Efficacy of self-hypnosis for tinnitus relief

Hypnosis facilitates psychosomatic improvement in a patient with treatment-resistant idiopathic tinnitus

Chronic tinnitus, also known as phantom sound perception, is a pervasive and often debilitating condition, affecting 15 to 20% of the population. Due to its idiopathic and persistent nature, chronic tinnitus is frequently associated with co-occurring psychiatric disorders as well as decreased sleep and quality of life. Additionally, heterogeneous presentations of tinnitus create challenges for treatment. In this paper, we present a case study of a 70-year-old female patient who presented with severe bilateral tinnitus over a period of 5 years. After failing multiple treatment trials such as transtympanic electric stimulation, acupuncture, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and medication, the patient found relief only through hypnotherapy. Results may be explained by alterations in interoceptive processing, increased cognitive flexibility, or somatosensory changes, with corresponding changes in functional neural structures. Given the results of this case study, we recommend hypnosis as an alternative or adjunct to current treatment modalities for tinnitus and further investigation in this area.

Short- and Long-Term Effect of Cochlear Implantation on Disabling Tinnitus in Single-Sided Deafness Patients: A Systematic Review

Patients with single-sided deafness can experience an ipsilateral disabling tinnitus that has a major impact on individuals' social communication and quality of life. Cochlear implants appear to be superior to conventional treatments to alleviate tinnitus in single-sided deafness. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of cochlear implants in single-sided deafness with disabling tinnitus when conventional treatments fail to alleviate tinnitus (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022353292). All published studies in PubMed/MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases until December 2021 were included. A total of 474 records were retrieved, 31 studies were included and were divided into two categories according to whether tinnitus was assessed as a primary complaint or not. In all studies, cochlear implantation, evaluated using subjective validated tools, succeeded in reducing tinnitus significantly. Objective evaluation tools were less likely to be used but showed similar results. A short-(3 months) and long-(up to 72 months) term tinnitus suppression was reported. When the cochlear implant is disactivated, complete residual tinnitus inhibition was reported to persist up to 24 h. The results followed a similar pattern in studies where tinnitus was assesed as a primary complaint or not. In conclusion, the present review confirmed the effectiveness of cochlear implantation in sustainably reducing disabling tinnitus in single-sided deafness patients.

Prevalence of insomnia and impact on quality of life among community elderly subjects with tinnitus

OBJECTIVES

We sought to determine the prevalence of insomnia and its impact on the quality of life (QoL) among community elderly subjects (at least 65 years of age) with subjective tinnitus.

METHODS

After household selection with multistage stratified area probability sampling, face-to-face interviews were used to obtain self-reports of subjective tinnitus and insomnia, and QoL was assessed with the WHOQoL-Bref instrument.

RESULTS

Among 1302 elderly subjects, there were 183 subjects (109 female and 74 male) with tinnitus. Among those with tinnitus, insomnia was encountered in 95 (51.9%) and was found to be significantly more common among those with tinnitus than among those without (378 of 1119, or 33.8%; p = 0.002). The insomnia symptoms included difficulty in maintaining sleep in 73.4% of subjects, difficulty in falling asleep in 70.0%, early morning wakefulness in 64.3%, nonrestorative sleep in 35.1%, and daytime sleepiness in 34.7%. Univariate analysis revealed difficulty with falling asleep (p = 0.01) and early morning wakefulness (p = 0.05) to be significantly associated with tinnitus among the symptoms. Student's t-test and logistic regression analysis revealed significant deterioration in the total QoL and in the physical, psychological, social, and environmental QoL domains among elderly subjects who had tinnitus with insomnia as compared with those without insomnia.

CONCLUSIONS

We believe that insomnia is significantly more common among elderly subjects with tinnitus than among those without, and that its presence further depreciates the QoL in these elderly individuals.

Test-retest tinnitus characteristics in patients with noise-induced hearing loss

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to examine the test-retest value of tinnitus pitch and loudness in patients with tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study sample consisted of 30 patients of mean age 35 +/- 6.7 years with long-standing tinnitus and hearing loss due to exposure to noise during military service. Ten patients had unilateral tinnitus, and 20 had bilateral tinnitus. All presented with a typical NIHL audiogram on the affected side(s). None of the patients was receiving drug therapy.

RESULTS

There was no statistically significant difference in tinnitus pitch or loudness between the 2 tests for the whole group and separately in patients with unilateral or bilateral tinnitus.

CONCLUSION

Subjective testing of pitch and loudness of tinnitus secondary to NIHL is accurate and reproducible, making it a valuable tool for diagnosis and follow-up. The lack of differences between patients with unilateral or bilateral tinnitus indicates that both types may be managed in a similar manner.

