost sounds like a pulse, but not quite in time with my heartbeat, and a hissing sound, which seems to slowly be evolving into a higher pitch. Fortunately, none of these are noticeable during the day or when there are other sounds. It is really only in the very quiet that I hear them (like, when trying to sleep).

After I wasn't getting anywhere with other doctors and audiologists (and after the MRI and MRA and other tests), I figured I would try acupuncture, and went with a lady who has her own practice, and is also the academic dean at Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I believe I tried over 20 sessions, along with some herbals. No change whatsoever.

 

[blutoski]

They do, though, of several kinds.

Tragically, it's irrelevant to wooboosters, who will manufacture lame excuses for rejecting otherwise excellent protocols.

There's actual acupuncture at non-chi points

Critics of this type of control say that the needles work by placebo effect or by stimulating endorphins through the process of puncture, and that while this may shed doubt on meridian theory, it does not disprove 'acupuncture' as a viable treatment.

and fake acupuncture with some sort of blunt spring-loaded needle that gives the recipient a short sharp prod that I'm told seems like the real thing.

Critics of this type of control suggest that if there is no difference between the acupuncture group and the placebo group, that the placebo action of prodding on meridians has a similar mechanism, thus validating both the concept of meridians and the modality of placebo and/or acupressure as a treatment for the condition in question.



I'm not trying to be critical of your comment about the blinding of acupuncture - just realistic about whether there's any point in thinking sCAMmers will give a crap.

 

[BillyJoe]

There's actual acupuncture at non-chi points

Critics of this type of control say that the needles work by placebo effect or by stimulating endorphins through the process of puncture, and that while this may shed doubt on meridian theory, it does not disprove 'acupuncture' as a viable treatment.

So just stick the needles in anywhere you like and you're still using acupuncture???

...and fake acupuncture with some sort of blunt spring-loaded needle that gives the recipient a short sharp prod that I'm told seems like the real thing.

Critics of this type of control suggest that if there is no difference between the acupuncture group and the placebo group, that the placebo action of prodding on meridians has a similar mechanism, thus validating both the concept of meridians and the modality of placebo and/or acupressure as a treatment for the condition in question.

But, at the very least, it invalidates the sticking in of needles.

I'm not trying to be critical of your comment about the blinding of acupuncture - just realistic about whether there's any point in thinking sCAMmers will give a crap.

There's the not totally committed and pushing back the tide of increasing number of people being convinced by the invalid conclusions of fatally flawed clinical trials.

You can point out that:
- You can poke the needles in anywhere you like.
- You don't actually have to poke them in.

What is left of acupuncture now?

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

So just stick the needles in anywhere you like and you're still using acupuncture???


But, at the very least, it invalidates the sticking in of needles.


There's the not totally committed and pushing back the tide of increasing number of people being convinced by the invalid conclusions of fatally flawed clinical trials.

You can point out that:
- You can poke the needles in anywhere you like.
- You don't actually have to poke them in.

What is left of acupuncture now?

"What is left of acupuncture now?" Why, the belief in acupuncture. Tops all rationality.

 

[KeyserSoze]

I am skeptical that the acupuncture treatment is actually doing anything physical at all. From my own experience with Tinnitus, I found that the best treatment is just how you go about handling it in your mind. And from what I know about acupuncture, being a skeptic, I know that it's effects are likely all in the mind. If the acupuncture treatment really is getting good results though, I have a theory about how it does work.

My Tinnitus really bothered me a lot at first when it appeared a couple of years ago, and the pitch has not gotten any weaker since then. Now though, I can honestly say that I wouldn't even bother paying for the treatment to physically get rid of it. I don't even notice it anymore unless somebody specifically brings up the topic of ears ringing (I can hear it right now), but it doesn't bother me one bit.

I treated myself with a technique called 'Tinnitus Retraining Therapy'. The effectiveness of the treatment comes down to your own mental ability to deal with the ringing without letting it bother you. If you can train yourself to not let the noise bother you anymore, eventually your mind will just filter out the noise as it is no longer significant - just as you would with the sound of a rain storm or a busy highway. The process involves a lot of relaxation techniques. You must relax yourself and force yourself to become familiar with the noise while being in a state of relaxation. Eventually this will help lower the anxiety and negative feelings toward the noise, which is the key to being able to filter (ignore) it.

