Acupuncture for Tinnitus

I've read a few articles from HK newspaper mentioned trigger point acupuncture has 90% efficiency on tinnitus
Here's the article in Chinese http://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20130418/00410_020.html

In the article also shows a woman in 30s who cannot sleep due to tinnitus and is now reduced and able to sleep 8 hours a day after received 5-6 times trigger point acupuncture.

 

Hey guys.
So I had my first appointment with the acupuncturist yesterday. He was very professional; besides teaching med students, he also runs our largest college of oriental medicine here. He first thumped around on my bod, felt pulse points, said I had very low energy and high stress (well, yeah). Also said some stuff about my body not properly recirculating my energy that I didn't quite catch.

Then: Inserted the needles at various points on my feet, lower legs and head, particularly around the ear area. Had to lie quietly in a semi-dark room then for 25 minutes, nothing to read or no TV to watch -- which taught me, if nothing else, that I really don't know how to relax. I left with an herbal blend I need to mix with water and drink twice daily.

Upshot: For the rest of my afternoon, my T was HIGHER than it was before and my anxiety up. Sigh. But it was the first session and I decided I will go back weekly for awhile. Doc did not suggest a specific number of sessions. A friend said the first round often opens up your system, so you feel a little worse, but it then gets better.

So Alxtan, how did it go with you?

 

Hi LadyDi,
Sorry to hear that your T got louder. My second session was on Monday. He stuck needles in both my ankles, top of my feet, wrists and one on each ring finger knuckle. My T was not higher nor was it lower. But I do feel relaxed. I don't think it's going to do anything for my T. I'm going back this Monday.

I'm actually getting quite over my Tinnitus. I would say I'm 90% habituated. The 10% is when it blindsides me in the morning and when I get negative thoughts, like this is going to be for the rest of my life or when I think I want absolute silence. Other than those two things I'm doing quite well. Last night I was not even thinking about the ringing and I could have sworn I had a moment of silence. But it was still there it just went into the background.

 

Hey Alxtan, glad you are habituating so quickly. I actually am doing a little better, too. It's the anxiety response that's so tough. I am now exploring the possibility that response was intensified for me because I had sone brain death from a prior aneurysm rupture.

Anyway, I dont think the acupuncture will do much good for me, either, but I will keep giving it a try for now. However, I stopped those herbs after a couple days. They made me feel really strange.

 

Just found this today and what do you think?

Background;
Tinnitus is a sensation of noise in the ear or head when no apparent source for the noise is evident. The exact etiology of tinnitus is not known so a lot of modalities for its treatment are tried. The aim of this study is to assess the combination of three different treatment modalities and to compare it to the use of single modality of treatment.

Methods;
The three modalities were acupuncture (2 sessions weekly for 5 weeks), Vinpocetine at a dose of 10mg three times /day for 90 days and intratympanic injection of dexamethazone once weekly for 5 weeks. This study included 150 patients, 60 patients with idiopathic tinnitus and 90 patients with variable degrees of SNHL. Results; 53.3% 0f patients with idiopathic tinnitus cured and 20%improved and 26.7% showed no improvement. 42.2% of patients with tinnitus and SNHL were cured, 20%, improved and 37.8% showed no improvement and these results still better than obtained by monotherapy.

Conclusions;
Triple therapy as a treatment of tinnitus gives better results than monotherapy, gives better results in patients with idiopathic tinnitus than in patients with SNHL and its effect was more pronounced with mild tinnitus.

 

I reckon intratympanic injection of dexamethazone will be the most potent among the 3 ingredients. My doctor told me about half of his tinnitus patients has some improvement after the injection. Cure rate in the test result seems extraordinary high for tinnitus though!

Did you try acupuncture and Vinpocetine together or separately?

 

I've just started a course of acupuncture - Im open minded about it but also feel I have to explore these things give it a go!! My first visit was to a practitioner in the next town she was very gentle and reassuring that it would help my insomnia and anxiety and improve my T - I found the experience relaxing and positive - Ive now signed up for a course with someone more local who again I felt very reassured with but he gave the needles a wiggle and although not painful I knew they were there and he did this for every needle - so I had to tell him that I could feel a sensation from each needle. Today I has a bruise on my left foot from one place the needle went in.

