Acupuncture for tinnitus immediate relief

SummaryThe treatment of tinnitus, wich is defined as conscientious perception of a sound originated in the ears or nervous system, represents until the current days a great challenge. The use of Acupuncture (ACP) is based on the stimulation with needles of specific points on the human anatomy. A prospective, randomizaded and double-blinded study was carried through in 76 patients taken care of in the Clinic of Tinnitus of the Department of Otorhinolaringology and Head and Neck Surgery of the UNIFESP-EPM in the period understood between April and June of 2005. All the patients had humming complaint and had been submitted to clinical anamnese, physical examination and subsidiary exams in order to investigate its etiology. The patients then were directed to a first researcher that determined an initial numeric value of the humming through Visual Analoge Scale(VAS), varying from 0 to 10 points. After this, had been directed for another room in which an acupuncturist doctor, who did not have access to the initial evaluation, separated the patients in Group Control and Group Study according to the attendance order, in alternating way. The ACP point used in patients of the Group Study places 6,5 cm above of the apex of the auditory pavilion in the parietal region. The point used in the Group Control places 3 cm above of the previous point, in the same vertical line. Then they had been sent back to the initial room for a new evaluation by the first researcher, where they had been guided to redefine the subjective score of the humming. Among the 76 studied patients, 29 were male (38,2%) and 47 female (61,8%), with average age 56,9 + 12,0 years. The Groups Study and Control had counted on 38 patients each. Through the Anova test it was evidenced that it had significant difference (p