The efficacy of hypnotherapy in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders: meta-analytical evidence

Hypnotherapy is claimed to be effective in treatment of psychosomatic disorders. A meta-analysis was conducted with 21 randomized, controlled clinical studies to evaluate efficacy of hypnosis in psychosomatic disorders. Studies compared patients exclusively treated with hypnotherapy to untreated controls. Studies providing adjunctive standard medical care in either treatment condition were also admitted. Hypnotherapy was categorized into classic (n = 9), mixed form (n = 5), and modern (n = 3). Results showed the weighted mean effect size for 21 studies was d(+) = .61 (p = .0000). ANOVA revealed significant differences between classic, mixed, and modern hypnosis. Regression of outcome on treatment dose failed to show a significant relationship. Numerical values for correlation between suggestibility and outcome were only reported in three studies (mean r = .31). The meta-analysis clearly indicates hypnotherapy is highly effective in treatment of psychosomatic disorders.

Detailed analysis of auditory brainstem responses in patients with noise-induced tinnitus

The role of the auditory brainstem in tinnitus is questionable. This study aimed comprehensively to assess auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) in patients suffering from noise-induced tinnitus (NIT). ABRs were recorded from 13 chronic NIT patients (21 ears) and 11 (21 ears) age and hearing matched control subjects without tinnitus. ABRs were recorded with scalp electrodes placed ipsilateral and contralateral to the stimulated ear, and in three orthonormal differential configurations. The ABRs were analyzed as a function of time, frequency and voltage space. A significantly enhanced ipsilaterally recorded, time domain wave III amplitude was observed for the tinnitus patients. This finding was not confirmed by any of the other ABR measures, which were indistinguishable between subject groups. Although this may be a spurious result, it nonetheless may point to an alteration in the functioning of the putative wave III auditory brainstem generator, which deserves further study.

Impaired brain processing in noise-induced tinnitus patients as measured by auditory and visual event-related potentials

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to confirm that the brain processing of auditory stimuli in tinnitus patients is impaired (Attias, Urbach, Gold, & Shemesh, 1993). In addition, possible brain processing dysfunction in response to visual stimuli was assessed.

DESIGN

Auditory and visual event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction times were recorded in response to a standard oddball target detection paradigm. The subjects consisted of 21 noise-induced chronic tinnitus patients and 21 age- and hearing-matched control subjects without tinnitus.

RESULTS

The tinnitus patients had significantly prolonged latencies for the auditory nontarget ERP components N1, N2, and P3 and for the auditory target ERP P3 component. The auditory P3 component was also significantly reduced in amplitude for both target and nontarget stimuli for the tinnitus patients. The visual P3 target and nontarget components were similarly significantly prolonged in latency for the tinnitus patients. Reaction times to both target and nontarget stimuli were significantly delayed for the tinnitus patients for both stimulus modalities.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings point to a cortical information processing dysfunction in chronic tinnitus patients associated primarily with auditory stimuli. ERPs may provide an objective electrophysiologic tinnitus measure.

Client centred hypnotherapy in the management of tinnitus--is it better than counselling?

The aim of this study was to assess whether client centred hypnotherapy (CCH) which required three sessions with a trained therapist was superior to a single counselling session in reducing the impact of tinnitus. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either counselling (n = 42) or CCH (n = 44). The outcome measures were: tinnitus loudness match, subjective tinnitus symptom severity score, trend of linear analogue scale, request for further therapy and whether the patient had an impression of improvement in their tinnitus after treatment. CCH was no better than counselling in reducing the impact of tinnitus using the three quantative measures of tinnitus, and requests for further follow up. The only significant difference between the two therapies was that 20 (45.5 per cent) of the CCH group reported a general sense of improvement compared to six (14.3 per cent) in the counselling group, this is significant p < 0.01. The study did not demonstrate whether this was a genuine hypnotic effect or simply a response to the additional attention from the therapist.

Client-centered hypnotherapy for tinnitus: who is likely to benefit?

In this study we prospectively analyzed 41 patients, 15 females and 26 males with a mean age of 54, who underwent three sessions of client-centered hypnotherapy for their tinnitus. Of these patients, 28 (68%) showed some benefit for their tinnitus 3 months after completing their hypnosis, and 13 (32%) showed no evidence of improvement for their tinnitus. Hearing loss was associated with a nonbeneficial outcome for tinnitus treated with hypnotherapy. Of the nonbeneficial group, 46% had a hearing loss of 30 db or more in their better-hearing ear compared to less than 15% in the beneficial group, a significant difference (X2 = 6.34, df = 1, p < 0.02). Client-centered hypnotherapy can be offered to anyone who wants to have therapy for their tinnitus; in those with significant hearing loss the benefit may be less.