After the session I was fine but I slept rubbish last night or more rubbish than most nights and I have more buzzing in the head today - although initially after the session the high pitched 'tone' in my left ear was very faint - it was back loud last night with the buzzing - maybe a reaction to a 'heavier' session of acupuncture - does this sound familiar with others who have tried acupuncture ? @LadyDi I noticed you mentioned the T was initially worse does it sound like Im going through something similar Im prepared to give it a few more sessions what do you think ?

Cher x

 

Hey Cher, sorry it took me so long to check in. Really busy weekend, so never went on the board. Hope you and your family had a good one, too. Our weather here suddenly has turned beautiful, as it does when our "hot" season fades, so my husband and I took the opportunity to put in a new lawn.

So, acupuncture... Yes, I started awhile ago and still am doing it now. I actually am at an appointment right now. This will be my eighth session and yes, I believe it is helping. It is not a "constant" though. Some days , like this one and yesterday , my T remains annoying, But on Saturday, I suddenly had moments of such quiet, I had to really search for the sound. First time that happened to me.

I also should say I have had two different docs and the approach, and experience, was different. The first was a traditional Asian doctor, not an MD in the U.S but trained in China. Still, he consults with a local med school and is well regarded. I had three sessions with him, not enough to really tell what might be working. He needled me all over my body, and said he was working on my whole body wellness (which is how I understand oriental medicine works -- blocked energy flows are making us sick) but also paying attention to the tinnitus. I did indeed feel worse after the first session, which he said was normal. The second session, he did something called cupping which practically put me in a trance. Overall, my three sessions with him helped my anxiety but not so much my tinnitus -- although it was only three sessions. By the way, I also got a couple of bruises in those sessions which I was told was normal -- that those places, and the ones that hurt more, are where the inflammation and issues are greater. He also gave me herbs to take that made me queasy so I stopped them after a week.

I switched to a new doctor then because he was at the University of Miami, where started receiving the rest of my tinnitus treatment. Turns out he is not a traditional acupuncturist but an MD researcher an inner ear surgeon who is interested in acupuncture's benefits on his patients. His technique is totally different, as he told me it would be, as he concentrates solely on the tinnitus. As such, he needles only my ears and a few places on my scalp, hands and wrists. Sometimes he prods around until he find a place that really hurts, says "that's it" when I yelp, and in goes the needle.

He did the tinnitus handicap inventory (a standard test here in the US where they try to gauge how much your T is impacting your life) before I started the sessions an again after four sessions. Maybe I fudged a little on the follow up because I really wanted to stay in the program. But he said last week it appears I am improving and wants me to stick with it. We probably are talking a total of 12 sessions. I certainly still have annoying T days but do think I am slowly getting better. Maybe part of it is habituation and my therapy and meditation. But I am hanging in there with this and think it might be worth a try for you. If you don't notice ANY difference after four, five sessions with the same person, though, you might want to move on.

Hugs, my friend. Sorry for the long post.
LadyDi

 

Ty @LadyDi reassure as ever thank you I'm booked in next week for my next session and I'm also booked in for an assessment with a Chinese herbalist so will give that a go - I just feel if we are making positive decisions we can cope with the uncertainty of T and learn to live life with our new annoying attachments ! Love to all x

 

Agreed: I am open to anything that won't hurt me. Helps me feel like I have some control, and am doing SOMETHING to help myself.
But I will tell you that while many consider acupuncture promising, research remains very limited and very mixed. At least nobody seems to have a negative reaction to it, like some do to HBOT. The worst that happens is it doesn't do anything.

 

LPA! = Long Post Alert!

If any you read my story about the “Lama Doctor” in Bangkok a little while back, you may recall I gave warning about my inability to be a flitting Twitterati …That fact remains. If you like short posts, I suggest skipping off at high click when you see my “Triangle Rock” icon.

