Acupuncture for tinnitus has been used to treat tinnitus for some time now. Acupuncture involves the insertion of fine needles into specific ‘energy points’ on the body for therapeutic purposes. The technique has been practised for over two thousand years and is billed by practitioners as a method of improving the flow of energy around the body and restoring the ying and yang balance and promoting general well being in the body. There have been a number of studies investigating the link between acupuncture and tinnitus, noted below.

A study of 98 patients receiving a 3 weekly course of acupuncture, 11 were reportedly ‘cured’ and 64 had marked improvement.  These appear like good results but there was no comparison with a no treatment or placebo group so these results are meaningless .

Researchers at the speech therapy department at the University of Sao Paulo have recently reported that tinnitus patients who receive acupuncture at the correct pressure points when compared to patients receiving random needle insertion, had significantly improved cochlear hair cell function. This suggests that acupuncture has a physical effect, but does not shed light on whether tinnitus was reduced as a result .

Another study demonstrated that sham acupuncture has not been effective at tinnitus reduction when compared to acupuncture at the recognized pressure points .

Although there are some trials that indicate positive association between acupuncture and tinnitus, there remains no conclusive evidence supporting the use of acupuncture for tinnitus and there is a need for large clinical trials.