Psychological profile of help-seeking and non-help-seeking tinnitus patients

The psychological profile of tinnitus patients who sought treatment (Help-Seeking, HS) was compared with that of patients who did not seek help (non-help-seeking, NHS) and with normal control subjects. Psychological evaluations as well as hearing, tinnitus loudness, and tinnitus pitch were measured. Overall, the psychiatric symptomatology of HS (n = 50) was more severe with poorer effective coping abilities and externalization of locus of control than NHS (n - 50). However, the psychiatric symptomatology of the NHS was remarkably more severe than that in the normals (n = 73) and more like that in the HS even though they did not turn to treatment. Tinnitus loudness was significantly lower in HS than in NHS subjects. The lower the tinnitus loudness, the higher the psychiatric symptomatology. The trend towards subclinical abnormalities in NHS indicates their vulnerability to pathology and this requires the attention of the therapist in order to increase the patient's self-awareness and to suggest preventive coping strategies or relaxation techniques.

Auditory event related potentials in chronic tinnitus patients with noise induced hearing loss

In order to explore a possible deficit in auditory central neural activity in tinnitus with noise induced hearing loss (NIHL), auditory event related potentials (ERP) and reaction time (RT) were recorded (measures of central processing) from tinnitus patients (N = 12) and hearing and age matched controls (N = 12). Testing procedure included oddball paradigms and 1 KHz repetitive stimulus, as well as click-induced brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP). ERP amplitudes (waves N1, P2 and P3) in tinnitus patients were significantly lower than in controls in all testing paradigms. No differences were found in ERP peak latencies, BAEP, RT, or response scoring. The lower ERP amplitudes may indicate attenuated or 'abnormal' auditory central processing in NIHL tinnitus patients. It is suggested that this dysfunction reflects an adaptive brain process response to the tinnitus and points to auditory central involvement in tinnitus sensation.

Sleep disturbance associated with chronic tinnitus

Sleep disturbance is a common and frequent complaint reported by tinnitus sufferers. Recent studies have shown that when insomnia and depression are associated with tinnitus there is decreased tolerance and increased discomfort with the tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to assess the reported prevalence and severity of sleep disturbance in chronic tinnitus patients. Patients (n = 80) were military personnel without major psychiatric disturbance and their tinnitus was associated with noise-induced permanent hearing loss (NIHL). Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) scores for sleep disturbance were found to be higher than those of normal controls in 77% of the patients. Highest MSQ scores in tinnitus patients with a sleep complaint were for delayed sleep, morning awakenings, mid-sleep awakenings, morning fatigue, and chronic fatigue. In contrast, a complaint of excessive daytime sleep (EDS) was not common. The self-rated severity of the tinnitus was greater in subjects with higher sleep disturbance scores. Self-rated depressive symptomatology was also highly correlated with sleep disturbance. Retrospective examination of sleep records and polysomnographic data for 10 patients with a complaint of chronic tinnitus revealed a combined effect for the tinnitus condition when associated with another conventional sleep disorder. In spite of the common complaint of sleep disturbance in tinnitus, only a minority seek a sleep examination.

Comparison between self-hypnosis, masking and attentiveness for alleviation of chronic tinnitus

The efficacy of self-hypnosis (SH), masking (MA) and attentiveness to the patient's complaints (AT) in the alleviation of tinnitus was evaluated. Forty-five male patients close in age with chronic tinnitus related to acoustic trauma were assigned to three matched subgroups: SH, AT or MA. The therapeutic stimuli in the SH and MA sessions, recorded on audio cassettes, were given to the patients for use when needed. SH significantly reduced the tinnitus severity; AT partially relieved the tinnitus; MA did not have any significant effect.

Vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with chronic-tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss

INTRODUCTION

This study examines the incidence of vitamin B12 deficiency in three groups of noise-exposed subjects: patients with chronic tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), patients with NIHL only, and subjects demonstrating normal hearing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A group of 113 army personnel exposed to military noise was studied. The mean age was 39 years. Chronic tinnitus and NIHL existed in 57 subjects. NIHL alone was observed in 29 subjects, and 27 subjects had normal audiograms. All subjects were queried about noise exposure and dietary habits. Vitamin B12 serum levels were measured.

RESULTS

Patients with tinnitus and NIHL exhibited vitamin B12 deficiency in 47% of cases (blood levels < or = 250 pg/mL). This was significantly more (P < .023) compared with NIHL and normal subjects who exhibited vitamin B12 deficiency in 27% and 19%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

These observations suggest a relationship between vitamin B12 deficiency and dysfunction of the auditory pathway. Some improvement in tinnitus and associated complaints were observed in 12 patients following vitamin B12 replacement therapy. The authors recommend that routine vitamin B12 serum levels be determined when evaluating patients for chronic tinnitus.