O.K., first, some background.

1. Remember this all started with Neenie asking for examples of the most crazy Tinnitus cures people had tried, which for me, evolved into “Semi-Wacky Treatments” as I didn’t even want to recall how many goofy, ridiculous ones I had tried…So Neenie, if you need some ‘distraction’ this one’s for you! I can assure you that this treatment method is 100% assured to avert your attention from tinnitus while, aaaahh…‘stainless steel penetration is being activated’ by the good gentleman in Bangkok.

2. Acupuncture is of course a remarkable and respected medical methodology. However, like all healing modalities I suspect, a tremendous amount lies in the hands and skill of the practitioner. Tinnitus seems like such a natural fit for acupuncture to my mind. They are both described in analogies to a kind of electrical energy, or ‘current’, with an effect on the nervous forces within the body. So of course, over the years I had tried acupuncture treatments a number of times here in the USA for my tinnitus. One even used procaine-lidocaine injections at relevant acupuncture points, but like before, to no avail. No practitioner achieved even the slightest change in my incessant ringing and I gave up on the method. Plus it was not cheap!

3. This story is from last few weeks of the trip I made to Thailand in 2007 in search of a miracle c/o a revered healer who could apparently “raise the dead”…and so on. (See my post a few weeks back on “Semi-wacky treatments for Tinnitus”).


OK…So the “Lama Doctor” was a bust. Despite the rhetoric of being able to send the Reaper scuttling away with a broken scythe (I never saw that myself, but his rock-star status implied some such feats must have occurred), his magic had no impact at all on me. I was left with my still wacky gut and my still screeching tinnitus-hyperacusis…In Bangkok…In Noise Nirvana. Not good! And the airlines had messed up the return flight, so we were stuck there for another few weeks. Fantastically bad news, but perhaps an opportunity to try something else to distract my torture and disappointment.

So one evening as I concluded another day of staring mindlessly at the wall, a few gears must have clicked in my head as a very obvious combination of simple thoughts came together.

“Hey, this is Asia!”

My wife (Thai) looked at me with some alarm, no doubt wondering if the Lama doctor’s awful concoction of liquids had addled my brain.

“Well…then this is where Acupuncture is for real right?” I pressed.

Obviously relieved that I wasn’t more goofy than usual she indeed implied it was common and practiced widely by the huge Chinese Thai community. Even many of the hospitals had sections devoted to it along with traditional Thai herbal medicine and massage. It was mainstream.

So seeing as tinnitus is as close to weirded out body electrical energy as anything, and acupuncture seems to deal in that deck, I decided that it would be worth trying again. At least it would help pass the time and I could stare at somebody else’s wall…or ceiling.

“Lets’ do it, at least it’s bound to be cheap compared to the States!”

Bracing myself for another stimulation assault in Bangkok’s traffic and streets, we set out for Viphavadi Hospital where rumour had it there was a great acupuncturist called ‘Ajhan’ Charat...Which was true.

It was also true that I now discovered why the Thai Massage areas seemed to be close by. Charat did not use needles, he used spears! They were HUGE compared to those used by the practitioners I had seen (unsuccessfully) over the years in the USA. You needed a massage afterwards to calm down from the sight of the darn things!

Working three times a week in an open style clinic on the top floor of the hospital, Charat was always late, but made up for it with a boundless, contagious enthusiasm and the speed he slammed needles (spears) into people as they arrived. One minute they were bowing with hands clasped in prayer mode, then in a flash, they were lying on clean, white sheeted cots with needles all over the place like human pin-cushions. The regulars I guessed. All Thai. I was the only “Farang” (Westerner) in there, so figured he must be the real deal if the locals revered him so much.

Finally, when he had all the other patients jabbed and stabbed he came over to me.

“Ummmmm…do you have to use those?” I asked, nervously eyeing the gleaming stainless steel ‘javelins’ as I lay covered in a flimsy blue gown that offered no protection from anything. If he stuck one near my ear it looked like it would go right into my brain before it even stabilized enough to not fall out.

