Treatment of tinnitus by external electrical stimulation.
Transcutaneous electrical stimulation was used in 5 consecutive patients suffering from troublesome tinnitus. The study included three parts. Part one constituted an open trial using the stimulation equipment. During this part, 2 patients reported a reduced subjective tinnitus loudness. These 2 patients proceeded to part two where the effect from the stimulation equipment was compared with the effect from a placebo apparatus in an experimental double-blind trial. One of these 2 patients reported similar effects from active stimulation and placebo, while the other patient reported a constant positive effect from the active stimulation and no effect at all from placebo. The latter patient continued to part three where the effect of the equipment was studied over a 3-month period. Throughout the study, continuous self-recordings of the complaints was used. The results show that the electrical stimulation had a genuine tinnitus-reducing effect in one patient, remaining over a 3-month period, a positive placebo effect in one patient, but no effect in 3 patients. To determine the applicability of this method in the clinical population, carefully designed outcome studies, with appropriate control conditions, are required.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010919:Placebos; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000628:therapy*
D010919:Placebos