So, if you can find something to help you relax, then it will help you treat the Tinnitus. So, if acupuncture helps you relax, it could provide positive results as a treatment. Does this disprove the theory of "nerve targeting" as the cause of relief? No, but it does provide a likely alternative explanation.

 

[Rolfe]

If you accept the Jastreboff model of tinnitus, and frankly nothing else actually explains the observed features of the condition, then all this talk about damage to hearing cells and tinnitus is just so much misunderstood nonsense.

Once you know that the important parts of tinnitus and hyperacusis distress are NOT due to damage that can't be fixed, then you can figure out treatments that will work. In London we started to apply the Jastreboff model as early as 1988, and were the first to use TRT. After 20 years of tinnitus research using every tool know to medicine and surgery, we suddenly got results - that lasted.

A big part of the problem seems to be the amount of fear the very idea of tinnitus often raises in people - particularly people who have been exposed to well-meaning fund-raising efforts for hearing-loss charities. Since persistence of tinnitus appears to be related to the brain attaching a "threat" label to the sound, this is the worst possible way to approach it.

Interference by alternative providers who reinforce this fear, but promise "cure", is perhaps the worst thing that can happen. The threat/aversion reaction is not dampened, but the patient is encouraged to keep listening for the feared sound, in the hope that it is going away. It can be very difficult to train yourself not to react to and not to listen to a sound the brain has firmly pegged as "threat". Acupuncture doesn't sound as if it's even starting from the right premise.

Rolfe.

PS. This is pretty much what KeyserSoze said - I hadn't read to the end before posting. TRT is the treatment which grew out of understanding the Jastreboff model.

 

[ddt]

If you accept the Jastreboff model of tinnitus, and frankly nothing else actually explains the observed features of the condition, then all this talk about damage to hearing cells and tinnitus is just so much misunderstood nonsense.

That depends. Tinnitus is essentially just a description of a symptom which can have many different causes. The OP mentions he has acquired hearing loss in the high frequencies and subsequently developed a tinnitus. In such a case, I can very well imagine the obvious damage to the inner ear also to be the cause of his tinnitus. The same with Meniere - which is a combination of equilibrium problems, tinnitus and hearing loss - and for which the cause is hypothesized to be in an imbalance problem between the various fluids of the inner ear, IIRC. Some cases of tinnitus can objectively be measured and have physiological causes like a malfunctioning tube of Eustachius.

 

[Rolfe]

Mmm, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the occurrence of tinnitus following some hearing loss, within the Jastreboff model. When external sounds cannot be heard or are difficult to hear, the brain searches for sound and starts to "hear" patterns in the auditory pathways in the brain. So yes, you can say that the hearing loss has caused the tinnitus, but not in the sense that the damaged nerves are in some way firing off signals.

All the hypotheses involving direct cause due to damaged inner ear cells have to factor in the experience of hearing as a pattern recognition process, not simply one auditory nerve impulse equalling one sound. Also the fact that any audiogram can be associated with either tinnitus or no tinnitus, in different people. Hearing loss will obviously alter the patterns in the auditory pathways and may therefore make tinnitus more likely as the brain picks up on a pattern that is different from what was there before. But that's not the same as damage to the hearing cells causing tinnitus.

I except of course the cases where a "tinnitus" does indeed turn out to have an objective cause.

Rolfe.

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

I have had tinnitus for years, but never thought of the sound as dangerous, just loud when no other noise is present to drown it out.

 

[ddt]

Mmm, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the occurrence of tinnitus following some hearing loss, within the Jastreboff model. When external sounds cannot be heard or are difficult to hear, the brain searches for sound and starts to "hear" patterns in the auditory pathways in the brain. So yes, you can say that the hearing loss has caused the tinnitus, but not in the sense that the damaged nerves are in some way firing off signals.

