CHRONIC TINNITUS AFTER OSTEOPATHIC CRANIAL MANIPULATIVE MEDICINE AND ACUPUNCTURE: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

Objective: Tinnitus perceived for more than six months becomes a chronic and often disabling condition. Several treatments have been used to treat tinnitus, including complementary therapies. These therapies are promising for their low cost and low health risk. The aim of this study was to verify the effect of Cranial Osteopathy (CO) and Acupuncture (AC) on the symptoms of subjects with chronic tinnitus. Methods: This was a experimental clinical study, sample randomized by simple draw, in which one group underwent treatment for cranial osteopathy and the other underwent acupuncture treatment for tinnitus, being a weekly session for six weeks in both treatments, lasting 30 minutes each. Anamnesis, otoscopy, pure-tone threshold audiometry, acuphenometry and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were carried, this last one was the instrument that evaluated the pre and post treatment symptoms. Results: a total of 12 subjects were included in the Cranial Osteopathy Group (COG) and 12 subjects in the Acupuncture Group (ACG). At least two points on the VAS scale improved in three subjects in COG (p = 0.043) and five in ACG (p = 0.027). Conclusion: Both therapies have been shown to be effective in reducing the symptoms caused by chronic tinnitus.