He smiled widely obviously not understanding.

“Pressure? Acu-pressure maybe, instead of needles?” I asked with eyes glued to the spears of steel.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhh…No worry.” Grabbing a huge needle to show me in case I had not noticed them, he waved one around my face… “This much better!”

Grinning wolfishly to make up for his basic English he asked my wife to translate what the problem was. He sat next to me taking my wrist pulses nodding and murmuring as he listened. Then he frowned. Bad sign, as I hadn’t seen that expression yet.

“How long you have still in Bangkok ?” he asked.

“Uh, about two weeks.”

He shook his head vigorously… “Need much more time, you sick long time yes?!”

Yeah for sure, undiagnosed chronic something since 2004. The Tinnitus since childhood, plus more in 1980, then again in 2006 with the added hyperacusis.

“Too many things here”. He waved at my gut and ears, and about everywhere. A pretty decent summary of the state of the union. “So, we work little bit...all”. He clucked his tongue and looked disappointed. “All can do in two weeks. No time, but maybe help.”

“Sure go ahead ANYTHING to help, please.” I was desperate enough to even try those darn assegais in his needle box thing.

“Good, good…you come three times a week, OK”

Before I had time to answer he had about six spears in me and I was so shocked I just went “Unnngghhh” and gasped. He grinned even more.

“Pet noh?” (Hot yes?).

Understatement!!! Especially when he went for my ears….Wow, I was just “Unnnnghhing” along with no ability to reply. I felt like I was running through a hedge of thorn bushes. Then he was done. I was riddled with needles.

“You lie still. I back soon.”…Hey no worries man, I’m not flinching a muscle here! I was rigid. Well, until he came over a few minutes later with a new box and some matches! This did not look good. Not good at all!

“Still yes?!” he beamed. I think the only thing that moved were my eyes – getting bigger and bigger. He placed these round cube things on some of the needles (which I could barely see except for the forest over my gut and toes) then lit them with a flaming match. “Moxi” he said with delight.

“Uhhhhhhh….” was all I could get out before he was off again.

Needless to say the needles got HOT! Which was the idea. Adding a penetrating fuel to the energy fire-storm he was igniting in my body. It was pretty intense. In fact so much so that I forgot about my tinnitus for the first time in ages. I was also sweating profusely, and it was not just the heat of Bangkok!

Well…I could go on, but you get the gist of it. And indeed I did go over for a massage after a number of the sessions for some relief. It was all so ridiculously cheap it was laughable, and I dreaded going out into the smog and noise and traffic for the long taxi-ride home.

I managed to get in 5 sessions before the airlines called and said we had to take the next flight out or we may be stuck for ages. (It was festival time…well there’s always a festival over there, but this was a bigger one). So I had to end my acupuncture trial and call it quits. We had already been in Thailand 2 months and I was ready to get the hell out of there anyway. The roving loudspeaker salesmen, neighbourhood dogs, people’s TVs, trucks, motor-scooters, jets overhead…NOISE! EVERYWHERE! It was driving me nuts. Well, more nuts than I already was.

So with full earplugs in for the long trip back to the States I was relieved to leave behind what appeared to be an unsuccessful attempt to find an oriental cure for my ailments...However, that was not entirely true.

The “Lama Doctor” scored a zero on my scale (so that gets labeled: “Wacky Things I’ve Tried”)…and a “Yes, maybe something!” for the acupuncture. My tinnitus seemed as loud as ever once home, but somehow after a few weeks I realized (and my wife noticed) that indeed I had been less startled and afraid of sounds since returning. I did not shy away from the sink when cleaning pots. I could have my earplugs off more in town. So I think the acupuncture helped the hyperacusis at least, and maybe the tinnitus too.

