Researchers find acupuncture effective for the alleviation of tinnitus. This is significant given the intractability associated with this disorder. A research team in Sichuan, China, achieved significant positive patient outcomes by employing the use of electrical stimulation to acupuncture points. Compared with conventional manual acupuncture therapy, the addition of electroacupuncture to the treatment protocol increased clinical effectiveness for the treatment of tinnitus by 25.1%. Conventional manual acupuncture achieved a 64.5% total effective rate; however, electroacupuncture achieved an 89.6% total effective rate.
The Sichuan research team cited prior research and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory as the basis for the development of their electroacupuncture clinical protocol. Zhang et al. identified acupuncture point Tinggong (SI19) as an important area for the treatment of tinnitus in prior research. The Sichuan researchers included SI19 in the study because the work of Zhang et al. finds SI19 effective for benefitting the ears, reducing tinnitus, improving conduction in the auditory nerves, and because electroacupuncture creates rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the region of the ear to promote circulation and subsequent delivery of nutrients to the hearing system.
from Acupuncture and Herbs News and Research https://ift.tt/2nsyj4l