Thanks for the reply. You convinced me.

I except of course the cases where a "tinnitus" does indeed turn out to have an objective cause.

And those are, AFAIK, a small minority.

 

[AnneVanderlaan]

It works! Tinnitus and using acupuncture!

The story go like this. I was living in Holland and had an earache. I went to the doctor and was giving ear drops. It kept getting worse and worse. Finally, I pleaded with him to give me antibiotics after 6 weeks. I had to fly to the states for my doctoral program and could only imagine being in an airplane with a ear infection. The ringing in my right ear was so loud that I thought I would lose it.
Around the six day I was walking by an acupuncture office and went in and the person told me her office was closed but I could make an appointment. I told her my fate and she took me into her office and began the treatment. When I left her office the ringing was about 1/2 as loud.
That was a few months ago and decided to go once again because I moved back to the U.S. and had major stress. I found a place that was on a sliding fee scale from $10 to $40 depending on what one earns. Not only did it make my back pain go away as well as unstressed me. The ringing is now faint after 3 visits. I am so amazed! I will be going back again for another treatment and am happy with the results. After all my research and speaking with others with the same problem and finding out that there are not much in the way of cures.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

The story go like this. I was living in Holland and had an earache. I went to the doctor and was giving ear drops. It kept getting worse and worse. Finally, I pleaded with him to give me antibiotics after 6 weeks. I had to fly to the states for my doctoral program and could only imagine being in an airplane with a ear infection. The ringing in my right ear was so loud that I thought I would lose it.
Around the six day I was walking by an acupuncture office and went in and the person told me her office was closed but I could make an appointment. I told her my fate and she took me into her office and began the treatment. When I left her office the ringing was about 1/2 as loud.
That was a few months ago and decided to go once again because I moved back to the U.S. and had major stress. I found a place that was on a sliding fee scale from $10 to $40 depending on what one earns. Not only did it make my back pain go away as well as unstressed me. The ringing is now faint after 3 visits. I am so amazed! I will be going back again for another treatment and am happy with the results. After all my research and speaking with others with the same problem and finding out that there are not much in the way of cures.

Nice anecdote. Glad you're feeling better. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Rolfe]

It's a difficult balance. It's all very subjective. Anything that calms a tinnitus patient down and unstresses them makes it better. But on the other hand if you give the patient a particular treatment of any sort that they think is going to have an objective effect on the "noise" it may cause them to ramp up the obsessive listening for it and monitoring of it which is really causing the problem in the first place.

So you may get a positive placebo effect by letting the patient believe he is being helped, but on the other hand it may be counter-productive if it causes more obsessive listening. Trials tend to show about 50% of patients getting better with active "treatments" (all of which seem to be placebo), and 50% getting worse. It all depends, apparently, on how the patient reacts.

Rolfe.

 

[JJM]

There is a show on National Public Radio on which one of the hosts had a story about tinnitus. Many years ago he had it for a while, and it started to interfere with his sleep. So he went to a neurologist who did some tests and recommended waiting a little longer to see if it would go away.

Our hero asked the doctor what may be the cause, and the doctor shrugged and casually said "It could be a brain tumor." While driving home, the guy realized the tinnitus was gone, and it never recurred.

I find the story both amusing and instructive. It was a non-treatment treatment that worked. It could explain the grand claims of "immediate relief" from bogus treatments.

 

[andyandy]

I used to suffer from pretty severe tinnitus - what helped more than anything was a form of TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy...) - where you basically have to learn to pay less attention to it. It was a mixture of stress reduction techniques and bio-feedback (eg noting that increased blood flow after exercise or stress seemed to make it worse, so then acting to reduce this....) that worked for me.

I think there's a significant negative cycle going on - you have pain/discomfort - so you pay more attention to it, and then notice it more, then get stressed/depressed about it, then start fearing things that might trigger it, which causes more stress etc etc etc.....

That's not to say i'm "cured" - my ears are still a bit screwed (too many hours playing in a band) - but there's no longer any ringing/pain - unless i do anything stupid like stand in front of a PA.....