Now to end off here. I have to say that I think Charat is probably one of the finest acupuncturists in the world. I just sense that, and I have seen a LOT of medical people of all stripes. Plus the more we heard about him, the more that was reinforced. He had a reputation in Bangkok which is thick with reputations, and was clearly very, very deeply, versed in his craft. His humility and humour was an added bonus. The prices for a world master – ridiculous. About US$12 a session including needles charges…The more needles the higher the price. Impressive. An honour actually to meet the man. And unknown to me then, I would do so again.

Enough! Even the non “Tweet Twits” will be gagging at the length of this…More another time as this story is not complete.

Take care….Zimichael

 

Not too long at all, an entertaining read.
Thanks.

 

Anyone have any luck with acupuncture? Thinking about giving it a try, nothing to lose at this point. If anything I'm hoping it'll at least help me relax a bit.

 

my ENT suggested this to me the other day. If it weren't so blasted expensive I'd probably give it a try but it's not a one and done deal with acupuncture. Maybe in the spring I'll give it a try when hubby's pay is a little more.

 

Hey there all...
So far, there is no definitive research that shows acupuncture works on tinnitus, but many believe it has promise.

This basically is an update on a post I did on this thread in October, which you will see if you scroll up, when I first started acupuncture. Sorry, some of the below repeats info from that post. Anyway...

I have been doing acupuncture since about August, which was two-three months from my tinnitus onset. I had about four-five sessions from a traditional Eastern medicine doctor (who came highly recommended and was very professional), then switched to a University of Miami inner ear surgeon who does tinnitus and acupuncture research as a sideline. I have had 18 sessions with him.

The two approaches were completely different. The traditional medicine doc did needles all over my body and also did a procedure called "cupping," which was so relaxing it almost put me in a trance. He was focused on my whole body wellness, of which tinnitus was part. The inner ear/researcher, by comparison, concentrated only on my tinnitus, as he told me in advance he would do. He needles only my ears and my hands, and sometimes my head.

My experience: I believe acupuncture initially somewhat relieved my tinnitus loudness -- but possibly because the procedure, from both doctors, did relax me and relieve my anxiety. It also may have just been the passage of time, though, or a placebo effect.

But after about 12-14 sessions at University of Miami, I felt I had plateaued. I mainly continue the treatments now, about one a month, to stay in touch with research doctor and keep up with any upcoming clinical trials at the university.

So should you try it? If you have the money, possibly yes, especially if you have anxiety. Acupuncture is relaxing, at least it was for me. Also, it can't hurt you. Just be realistic about what benefits you might gain, if any, and balance that against the price.

My sessions at U Miami are $88, out of pocket, no insurance coverage. The Chinese doctor was a little less, $70 per session. In the beginning, you usually go once a week, or twice if you can fit it in; the doctor will tell you how often. If you go with a traditional Eastern medicine doctor, find someone who is reputable, perhaps someone who works in concert with a western medicine ENT or university.

 

I was in Japan when I did 10 sessions of accupuncture.

In short: 300 hundred euros flushed down the toilet. It did not touch my tinnitus.

IMHO it is a lot of BS and mystical quackery.

The only thing that has worked for me is habituation. Good luck for others!

 

As someone who has a trained in traditonal chinese medicine (not as a job as a hobby) i would like to answer that quite easily.

There is a problem in that to change the body naturally takes months and months ,probably 6 months minimum and that is a lot of money. Who can risk that sort of money. Whereas in Chinese hospitals where traditional and western work side by side patients go 3 times a week or daily for weeks and weeks different ball game !! I have never seen T cured with that doesnt mean it cant happen I have not visited hospitalds in china but i have met and read about people whose tinnitus has gone through Chi kung but looking at 3 hours a day for maybe 2 years

As for not working would you say that about western medicine ? have a look in any hospital in the uk there are hundreds of thousands of people who have been going to the same department for years is the consultant and his team full of hogwash? Up for discussion i reckon

 

Alxtan, so glad to hear you are habituating!!! I am in a similar spot in my journey with T. Probably 75-80% habituated. Life is much, much better now!! I too have those low moments, strangely enough usually in the morning as well. But all in all, getting on with my life.

