Acupuncture for Tinnitus

I'm starting this treatment on Wed. 12/21/16. I will report later for those interested.

 

Just a warning/update to save someone some heartache. Before beginning the specific protocol listed in the article I had been doing acupuncture utilizing different points with some positive result (lowering of volume and tone). Unfortunately, upon implementing the electroacupunture (and points) of said article my volume and tone increased in the opposite ear of treated side. Before doing the electroacupunture the T in my right ear was only noticeable at bedtime or in a dead quiet room. Now, I can hear it all the time. The volume increased as soon as the electricity hit my body. I would guess exciting and already excited area (noise induced) was probably not the best move. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel like it's going to calm down anytime soon.

Totally sux; I hope I can save someone pain and misery through my misfortune. I would advise not to take the chance and simply go with the points.......forget the electrodes.

 

I did a couple of acupuncture sessions with zero result. I decided to stop throwing away good money after bad. The TCM person I saw stated he would never use electrodes around the ear as I asked him about this form of therapy.

How many sessions did it take to notice some lowering of volume? Did the new volume stick or eventually revert to the previous level?

 

The progress I made was in my left ear which is the most effected. I have had about 15-20 sessions. The guy I see is very reasonable in price making it a "no brainer" to at least try. He bills on a sliding scale but never charges over $40 with most people paying $20/session. I know for some people he only charges $10-15 due to hardship. Yes, he is licensed. Anyway. My left ear started out (May 16) at a 6-9 out of 10, single tone and after a month lessened to a 2-3 ambient hiss. After listening to a binaural beat video my one tone became two (pulsating tea kettle over jet engine) driving me insane and wanting to find said publisher of video and, well.... HA!. At this point I started acupuncture. About the 5th treatment, 15 min in it was was like someone turned a volume knob down on the pulsating tone, truly amazing in a sense (July/Aug. 16). Ever sense the tone and volume have slowly decreased. When at its worst I was "not" able to mask it, but now there are days where shower spray and a room full of people talking are effective. My T continues to change from day to day (short periods). I still don't know if this is bad or not. I can wake in the morning with it at a whisper, walk to the kitchen and it's a roaring cicada (defined tone) then back down to a tolerable hiss with he longest duration an hr.. As far a the session where the volume was turned down, I know for certain no aspect of it was related to habituation. Did your guy say that electrodes would irritate or cause damage? I'm really hoping for irritation vs. damage (to the ear). After this experience I really do agree with others that his stuff becomes a brain issue opposed to the ear. If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

Thanks for describing your experience. He didn't really explain why he doesn't use electrodes around the ear but just said its not a good idea. He charges $65 every time for 1/2 hour of treatment. With zero effect after 2 sessions, I lost confidence and discontinued. My T is tonal/hissing. He did explain that it may take 10 sessions but I'm a firm believer in that if something will work, there will be *some* effect almost immediately. If not, chances are it's a waste of time and money.

 

@StubbyJ sorry to hear about your misfortune with the electrodes. I can understand the desire to try anything in the hope that it will make a difference. I have to wear ear plugs at work, and around the end of the summer, i suspect it caused impacted wax in my left ear. After having them cleaned at my GP by a nurse, my right ear was giving me problems again. I went for acupuncture 2 times, and the 2nd time I noticed a difference. It was only temporary, but it seemed to help mitigate my stress and anxiety too, which I think was contributing a lot to my T. Mine is tonal/hissing in my right ear. I used to have chirping as an acute symptom from sudden acoustic trauma at a club one night, but I was fortunate that it went away on its own after a few months. I only wish I had found this forum before I got my ears cleaned. I've learned a lot on here about do's and don'ts with ear cleaning and other treatments. I was in a really good place before that nurse messed up my right ear again. Anyway, don't give up, and hopefully the acupuncture can still work. I want to go back, but the woman I see charges $75 and she's not in my insurance network, so I may have to look around. I think my co-pay for in network is $40 though, so I hope to try it again soon.

@BBApple don't give up man, I would try it again, or if you have insurance, talk to them and see if they'll reimburse you or if you can find an acupuncturist in your network. I didn't notice a lot from 2 sessions, but I noticed a big drop in my stress level for a couple days. I've also heard that a over-stressed nervous system can cause T to spike or be a root cause, and acupuncture can definitely mitigate that. Hang in there, and hopefully we can all find something that works.

 

I have no insurance and pay out of pocket. I did notice a temporary drop in my anxiety level but anxiety does not affect my T so hence, there was no change in T. I never believed that acupuncture would do anything but thought I'd give it a try in a moment of desperation. Habituation is setting in so rational thought is returning. Does anyone REALLY believe that poking someone with needles is going to heal hair cells and/or the auditory nerve? No way.

 

Does anyone have any information about this treatment?

Acupuncture new method of Tinnitus treatment

Prof Dr Sir Anton Jayasuriya Method of Acupuncture Prof Dr Sir Prakash Verekar Goa & Nasik. Tinnitus is the hearing of sound when no external sound is present. While often described as a ringing, it may also sound like a clicking, hiss or roaring. The sound may be soft or loud, low pitched or high pitched and appear to be coming from one ear or both. Most of the time, it comes on gradually. In some people, the sound causes depression, anxiety or interferes with concentration.

 

I don't know why my question has been moved to this thread. It has nothing to do with it.

 

Did it work ? Not clear from the video.
Also, warning. i raised the volume to hear what they were saying and then there is this loud beep sound?

 

I have no Idea what they are saying in the video, but in the comments are some gratefulness being shown, and he also claims his method to be most definitive, also that any acupuncturist with his needles can do it.