Regarding acupuncture, I did a once a week three month run ($$$ ouch) with no affect on my T at all, although it was a relaxing hour and a half each week to just chill!! I have heard it works for some people. Unfortunately not me. Just sharing.

I hope it works for you!!

Peace

 

Hi Tara,

I did a once a week three month run about 4 months into the onset of my T. Unfortunately for me, it did not have any affect on my T. Although it was a relaxing hour and a half each week! But expensive ($85 a week, not covered by insurance). In hindsight, I'd probably rather have gotten a good massage instead!!

I hope you find some relief soon!!

 

Hi there,

I have a new Tinnitus with some Hyperacusis in both ears since about 2 weeks.
Left: a very high pitched (8-10khz),
Right: more low pitched sounds like a tone of the fridge.

In the first 2 weeks I tried following medications without any relief:

-Oral Cortison
-Betaserc (Bethastin)

-Temesta (Benzodiazepin)

-Ginko (Tebonin)
-Vitamin B12
-N-AtcetylCysteine
-Magnesium

-drink a lot of water
-every evening a relaxing bath
-Thai Massage

Tomorrow I have my first session accupunctur in a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medical Center)
I will report my hopefully positive experience.

Greets Tom

 

Hi all,

today I have been to my first Acupunture Treatment in the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medical Center)
It's arround 2 hours after finishing the treatment and I feel more relaxed than before. I must say, there
is really something happening with the body.

For the tinnitus itself, I was there for 1 hour, and while the treatment I really could defocus the noise in the
ear for a while. Now it feels like little damped, a little more in the background. But there is some more
pressure in the left ear now.

I have to sleep one night to probably feel the effect.

Greets Tom

 

@tomytl How did you get your T? Let us know if acupuncture worked for you, I could also think about it but I'm not sure if it would help T that has come from loud noise... Although my T changes if I stretch my neck so if acupuncture helps to relax muscles then it could be worth trying...

 

Hi Katriina,
I got my T years after sudden gearing loss.
In the left ear 8khz is missing and some hearing loss in 1-3 khz.
T developed later, because I always protect my ears, because of a hyperacusis I developed after sudden hearingloss.
That's maybe the problem, that I have sensitive hearing now, because T came from some "louder" but not hazardous loud evironment. Example: a restaurant full of people, some breaksounds from bus....etc.
So I developed T with high hissing sound on left, and some lower frequencies in the right ear.

Acupunture update:
I'm still very tiered from the treatment, feel very relaxed. The hissing Tinnitus 8kHz ist still there, but
more out of focus, maybe because more overall relax. Generally I feel better.
I have the next session next Monday, I will update again.

As Acupunture for Tinnitus-Treatment, I think it's difficult to say for now, but I can say,
that this medicine really do something with your body, you can really feel it.
After Treatment, I had a "good pain feeling" in my left leg and in my head.

I give you more updates soon

 

Hi Paul, I will give Zak Acupuncture a try once I am relocate back to London. Thanks for sharing. Just curious, what was the reason for your t onset? I am a singer also. Have also had to cut back for a while. I got t 4 months ago from lidocaine anesthetic up my nose in an outpatient procedure. Thanks, Paul.

 

Hi All,

I am back from my 2. Acupuncture session. I must say, this stuff is really relaxing.
While I was laying there, I slept waked up and first didn't concentrte on the T,
I was conentration what's going up in my body. All the left side up there was a slight
pain, from leg to head... and left side there is also my more problematic ear.
I still don't say, it directly cures or silences T, but after this, I walk out more relaxed.

Thursday is my next treatment, I let you know...

All the best
tomytl

 

Wow, I have the EXACT same sounds! I also tried acupuncture a couple of times but it didn't really work for me. My physiotherapist then needled some trigger points in my neck, shoulders and face and THAT HURT LIKE HELL! Acupuncture didn't hurt at all.

 

http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupunctur...-moxibustion-effective-for-tinnitus-new-study

 

Thank you for sharing... I will show this to my TCM Doc tomorrow.
Greets tomytl