So yeah, besides your conspiracy theory, I'm fjcking curious

 

What conspiracy theory ? I dont understand ?

 

So I live in Canada, and was looking at giving acupuncture a try, since upping my magnesium and vitamin b12 intake and cutting out caffeine/booze didn't really do much to change my T.

I found an acupuncturist who specifically listed tinnitus as something she treats. Thankfully, I have work benefits that cover a portion of acupuncture treatments, and figured at this point, I'll try anything.

I contacted her and explained the issue, and she seemed confident she can either completely get rid of the T or silence it to a barely discernible level.

Went in for my first treatment last Friday, and though I really felt great and at peace at the end of the treatment (perfect for anxiety), T didn't change much if at all. However, she gave me a timeline of 7 treatments, once per week, and I have to drink plenty of (disgusting tasting) chinese herb teas in the meantime.

I'll update her at the end of the the 7 weeks to advise if my T changed at all. Could be all bull, but who knows. Optimistic and cautious at the same time.

 

The guy I saw for acupuncture gave me the same song and dance. Was very optimistic, said most people notice improvement or even full resolution of symptoms, takes 10-12 sessions, yada, yada. After 2 sessions, zero effect. Reduced anxiety for about 30 minutes and then back to square one.

Couldn't justify throwing any more money away so abandoned the therapy. I think they all tell you what you want to hear.

 

@BBApple, I'm just wondering, did you stop the sessions, purely because of the monetary situation, or because only after 2 sessions there was no significant improvement?

Mine told me it would take 6 to see some kind of improvement. It's probably still all bull but I figure since I'm going crazy not doing anything else (the doctors around here don't care either), I might as well try to achieve a placebo effect haha.

I have my second session tomorrow, we'll see where it goes from there.

Ronald

 

Please do share your results.

 

Hi all! I've been e-mailing some local acupuncturists about their experience with treating T. I've received some replies and I'm not sure who to go with. Who would you decide?

PS: I've read the pros and cons of acupuncture in all the threads so I'm not looking to start a debate on the treatment :-/

1 (who is a Chinese TCM medicine practitioner and offers various TCM treatments) has responded;
"yes, TCM can help your condition.please telephone to book an appointment for treatment."

2 (group practice, masseuse and acupuncturist) has responded;
"Hi. We've treated a lot of tinnitus sufferers; some have had great results but the process is slow and some have unfortunately not benefited greatly. It varies depending on severity, cause and the length of time you have had the condition. I can offer a free consultation to hopefully help"

3 (local person, long-term acupuncturist also writes a health column in a local magazine) has responded;

"Acupuncture can help, but tinnitus can be a difficult condition and in my experience I have treated people who have gained complete relief, others a lessening of symptoms, and some unfortunately not a great deal. It depends on type and circumstance. I also supplements this with relaxation technics and dietary advice."

Since I can't figure out who to go with and feel a bit bogged down with all this, I'll just go with your advise. It's not let me down thus far. Who should I go with?

All the best!

 

@Paul10 they all sound like reasonable options, but I've been told that if you're going to get acupuncture always go for someone who practices Chinese TCM. I like 3's answer though... very honest.

 

If your acupuncturist quickly glances at his trigger point poster on his wall and utters the words " the ears are connected to the kidneys" he has no clue and you should leave ,apart from the fact that acupuncture does nothing , even though you go to a legit looking old chinese dude.

 

It wasn't really the money as I would pay 100X the cost if I thought it would help. I stopped due to a combination of no effect whatsoever after 2 sessions and a realization that sticking needles in the body is not going to help chronic tinnitus. Btw, I am in Canada as well.

And @RaZaH, yes he did say how important the kidneys are in TCM and according to the Chinese, they are the root of many ailments. The whole thing just didn't ring true (no pun intended).

Maybe acupuncture could help some cases of stress-induced T (if there is such a thing) but certainly not what most of us have.

 

No shit , they all say this , none of them have a clue.
Actually one of the acupuncturists I went to was such a quack that I found a needle in my head after one of his sessions , just driving home and thought I felt something on my head , turns out he forgot one .

 

Lol. I had a fear of this happening as well so I checked my body thoroughly after he finished. At least he didn't leave any needles.

 

I've been doing acupuncture again - looks like my current insurance covers it. I've also been doing self-acupuncture for specific muscles around my jaw (really 'dry needling', and not acupuncture in that case). I think that's a little nutty and don't encourage it, but have been enjoying it.

 

Hi

Is there anyone tried this :?
There is a new paper I received today
http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupunctur...1728-acupuncture-found-effective-for-tinnitus

 

Have done two sessions of acupuncture so far but haven't noticed any improvements yet. Also have high blood pressure and insomnia and stress so I'd be happy even if I could get some relief from that.

 

@G H

Have they prescribed you herbs as well?

 

I tried acupuncture for my T a few months ago. The guy said ear issues are related to the kidneys which seemed weird to me. Anyway, he was upfront and said that T was challenging to treat with acupuncture (I read this to mean that it wouldn't work) but said I should try at least 3 sessions. Three sessions later there was no improvement, and I stopped going.

 

No not yet. Think he's concentrating on a whole body treatment rather than just the tinnitus. He said I have a "hot liver" and it seems like my heart rate is quite high. He put some acupuncture needles on my foot and my hand and wrist and some tiny magnets in my ears. I'll go to a few more sessions and see how it works out.

 

Just wanted to give an update and say after the prescribed amount of sessions, T remains the exact same. Acupuncture may help for other ailments. It does help with anxiety and relaxation. But with tinnitus, for me... useless.

 

Same here. 8 sessions. No effect. Maybe an electroshock would do the job?